Opinion: Think New Mexico celebrates 25 years

In this “calm” before the storm that is this year’s election, let’s take a break from the partisan banter to recognize some thinkers in our midst.

Think New Mexico turned 25 this year.

Regular readers of this column know it’s a favorite of mine; I’ve written numerous times about how this nonpartisan and intellectually independent think tank focuses not only on New Mexico-centric issues but on proposing practical solutions as well. I like the way Executive Director Fred Nathan and his team take on the issues — first by identifying and researching an issue, then publishing their findings and proposing solutions. Nathan then leads a charge into the Roundhouse to lobby for changes in the law to bring about the needed reforms.

It’s been a formula for success over the years. Since its formation in 1999, Think New Mexico has been instrumental in repealing the state’s sales tax on food; making full-day kindergarten accessible to all New Mexico kids; setting up and preserving the state’s lottery scholarships program; doing away with the state’s tax on Social Security for most New Mexicans; adding financial literacy to high school curriculums; and much more. And they do it all not for political advantage but for the greater good.

Last week I received Think NM’s latest report about its latest issue: The growing shortage of health-care professionals in New Mexico. I’ll write more about that later — after the election, when we’re thinking beyond the politics of division and turning our attention to real-world solutions instead.

At least I hope that’s what we’ll be thinking about when the New Mexico Legislature convenes in January for a 60-day session, when lawmakers are again in a great position to tackle some of the biggest problems we have as a state, including our crisis in health care.

Health care, especially in rural communities, is certainly a big issue for New Mexico, as are poverty, especially children in poverty, and the looming effects of climate change, especially upon the state’s water and land. All of them need to be addressed politically, but none of them are partisan per se.

Solutions come through reasonable compromise, not through party posturing, and that’s something I wish more movers and shakers in our state would embrace.

If you look at Think New Mexico’s work over the years, you can see a lot of common-sense solutions at play. One example took place about 20 years ago, when Think took up water management as an issue.

As a result, the Strategic Water Reserve was created to protect and build up water rights for public purposes. Another example is from a few years ago, when Think identified the hidden and unexpected hospital costs being passed on the patients; they pushed for and got a website set up to disclose those costs to the public. 

In a world that’s being dumbed down to sound bites and unreasonable outrage, it’s nice to know some people are still doing deep-dives into the issues that face New Mexicans, not for immediate advantage but for long-term solutions instead.

Tom McDonald is editor of the New Mexico Community News Exchange. Contact him at:

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