SWOPblogger

I really don't care how angry he gets. I'm angrier that he's trying to hand over our money on a silver platter to private insurance companies, straight from my pocket. NO THANKS!!

Read the Journal article here.

Thanks to Representative Mimi Stewart for doing as much as she can to get the best for New Mexicans. Today let's hope the Health Security Act passes out of her commitee. That's what we REALLY want!!!

Labels: Bill Richardson, Health Security Act

House Bill 451 will be heard tomorrow (Wednesday) by the House Judiciary Committee at 1:30pm. Please call or email (or attend) to show your support…it is very important!

The members of the House Judiciary Committee are:

Rep. Al Park (D) Chair
Rep. Joseph Cervantes (D) Vice Chair
Rep. Elias Barela- SPONSOR (D) Member
Rep. Gail Chasey - Co-signer (D) Member
Rep. Daniel R. Foley (R) Member
Rep. Antonio "Moe" Maestas (D) Member
Rep. W. Ken Martinez (D) Member
Rep. William "Bill" R. Rehm (R) Member
Rep. Mimi Stewart (D) Member
Rep. Thomas E. Swisstack (D) Member
Rep. Gloria C. Vaughn (R) Member
Rep. Eric A. Youngberg (R) Member
Rep. Teresa A. Zanetti (R) Member

You can find their contact information here: http://legis.state.nm.us/lcs/legislatorsearch.asp.

We would like to thank New Mexico Voices for Children for their hard work on this issue, and for providing the following summary of the bill.

House Bill 451
Tax Increment Development Act Reforms
Sections 5-15-1 through 5-15-28 NMSA 1978

1. Reduce the risk to the state General Fund
a. Reduce the diversion of state gross receipts tax (GRT) from a maximum of 75 percent to 50 percent
b. For TIDDs in greenfields – which pose most risk because these are large, undeveloped areas of the state where growth
is going to happen – limit the state gross receipts tax increment to 20 percent unless the TIDD meets certain public
policy goals. These goals are workforce housing, transit-oriented development and adequate funding for public
schools. Each of these goals is worth an increment of 10 percent, for a maximum of 50 percent.
c. For purposes of the bill, a greenfield TIDD is defined as a tax increment development district plan that involves land, the
majority of which has not been previously developed, and is not currently served by municipal or county public
infrastructure, and for which the TIDD plan primarily relies on the development of new residential and commercial
structures rather than the redevelopment of existing residential and commercial structures.

2. Clarify that any excess GRT revenue received by the TIDD above the level required for the authorized bonds and bond
reserve fund should be returned to the taxing authority.
a. For example, one TIDD applicant estimates that TIDD revenues would be almost $1B but infrastructure costs would be
slightly over $600M. Revenues not required to support the bonds for the $600M in infrastructure costs should be
returned to the state and local governments.

3. Require transparency
a. Not only are TIDDs receiving diverted gross receipts taxes and property taxes but, since they are also supposed to be
economic development projects, entities within TIDDs have received and will receive other incentives and funding from
state and local government. For example, recently announced companies located to Mesa del Sol: solar firm - $130M in
incentives; investment firm - $47M in incentives.

b. TIDD Boards should be required to report on the following:
i. Revenues and expenses and total debt outstanding.
ii. Working with the appropriate state and local government agencies, report annually on the total value of the state and
local economic incentives provided to entities within the TIDD. These incentives include, but are not limited to,
industrial revenue bonds, all relevant tax exemptions and credits, job training incentives, and capital outlay
appropriations.

4. Require state oversight
a. Under current law, the only role the state has is to approve the state GRT increment for the TIDD. Once that is
approved, the state has no role for the entire 25-year length of the bond.
b. The state GRT makes up the majority of funding for most of the TIDDs approved or under consideration so far.
Therefore, the state needs an ongoing say in how these projects are managed.
c. The Secretary of the Department of Finance and Administration or designee would be a member of every TIDD Board.
d. The Board of Finance would be required to set the total amount of the state GRT increment so that the GRT revenues
generated within the TIDD and retained by the state are sufficient to fully cover the estimated cost of state services and
programs within the TIDD.

