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Nov 21, 2024 | 
rrobserver.com | Katie Gutierrez |Think New Mexico |Katie Gutierrez Tax
New Mexico has a critical shortage of health care workers, including doctors, nurses and behavioral health providers. Solving this shortage will require investments in reforms like increasing student loan repayment programs for health care workers, increasing Medicaid reimbursement rates to doctors, expanding health care worker training programs, and targeting tax incentives.
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Jan 10, 2024 | 
riograndesun.com | Think New Mexico
A new poll of New Mexico voters found broad, bipartisan support for education reforms including capping the size of elementary school classes at 20 students; enhancing the training and transparency of local school boards; and ensuring that the high school curricula include a diverse array of required courses.
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Jul 30, 2023 | 
abqjournal.com | Fred Nathan |Think New Mexico
By Fred Nathan, Think New Mexico Last Sunday's Journal (July 23) included an opinion piece by Patrick Brenner, founder and president of the libertarian Southwest Public Policy Institute, expressing regret over New Mexico's recent law ending predatory lending. The Southwest Public Policy Institute has consistently opposed the law, which reduced the maximum annual interest rate on small loans - under $10,000 - from 175% to 36%.
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Apr 7, 2023 | 
demingheadlight.com | Fred Nathan |Think New Mexico
OPINION: NM’s Social Security exemption will keep up with inflation
As New Mexico seniors file their annual income tax returns, many may be pleasantly surprised to discover that they are no longer paying state taxes on their Social Security income. The 2022 tax year marks the first time Social Security income is exempt from New Mexico income tax since 1990, when the legislature first began taxing it.
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Apr 5, 2023 | 
grantcountybeat.com | Fred Nathan |Think New Mexico |Mary Alice Murphy
By Fred Nathan, Executive Director, Think New Mexico
As New Mexico seniors file their annual income tax returns, many may be pleasantly surprised to discover that they are no longer paying state taxes on their Social Security income.
The 2022 tax year marks the first time Social Security income is exempt from New Mexico income tax since 1990, when the legislature first began taxing it. That tax was enacted as a single line on the second to last page of a long and complex piece of legislation.
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Mar 30, 2023 | 
dchieftain.com | Fred Nathan |Think New Mexico
To the Editor of the El Defensor Chieftain :I am writing to commend Representative Gail Armstrong for her continuing leadership in the effort to repeal the tax on Social Security income. For the last several years, Representative Armstrong has sponsored legislation to fully repeal this burdensome double tax on seniors.
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Mar 24, 2023 | 
demingheadlight.com | Fred Nathan |Think New Mexico
To the Editor:Think New Mexico commends Senator Crystal Diamond for her leadership in helping to pass Senate Joint Memorial 14, which creates a process to identify and eliminate nonessential, redundant and unnecessarily burdensome reporting requirements on school districts, with a goal of reducing the number of state reports by at least 25 percent.
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Mar 23, 2023 | 
dchieftain.com | Fred Nathan |Think New Mexico
Editor:Kudos to Representative Tara Jaramillo for her leadership in sponsoring House Bill 460 to improve the quality of the state’s colleges of education!House Bill 460 proposed to convert the final year of a four-year teacher training program into a teacher residency, a paid year-long experience in a classroom alongside an experienced teacher. Teachers who participate in residencies are better prepared and are much less likely to leave the profession.
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Feb 24, 2023 | 
grantcountybeat.com | Fred Nathan |Think New Mexico |Mary Alice Murphy
By Fred Nathan, Executive Director, Think New Mexico
School boards are an often-undervalued piece of the puzzle in improving New Mexico's public schools. They play a critically important role in setting the tone, culture, and expectations for the schools they oversee.
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Feb 23, 2023 | 
abqjournal.com | Fred Nathan |Think New Mexico
School boards are an often undervalued piece of the puzzle in improving New Mexico’s public schools. They play a critically important role in setting the tone, culture and expectations for the schools they oversee. Last year, Think New Mexico published a report titled A Roadmap for Rethinking Public Education in New Mexico, which proposed a sweeping 10-point plan with 30 separate legislative recommendations to improve the performance of New Mexico’s public schools.
