By Randy S. Bartell, Shareholder, Montgomery & Andrews Law Firm

Well-intentioned laws are known to backfire and cause more harm than healing. And when good laws go bad, the taxpayer can suffer.

The New Mexico Fraud Against Taxpayers Act (FATA) is an example of such legislation. Passed in 2011 to address the theft of state and local taxpayer dollars through fraudulent activity, the law contains provisions that protect people from retaliation for reporting such crimes.

The irony is that taxpayers whose interests are protected by FATA may be liable for punitive damages awarded to a public employee who reported, testified about or furthered a Fraud Against Taxpayers action. Continue reading →

By William F. Fulginiti, Executive Director, New Mexico Municipal League

As elected city leaders, New Mexico Municipal League members understand the importance of creating jobs in a state where recovery from the 2008-2009 recession has been slow at best.

Because the Municipal League represents the state’s 106 cities, towns and villages — from small towns like Tatum and Chama to urban hubs like Albuquerque and Las Cruces — we have a statewide perspective on economic development. That’s why the league has taken a leadership role in initiatives that stimulate job creation in every corner of this diverse state.

As league director, I’ve had the privilege of serving on several boards, councils and committees dedicated to strengthening the state’s economy. Continue reading →

By Finance New Mexico

As a legislator for the 9th District — the poorest county in one of America’s poorest states — Patty Lundstrom spends a lot of time educating fellow lawmakers about how their actions affect economic development at the community level. She understands these impacts firsthand, because Lundstrom’s primary job is to build the economy of Gallup and McKinley County as executive director of the Greater Gallup Economic Development Corporation.

Businesses and governments often operate in isolation, unmindful of how their operations or policies affect others, Lundstrom said in an interview with Finance New Mexico, and this can put them at cross purposes. In McKinley County, she broke with that tradition by introducing an economic development model founded on collaboration and peer support. Continue reading →

By Finance New Mexico

Philanthropic giving is a $300 billion industry in the United States, and New Mexicans do their part every year to underwrite the causes that matter most to them.

According to one organization that tracks philanthropic giving, the top recipients in 2014 were organizations devoted to education; human services; health; animals and the environment; public-social causes; arts, culture and the humanities; international disaster relief; and religion or spirituality.

While they seem invisible within these general categories, nonprofit organizations that promote grass-roots economic development — The Loan Fund, Accion and WESST among them — also rely on private giving to support and enable individual entrepreneurship in our state. Continue reading →

By Finance New Mexico

While Bernalillo County economic developers work hard to attract major industries to Albuquerque and unincorporated parts of the county, they understand that supporting the creation of numerous small businesses can lead to an equal number of jobs and opportunities.

This approach to growth has spawned a series of business summits over the past two years, each hosted by a Bernalillo County commissioner and highlighting a business opportunity or concern identified by that commissioner or the commissioner’s constituents. Continue reading →

By Finance New Mexico

The arguments for shopping at independent, locally owned New Mexico businesses before bargain hunting at national retail chains are many — and they’re all good.

Local businesses are more than twice as generous to hometown nonprofits that fulfill community-specific needs, according to the American Independent Business Alliance (AMIBA), and they are more loyal and accountable to the people they employ and live among. Local businesses are typically small, and this sector of the economy employs 48 percent of the private sector workforce. Continue reading →