5. Create a Task Force to study the ongoing implementation of TIDDs
a. The Task Force would study:
b. Implementation of the Tax Increment Development Act (TIDA) so far.
c. The long-term fiscal impact on the state General Fund and on municipal and county budgets.
d. Amount of future state and local gross receipts taxes and property taxes committed to existing TIDDs.
e. The experience of other states with Tax Increment Financing, especially the use of state-level taxes in TIDDs.
f. The consequences of removing public infrastructure construction projects within TIDDs from the state and local
procurement codes.
g. Other economic development incentives provided in current TIDDs.
h. Possible consequences if TIDD revenues are not enough to cover bond repayments.
i. Procedures for expanding TIDDs and changing TIDD board membership.
j. Other options available to finance public infrastructure for new development.

Task Force members include: Department of Finance and Administration; Taxation and Revenue Department; Legislative Finance Committee; NM Finance Authority; NM Association of Counties; NM Municipal League; AFSCME; NM Chapter of the American Planning Association; two representatives of neighborhood associations either within or adjacent to an existing or proposed TIDD; two at-large public members (the last two groups would have one member each appointed by the Governor and the Legislature).

Labels: Campaign for a Better New Mexico, roundhouse, TIDD

Today's most laughable comment from the campaign trail:

CHARLESTON, S.C. -- The controversy over Bill Clinton's tactics in the 2008 presidential campaign escalated yesterday as Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton admitted her husband got "carried away" with his criticism of rival Barack Obama in the South Carolina primary contest.

Seeking to tamp down growing anger among African-American voters, the former first lady blamed "sleep deprivation" for a series of remarks by Mr. Clinton that have pushed the issue of race to the forefront of the Democratic contest.

National Post - Canada

Labels: 2008 Presidential Election, Funny, POP Culture

Folks are gettin' a little TIFed about TIDDs

The following LTE appeared in the Farmington Daily Times. I hear a longer version was published in the Jemez Thunder too (not available online).

Editor:

You would think billion-dollar expenditures of our tax money would generate more public discussion about the purpose and alleged benefits. But Tax Increment Development Districts, or TIDDs, are funded in a way that is not transparent to the public — even though it's the public's money.

Now, big out-of-state developers can use state tax revenue to develop the greater Albuquerque area, otherwise known as sprawl. Laird Graeser, chief economist for the New Mexico Department of Finance and Administration, put it this way: "In effect, (the SunCal TIDD) is a capital outlay project that will only benefit residents of the project area and the near surrounding areas, but it will be funded by all the taxpayers of New Mexico through lower levels of state services."

On Jan. 16, 2007, the New Mexico State Board of Finance approved a TIDD for Mesa del Sol in Albuquerque. More than $1 billion of state gross receipts taxes will pay for the streets, water lines, etc., to develop this huge project. The $1 billion will subsidize the biggest new real estate development in New Mexico history, and one of the largest and most prosperous real estate developers in the country.

The state of New Mexico will do something it's never done before: pay for new growth and water demands in the Albuquerque Rio Grande Corridor! And it will do so with tax money from Las Cruces, Silver City, Farmington, and every other New Mexico community.

SunCal Corporation has purchased the Westland property on Albuquerque's west side that is five times the size of the MdS project and SunCal wants the same deal. The Verde Group, an El Paso-based real estate developer, has applied for a TIDD in Santa Teresa.

The state TIDD law must be amended to remove new developments on undeveloped land from the TIDD subsidy. The state has no business subsidizing growth in already expanding and affluent local communities.

The 2008 session is a "short" session. But Mesa del Sol managed to get their TIDD bill passed in the "short" 2006 session. We know that 30 days is enough to make the TIDD bill right.

Call, write, e-mail or meet with your senator and representative. Tell them to remove new "greenfield" developments from the TIDD law and protect your interests, not the interest of big developers in Albuquerque.

