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New Mexico Radio Campaign Targets Tax Breaks for Oil and Gas Industry

from the New Mexico News Connection - A Statewide News Service for New Mexico
LAS CRUCES, N.M. - Topping off the tank is getting more expensive, critics say, as drivers pay for their fuel in two places. At the same time drivers are paying at the pump, according to the Progress Now New Mexico Education Fund, taxpayers are giving $4 billion a year in tax breaks to the oil and gas industry.

The nonprofit group calls attention to these tax breaks in a new radio advertising campaign. Its executive director, Pat Davis, says the ads point out that one New Mexico congressman has supported the breaks eight times since February 2011: Republican Rep. Steve Pearce.

"We hope that Congressman Pearce will get to hear from constituents who know there are bigger problems right now than oil and gas profits. Hopefully, they'll have that conversation with him, and we hope to change his mind."

Davis says his group wants to get people thinking about whether it's appropriate to be offering tax breaks to for-profit companies, when that money could be used instead to spur the economy by helping green industries and hiring more people in local businesses.

Ariel Bickel of central New Mexico says she tries to work as much as possible from home to avoid the pain at the pump. She believes many people suffer from high gas prices in silence, feeling that there isn't anything they can do to change them. She hopes the radio spots will convince them that they have some power on this issue - as voters.

"What really upsets me is, I think there's preying on the despair of people to promote this wave of anger that's misplaced. This is why getting the truth out about the issues is so imperative."

The group Taxpayers for Common Sense has a list of 14 oil and gas tax breaks, with names such as "percentage depletion allowance" and "intangible drilling costs." Together, it says, these amount to more than $2.5 billion each year.

Beth Blakeman reporting

Millions Coming to Expand NM Community Health Centers

from the New Mexico News Connection - A statewide news service for New Mexico
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - Some New Mexico clinics that serve uninsured and lower-income people are getting money to expand their facilities. The Department of Health and Human Services is making the grants to community health centers across the nation, as part of the Affordable Care Act.

One recipient is Albuquerque Health Care for the Homeless. Its executive director, Winona Stoltzfus, says the expansion plans will allow her agency to increase the number of people served at its drop-in center.

"People who are living on the street often have experiences when they're homeless that make them reluctant to receive services. Some are not familiar with how to engage with service agencies so they can get the help they need. The drop-in center lets us build a relationship with them first."

More than $8 million is coming to community health centers in New Mexico - about $3.5 million to Albuquerque Health Care for the Homeless, and $5 million to Presbyterian Medical Services in Santa Fe. This round of funding is unique because federal funds are usually allocated only for patient care. The money should not only improve health care access, but create construction jobs as the projects get under way.

Tom Van Coverden heads the National Association of Community Health Care Centers. He says there has been broad bipartisan support for community health centers, but the last big push to expand them was during the Bush years.

"Policymakers on both sides realize that even if you're fortunate enough to have an insurance card, you need a place to go. If there's a 'medical home' - a place that really is helping them to stay healthy - there would be a long-range benefit in cost savings for everybody."

This funding through the Affordable Care Act is part of a plan to double the capacity of the community health center system by 2015. The money has already been allocated, and the health-center expansion has bipartisan support.
Beth Blakeman reporting, [email protected]

 

Campana Radial en NM informa sobre Exenciones Tributarias a las industrias de Gas y Petroleo

The New Mexico News Connection is a Statewide News Service for New Mexico

LAS CRUCES, N.M. – Cada vez gastamos más en llenar el tanque de gasolina y lo estamos pagando de dos maneras. El Fondo Educativo Progress Now Nuevo México dice que los automovilistas pagan en la gasolinería – mientras que las industrias de gas y petróleo reciben $4 billones al año en exenciones tributarias provenientes de nuestras contribuciones a impuestos. Estas ganancias son en adición a los $137 billones que las industrias reportaron en ganancias el año pasado.

A través de una nueva campaña radial, este fondo educativo sin fines de lucro hace un llamado de atención al público sobre estas exenciones. Su director ejecutivo, Pat Davis, dice que los anuncios también señalan que el Congresista Steve Pearce de Nuevo México ha apoyado estas exenciones tributarias ocho veces desde el año 2011.

“Esperamos que el Congresista Pearce escuche de sus constituyentes que actualmente existen problemas más importantes que dar exenciones tributarias a esas compañías. Con esto puede que lo animaremos a que cambie de opinión.”

Dice Davis que su grupo busca concientizar al público sobre si es apropiado estar ofreciendo exenciones tributarias a compañías lucrativas, cuando ese dinero se puede aplicar en programas que echen a andar la economía como ayudar a la industria ecológica y contratar a más personas en los pequeños negocios locales.

Ariel Bickel de las Cruces dice que ella trata de trabajar lo más que puede desde su casa para evitar pagar tanto por gasolina. Cree que muchas personas sufren en silencio acerca de los incrementos en precio de la gasolina por sentir que no hay nada que pueden hacer al respecto. Tiene esperanza que esta campaña radial logre convencer al público que está en manos de ellos, los votantes.

“Lo que en verdad me enfada es que veo como existe rapiña hacia el sentimiento público de no poder hacer nada al respecto y se promueve una ola de enojo que está siendo utilizada erróneamente.”

El grupo conocido como Taxpayers for Common Sense (Contribuyentes por el Sentido Común) tiene una lista de 14 exenciones tributarias a las compañías de gas y petróleo, con algunas de ellas nombradas como “costos intangibles de perforación” y “porcentaje de concesiones por agotamiento.” Solo estas dos suman exenciones de $2 billones y medio al ano.