ERIC SCHMEIDER
Board Member
SouthWest Organizing Project
Albuquerque

Mesa del Sol has made it into Wikipedia’s entry on TIF:

Currently, the largest TIF project in America is located in Albuquerque, New Mexico: the $500 million Mesa del Sol development. Mesa del Sol is controversial in that the proposed development would be built upon a "green field" that presently generates little tax revenue and any increase in tax revenue would be diverted into a tax increment financing fund. This "increment" thus would leave governmental bodies without funding from the developed area that is necessary for the governmental bodies' operation.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tax_increment_financing

From Good Jobs First Email:

New Mexico allies ~ thanks to Michael Mazerov at the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities for flagging this Fidelity Investments news (below) FYI: Fidelity is notorious for its state-vs-state tax-dodging behavior in Massachusetts and neighboring states; see pages 98-100 at: http://www.greatamericanjobsscam.com/Chapters/Chapter4.pdf

Wall Street Journal Coverage:

Fidelity Will Open Center in New Mexico State Offers $47 Million In Tax Breaks, Sweeteners; Ten Other Regional Centers

By JENNIFER LEVITZ
January 18, 2008; Page C13 BOSTON -- Fidelity Investments, known for making Boston one of the nation's centers of mutual funds, now plans to put a large imprint on New Mexico. The company said it plans to lease a new 210,000-square-foot operations center in Albuquerque that will house 1,250 employees, under an agreement in which the state will provide $47 million in tax incentives and other sweeteners.

It isn't the first time Fidelity has ranged afield from Massachusetts. It has made several deals to snare tax benefits from states in return for employment promises. Fred Mondragon, New Mexico's secretary for economic development, said the $47 million package includes tax breaks, job training for new employees and a $14 million "cash incentive" for the building of infrastructure -- with the incentive costs shared by the state and local governments.

Fidelity's new facility will be part of Mesa del Sol, a 12,900-acre mixed-use facility co-developed by a unit of Cleveland-based Forest City Enterprises Inc. Fidelity said the positions will mostly be new jobs in human-resources services, its division that handles payroll and other functions for companies. Fidelity spokeswoman Anne Crowley said, "It is largely new recruiting and hiring out in that region that will staff the site."

Fidelity doesn't currently have operations in New Mexico. The company, with 44,000 employees, has 10 regional operations centers across the U.S. -- in Florida, Kentucky, Ohio, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Texas, Rhode Island and Utah. In 2006, North Carolina awarded Fidelity the largest corporate tax deal in the state's history -- a $54.6 million tax-incentive package based on Fidelity's plan to invest $100 million in a new facility and to bring 2,000 jobs to the state. Write to Jennifer Levitz at jennifer.levitz@wsj.com.

Labels: TIDD

Good people: We wish you all a Happy Martin Luther King Day.

From the Journal: Carlsbad School Board Extends Contract for Superintendent
Associated Press

Coming up next tuesday, January 22, 2008, SWOP's youth program is having a little history lesson on the Youth Rights Movement!! Come join us and show us what you already know or learn something new!! We're covering moments in the history of youth starting from the 30's ending up with what's going on now. Who knows maybe an issue will come up that we could work on in favor for us young people!! Hope those of you that are intereseted can attend. It will be held at SWOP's youth office, which is located on the corner of 10th and Park. The time it will start at is 3:00 p.m. and will go on untill 7:00 p.m. If you have any questions feel free to contact us by phone @ 247-8832 or by email at emma @swop.net or monica@swop.net.

Front Page Sunday Journal. Makes this, this and this all the more poignant.

Some of City's 'Green' Claims Full of Hot Air
By John Fleck

It is a claim every Albuquerque resident who cares about global warming could be proud of: Since 1990, city residents have cut their greenhouse gas emissions by 6 percent.

It is also untrue.

The claim was contained in a report that was until recently featured prominently on the city's AlbuquerqueGreen Web site. As the nation's emissions of global warming-causing pollutants is on the rise, ours are going down, the report claimed.

But the report vastly overstated the city's greenhouse gas reductions. City officials acknowledged the problem and removed the report from a city Web site after the Journal requested supporting data.

It is not an isolated case. A Journal review shows the claims of greenhouse gas reductions and other "sustainability" successes made by the city are often exaggerated, misleading or wrong.

In response to the Journal's inquiries, city officials acknowledged problems in the data they were presenting to the public. The Web site containing the questionable claims was taken down completely last week. It was replaced with an old Web page produced by city staff more than a year ago. Officials said the change had already been in the works and was unrelated to the Journal's inquiries.

Most of the erroneous figures presented to the public came from a study done in late 2005. The report contained warnings that the information was "preliminary," and could change as more accurate information became available. Those caveats were generally not included when the information was presented to the public.

Site not updated
When more up-to-date analysis showed the city's successes were more modest than originally thought, city officials continued to use the old data.

Mary Lou Leonard of the city's Environmental Health Department blamed the problem on a failure to update the numbers on the public Web site.

"We haven't been keeping them as up-to-date as we should have," Leonard said in an interview.
Albuquerque Mayor Martin Chávez, who has made "green" issues a centerpiece of his current term, said inaccurate information undermines the city's efforts.

"There ought to be no exaggeration," Chávez said in an interview.

Chávez's name was featured prominently on the AlbuquerqueGreen Web site, and his picture appeared on the Web site's home page in three places. The city has spent $30,000 on a citywide advertising campaign that includes billboards and refers people to the Web site.

The AlbuquerqueGreen.com Web site was created in fall 2006 to create a separate place for Albuquerque residents to go for information about the city's sustainability efforts, said Alfredo Santistevan, head of the city's Environmental Health Department.

Chávez has repeatedly sounded the alarm about global warming, which scientists say is caused by greenhouse gas emissions from burning fossil fuels in our cars, factories and power plants. In an interview, Chávez pointed to the problems that Albuquerque could face as a result, including reduced water supplies.

Accomplishments
In June, Chávez accepted an award from the U.S. Conference of Mayors, which declared Albuquerque "the greenest city in the nation." The award application, written by city staff, was based in part on the erroneous preliminary data.

However, the underlying data, from the city and independent sources, show significant accomplishments:

- Water usage has decreased substantially since citywide water conservation efforts were launched during Chavéz's first administration in 1995.

- Bus ridership has risen 54 percent the past five years.

- Emissions of methane— a powerful greenhouse gas— from city landfills have been substantially reduced.

But even in those cases where the city has made progress, the city has frequently overstated the accomplishments, the data show.

For example, a frequent claim that city government has dramatically reduced its greenhouse gas emissions is based entirely on a project to burn off methane at the city's landfills.

In other areas, including fuel used to heat city buildings and miles driven by city vehicles, the latest numbers show that city government's greenhouse gas emissions have risen substantially since 2000.

City officials did not dispute the Journal's analysis of the problems with their data.

Not enough effort
Critics say exaggerating success with easy steps makes it harder to make the serious development and lifestyle changes that are necessary to deal with climate change.

"There is a risk that people will be placated or feel like that the community is contributing to its fullest, when we haven't really even begun what is necessary or what is required," said Gabriel Nims, executive director of 1000 Friends, a group fighting suburban sprawl.

Nims' concern is that while city officials focus on narrower greenhouse gas reduction concerns, new construction under Chávez's leadership continues on the city's fringes, [Link added by SWOPblogger] forcing residents to spend more time in their cars. Nims called what the city has done "greenwashing"— a pejorative term used by environmentalists to describe efforts to make an organization look "green" when it is not.

Critics of sprawl's effect on greenhouse gas emissions point out that as Albuquerque has spread over the last two decades, the average driver has spent more time behind the wheel. According to the Mid-Region Council of Governments, average per capita miles driven in the greater Albuquerque area have risen 10 percent since 1990.

Chávez bristled at the criticism. "If they say 'greenwash,' I would say 'hogwash,' '' he said.
He pointed to developments like the Mesa del Sol community planned for a large empty tract of land south of Albuquerque's airport, which he said will be an environmentally sensible project.

The claim that Albuquerque had reduced its citywide greenhouse gas emissions by 6 percent came from a report by city staff that attempted to account for all the emissions in our homes, vehicles and workplaces.

When the report was completed, it was posted at the top of the city's AlbuquerqueGreen.com Web site.

The heart of the claim was a dramatic reduction in Albuquerque residential and business use of natural gas, a major greenhouse gas emitter. The report claimed, for example, that residential natural gas usage in Albuquerque had dropped 87 percent from 2000 to 2005.