Beth Blakeman reporting.

NM Touts Energy-Efficiency Success Stories

from the New Mexico News Connection - A statewide news service for New Mexico
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - Local energy-efficiency programs are working in New Mexico and across the nation, according to a new report, and Albuquerque is home to several examples.

Designing buildings with smart energy use in mind is beneficial to the economy as well as the environment, says developer Gary Goodman, chief executive officer of Goodman Realty.

"If somebody's not spending money on their gas or electric bill, they're spending it in goods and services in the cities they live in. When they do that, it churns the economy far more than spending that same money on a utility bill."

In 40 years as a developer, Goodman says, he's learned the value of energy efficiency over time. When his company renovated the Hotel Andaluz, he says, it installed a high-efficiency solar water heating system. Before the renovation, he says, the hotel used 1 million gallons of water a month. Since the remodel, he says, it uses about a third of that.

Among the features of the Andaluz, New Mexico's only LEED-certified hotel, is something Goodman calls "constant energy management."

"The act of somebody checking in automatically brings a room up to temperature. When somebody leaves the room, it goes back. When they return, it goes up again."

Another LEED-certified building is the Silver Gardens apartments in Albuquerque. Formerly a bus station, it is now a winner of a Smart Growth Achievement Award from the Environmental Protection Agency. Developer Theresa Bell says it was designed to help lower residents' energy costs.

"It saves the tenants $25 to $50 a month; that's somebody's groceries or gas. It saves the owner thousands of dollars in common-area utilities expenses."

Both Bell and Goodman are developing new buildings they say will have even more innovative energy-saving systems. By focusing on energy efficiency, says Environment New Mexico, the state could reduce its emissions from power generation by almost a third by 2030.

The report, "Building a Better America," is online at environmentnewmexicocenter.org

Beth Blakeman reporting, [email protected]

Prosperity Works to Launch New Business Network

from the New Mexico News Connection - A statewide news service for New Mexico
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - The Individual Development Account program has been helping New Mexico's lower-income people start or expand businesses, go to school or purchase homes for eight years. Prosperity Works, the group which funds the program, is celebrating the anniversary by helping to market IDA-funded businesses.

The nonprofit is starting a new network for those small companies on its prosperityworks.net website.

Laureen Lerch, Prosperity Works communications director, explains what visitors will see when they go to the site.

"We're going to create a New Mexico map so you can click on each county, and when you click on that county, all the small businesses from IDAs that have opened, you can pull up their website or get their address."

Lerch says the map should be ready within the next few months. In the meantime, the nonprofit is using social media to create a forum so people in the IDA program can connect with each other.

Prosperity Works has started a Facebook group to allow anyone in the IDA program who has opened or is planning to open a business to chat. It's also available to anyone who is just curious about the program. Lerch says it isn't for sharing competitive information, such as finances or business plans, but can be a resource for getting advice from other small-business owners.

"We can have an open group discussion for businesses to market their products and services. And then we'll monitor the group, and if that is a concern, we can set up a private, closed group on Facebook."

To find the group, look for "New Mexico IDA Businesses" on the Facebook site.

One business which received an IDA grant is Bikeworks in Albuquerque. Rick Nolan owns the company, which rents, delivers and picks up bicycles. He says he used the money from the award to start a new line of road bikes.

"To invest in an extension of our fleet, we added another category. If we hadn't had those funds, we probably wouldn't have realized the amount of revenue that we generated with the road bikes."

Nolan likes the idea of an IDA network, and says he wants to be able to meet other New Mexico entrepreneurs.

The Facebook page is at facebook.com/newmexicoidabusinesses
Beth Blakeman reporting, [email protected] .

New Mexicans Call For the Creation of the Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument

from the New Mexico News Connection - A statewide news service for New Mexico
LAS CRUCES, N.M. - A coalition of business and political leaders, archaeologists, historians and civic groups is calling for a new national monument for New Mexico.

The Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks proposal would help Doña Ana County focus on what Commissioner Billy Garrett considers high-quality growth, to draw tourists, new residents and businesses into the area.

He points out that Las Cruces is the state's second largest city.

"We know that Doña Ana County is going to grow. The current projections are that we're going to increase from about 200,000 people to 350,000 people by 2040."

Garrett points to the area's history, scenery and heritage in identifying what makes it attractive to those who want to relocate. He believes creating a national monument is critical to protecting these values.

New Mexico historian Jon Hunner calls the Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks area a multi-layered landscape which reflects the history of the desert Southwest, in the upheaval and volcanic activity in its geology. When Hunner thinks about the economy and the city of Las Cruces, he thinks about natural beauty.

"To have this national monument surrounding it would provide an impetus for heritage tourism and also for people who are interested in the natural resources - birders, geologists, people who just want to come and see a desert landscape."

Hunner considers the national monument a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to protect the Mesilla Valley's important American and New Mexican history.

In its 100th year as a state, New Mexico is looking to preserve tokens of history which trace back through the Camino Real, the space race, World War II, volcanoes and petroglyphs. Garrett says there are many treasures to be rediscovered in these 500,000 acres.

"They did find remains of a giant sloth in Kilbourne Hole, which is near the lava flow. And that, as I understand, is now in the Peabody Museum."

Kilbourne Hole is also the site where Apollo astronauts trained for walking on the moon in 1969. Garrett believes this and other sites within the proposed monument area will be of interest to eco-tourists, archaeologists and sportsmen, which could also be a boon to the New Mexico economy.
Beth Blakeman reporting, [email protected]