When the Journal and others questioned how that was possible, city officials reviewing the data concluded that they had made a mistake and withdrew the report for revision.
Creating a greenhouse gas inventory for the community is an ambitious task that is critical to understanding what needs to be done, and the city deserves praise for undertaking it, said Eva Thaddeus of the Sierra Club.

"Only if we know what our carbon footprint was in the past, and what it is now, can we know how to focus our reduction efforts," Thaddeus said. Thaddeus was one of those who raised questions about the data, and she praised city officials for withdrawing the report to fix it.

CLAIM
The city's latest "Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory" said emissions were reduced by about 6 percent from 1990 to 2005.
REALITY
Figures were based on the claim that natural gas usage dropped 87 percent from 1990 to 2005. PNM data show no such drop. City officials acknowledged a calculation error and withdrew the report.

CLAIM
Albuquerque city government rated fourth best among U.S. cities for use of alternative fuel vehicles.
REALITY
Many of the city vehicles are capable of running on ethanol but don't because the ethanol fueling infrastructure is not complete.

CLAIM
From the AlbuquerqueGreen.com Web site: "Mayor Chávez and the citizens of Albuquerque have reduced greenhouse gas emissions by 64 percent since 2000."
REALITY
The claim applies only to city government, not to the community as a whole.

CLAIM
City government reduced natural gas usage by 42 percent.
REALITY
New data show a 10 percent reduction since 1990 in natural gas usage, but the city continued citing the old data.

CLAIM
"Every new building in Albuquerque will be carbon neutral by 2030," meaning no greenhouse gases would be emitted in energy use.
REALITY
A recently passed ordinance will reduce carbon emissions 30 percent, according to City Councilor Isaac Benton. Benton said reaching that goal by 2030 is "conceivable" and the ordinance is "a modest first step."

CLAIM
City government has reduced greenhouse gas emissions by 64 percent or 67 percent since 2000.
REALITY
A new city study showed a more accurate number, 53 percent, but the old claim continued to be used— on the same Web site. Most of the reduction was in methane emissions in landfills, where the city has a program to burn methane.
In other areas, city government greenhouse emissions rose 19 percent between 2000 and 2005.

Labels: Campaign for a Better New Mexico, Marty The Duck, TIDD, TIF

Check this out...
N.M. Schools Get a C on Report Card

Sad news unfortunately, but still nothing new.

"It came in 46th among all 50 states and the District of Columbia. New Mexico's eighth-graders ranked dead last in reading."

"New Mexico ranked dead last for the proportion of its children— 46.7 percent— from families with incomes twice the poverty level or below, one of the report's indicators for student success."

"New Mexico ranked 49th in overall indicators for student success, but not without at least one bright spot: It had the highest proportion of eligible children— 85.1 percent— enrolled in kindergarten."
"While its report found per-student funding highly equitable, it also found funding equity to be below average among districts.

"The report placed New Mexico two grades above average for policies it has in place to assure a strong standards, assessment and accountability system (16th in the nation) and to define exactly what it means to be ready for high school, college and the workplace (eighth in the nation)."

Here is a great question in the article: So why the disconnect between state policies and student achievement?

Some would say poverty, inequity, injustice.....I would agree.
How about this: our policy makers are too focused on creating their OWN POLICE FORCE!!!!

Where are our priorities people? Is this not enough proof?

The youth of the city are the future of the city and APS keeps failing them. SHAME on you. You need to get your act together and ensure the success of NM kids. Make it right and reprioritize.

Labels: Guns in Schools, guns on campuses, n, NM students least likely to succeed

Not if we use the Health Security Plan:The only solution that saves money and covers everyone, according to the Govenor's recent study. (download it here, Mathematica Final Report)

*************
Excerpt from the Journal today
Read the entire article here: Universal Care May Need $1B

"'Systemic change'

Cisneros said the flaw in Richardson's plan is that it "assumes private insurance can be fixed." He said "systemic change is what is needed" and urged legislators to adopt the Health Security Act, which would replace most private insurance with a state-funded and administered system.
"Let's set up our own health plan, almost like a cooperative," Cisneros said.

As modeled by Mathematica, a single-payer program would cost less than other approaches, but would give control of much of health care to a board appointed by state government. It would require new payroll taxes and annual legislative appropriation of billions of dollars to fund health care.
*****************
It's the only way to go, so stop beating around the bush and pass it already.

Labels: health care, Health Security Act

This is a great article on the voter ID fraud that the republee's, claim consistently happen and RARELY does. Plain and simple, we don't need the damn laws, and we've wasted time on them, not to mention excluded a huge percentage of low income and people of color from voting. But I guess that's what they want, for us no to vote. Actually they count on us not voting. In 2005 the ACLU filed suit so that the law could be claimed unconstitutional. What's even more interesting is that fraud (when it happens) is usually done via the absentee ballot and you don't even need an ID to vote absentee!!! go figure. Hey what about ID bracelets...oohh I think I like it, my kids would love it! haha

Slate's article: Election Burden

ACLU

Updated: Since we posted this we have gotten the correct information of what NM law looks like. It's better, but still doesn't beat showing up to vote. Here's the actual language in the final version of the bill (page 3):

"1-1-23. UNIQUE IDENTIFIER.--As used in the Election Code, "unique identifier" means a randomly generated series of numbers, letters or symbols assigned to a voter, which shall not be the voter's social security number or date of birth."

Check out the comments section for more information.

Labels: voter fraud, Voter ID

Way to go SunCal! Working through the holidays to come up with some PR scheme to gain public support for the TIDD's. Nice try but no cigar. We're calling you out.

The so called "open and public process" they are holding at the Hyatt was so lame I had to laugh.

Small room full of binders. HUGE binders might I add (shown on the left). No executives present as the Journal claims. The two young workers were very kind but their answers to ALL my questions were: "It's all in the binder and if you have any questions fill out this form and someone will get back to you in 24 hours."
You want me to dig through that to find answers. No thanks!

So really it wasn't informative at all, it just looked pretty. Check out Cocoposts who puts it nicely:

"Equating new land development on the Westside with economic development is a magic act or confidence game played behind the tent."

Magic act indeed.....voila...there go our taxes in a blink of an eye!

Labels: SunCal, TIDD

Activists say migrants forced to more "isolated and dangerous" places like New Mexico desert to cross

Documented deaths of migrants in southern Arizona’s so-called “Corridor of Death” rose sharply in 2007. Official statistics from the US Border Patrol’s Tucson Sector report 204 migrant deaths during the 2007 fiscal year that ended on September 30 of last year. The death toll represented a 21 percent increase from fiscal year 2006, when 165 deaths were registered.

Sean King, Border Patrol spokesman, attributed the increase in fatalities to the deployment of more Border Patrol agents in the field. King said that with more officers in the field, more migrant bodies which might have
gone undetected in the past were recovered.

But Kat Rodriguez, an organizer for the Tucson-based Human Rights Coalition, a non-governmental organization, blamed the additional deaths on tighter US border security measures that encouraged undocumented
migrants to undertake risky journeys.

“These deaths are a direct consequence of the militarization of the US border,” Rodriguez charged. “So many agents, so much technology is simply forcing undocumented (migrants) to cross through more isolated and dangerous places. We are currently seeing a change of the migration flow towards the desert of New Mexico.”

In 2007, the US federal government increased the manpower of the US Border Patrol by 3,000 agents. Washington also expanded border walls in the Yuma, Nogales and Douglas regions, and installed large towers in the region.

Based on reports from medical examiners in the southern Arizona counties of Yuma, Pima and Cochise, the Human Rights Coalition reports a higher death toll for the region than does the Border Patrol. The immigrant rights group cited 237 deaths for FY 2007, a number 32 higher than in FY 2006, when the coalition documented 205 deaths.

In addition to documented deaths, disappearances are a growing problem, Rodriguez added. “It is frustrating to receive the calls of so many people, who only know that their family members crossed through the Arizona desert and then never heard anything more of them,” she said.

According to the US Border Patrol, 437 undocumented migrants died in the entire US-Mexico border region during FY 2007.

Source: Frontera/SUN, December 31, 2007.

Frontera NorteSur (FNS): on-line, U.S.-Mexico border news Center for Latin
American and Border Studies
New Mexico State University
Las Cruces, New Mexico

For a free electronic subscription email
fnsnews@nmsu.edu