Subscribe
Share
Share
Embed
Real News For Real New Mexicans.
The Chile Wire with Abe Baldonado. Hello, welcome to The Chile Wire. I'm Abenicio Baldonado, today we are at the New Mexico Roundhouse, and I am delighted to introduce you to my guest, representative Elaine Sena Cortez, who is also a dear friend. Elaine, welcome to the Chile Wire.
Elaine Sena Cortez:Thank you so much. It's an honor to be here.
Abenicio Baldonado:Of course. And before we begin, I do this with everyone we interview, red or green?
Elaine Sena Cortez:Oh, I like Christmas. It's gotta be both. I want both. Especially if I'm trying a new place, I wanna see which sauce is better and people are like, well, it's known for this. I'm like, you let me be the judge of that.
Abenicio Baldonado:Well, you know, it's interesting. I've had friends tell me you're not supposed to mix red or green together because the palate is a little bit different for each of those tastes. I have some friends that are like so critical of people getting, I like crispy, just like you, I like to switch it up, taste the flavor, but you can't go wrong red or green.
Elaine Sena Cortez:Oh, that's right. And then I even like to add salsa with the red or green and I always tell people, hey, like the hotter the better.
Abenicio Baldonado:That's right. Well, since I'm a Norteno and you're from down south, I have to ask which chili's better, Southern New Mexico or Northern New Mexico?
Elaine Sena Cortez:So it's just different. The Northern Part of New Mexico, it's just a totally different style and in the Southeastern part of the state it's more Mexican, like Mexico. Yeah,
Abenicio Baldonado:no, great chilies. I love, Andale Chili from, down in Las Cruces. I don't know if you've ever had it.
Elaine Sena Cortez:I don't, maybe I have. I've eaten at
Abenicio Baldonado:Oh, Chopi's? I don't think I've ever it.
Elaine Sena Cortez:Okay. I feel like the people that cook in there love me. Like they love me deeply. All of the Diaz and the Aguelas cooking in the kitchen.
Abenicio Baldonado:Oh, are the best restaurants. Well, if you're ever in Las Cruces, try Andala. They do a green chili cheese sauce that is to die for.
Elaine Sena Cortez:Sounds amazing. You're making me hungry.
Abenicio Baldonado:Same, and it's early in the morning. Representative, one of your bills had an opportunity to give New Mexicans a 6% raise. Unfortunately, that bill was tabled in committee, but I'd love for you to share with our followers a little bit more about that bill and the impacts it could have had. And I know you had a great personal story about you and your husband and your family shopping for groceries and realized with rising costs, really motivated you to say, we need to do something for New Mexicans.
Elaine Sena Cortez:Thank you for bringing that up. And you know what, that was the heart of this bill is, you know, we just took a regular grocery shopping trip and then when it was time to check out, it was six hundred bucks. I was like, oh my gosh, we were not buying Wagyu beef or caviar. I know, hear that's a favorite up north. We weren't buying fancy things like that.
Elaine Sena Cortez:It was just regular groceries. And one of the comments I made to my husband as soon as we got in the car, like you don't want to say it in front of the cashier, but I was like, oh my gosh, how are people making it? And the truth is they're not. People are not making it, not single households, people on fixed incomes, large families. The truth is they're not making it.
Elaine Sena Cortez:And I think that is one fact that we can all agree on is that New Mexicans are financially struggling with inflation. So we know that inflation is a federal issue and that is why at a state level eliminating the personal income tax, that was something that we could do here for New Mexicans by letting them keep their own money.
Abenicio Baldonado:That's right.
Elaine Sena Cortez:And I feel like government for so long is, you know, takes your money, taxes you, gives you a little bit back and then expects you to be grateful and has all these other programs and says, we're going to do this for you. It's like, hey, nobody knows how to spend their money better than New Mexicans themselves. So let's give them the autonomy to decide what they want to do with their money. And so, but the heart of this bill came from that. And then as I talked to people that are in my district, everyone was like, we're not making it.
Elaine Sena Cortez:And credit card usage is at an all time high. And CNBC talked about for New Mexico, the low end for New Mexicans have 6,000 in credit card debt. The high end is $10,000 and that is at the top in The United States. They're closer in the top 10. So New Mexicans are struggling and you know the argument that I heard was is that well how are you going to like how would that help our economy?
Elaine Sena Cortez:And if you eliminated the personal income tax it would help diversify our economy. So expanding the purchase power of New Mexicans, having more money flowing in to the state, it would make it a favorable environment for other businesses to come. And that's our goal, right? We want to attract businesses to our state and we want to stop people from leaving our state. And what I proposed was not a radical idea.
Elaine Sena Cortez:Nine other states do not have the income tax and right now New Mexico directly competes with those states for workers. So it was just a way to attract people to our state. When people are looking at, you know, fresh out of college, where should I go? You know, a favorable tax environment is what would attract people to our state. And we need doctors and nurses and lawyers, but trades people.
Elaine Sena Cortez:And the list goes on on the kind of people that we want here in our state. And so I believe that what I proposed would also help in GRTs. Cannot afford to hide their money under a mattress and just put it there. People would be able to buy things that they need like gas and groceries and rent, and it would come back into a surplus into our economy.
Abenicio Baldonado:Right. As people have more money, they spend more money usually. They, you know, maybe have a little extra money to buy a TV or furniture, whatever it may be. It really grows business as well. It brings folks in to spend a little bit of their money.
Abenicio Baldonado:And like you said, New Mexicans know how to spend their money wisely. And I think we're coming off a $3,000,000,000 surplus, what it sounds like right now, thanks to oil and gas, which has delivered that. But I think, you you hit the nail on the head is that New Mexico is in a prime position to remove income tax and compete with other states that are flourishing. That's We look at Texas, we look at Florida, they have instituted great tax policy and their retirees want to be there, their families want to be there. That's what we want here.
Abenicio Baldonado:We live on abundant resources and natural beauty here in New Mexico. Why wouldn't we want New Mexicans to stay?
Elaine Sena Cortez:You're exactly right.
Abenicio Baldonado:Also, I think the latest median salary in New Mexico is about $45,000 I believe. So when we start thinking about rising costs and you think about single families living off $45,000 a year and paying $600 at the grocery It
Elaine Sena Cortez:is just tough. And I want to elaborate off of something you said. I kind of rolled my eyes when you brought up the surplus being from oil and gas. I come from oil countries and, know, and gas made up 49% of the state's budget last year and which equaled 13,000,000,000 in state and local revenue. And we have a surplus due to, like I said, I come from oil country.
Elaine Sena Cortez:I am so proud to represent the oil industry and to fight for the oil industry, but some of the bills that are being proposed overregulate, overpenalize with fines, fees, these penalties to get more money. And they say they want to diversify it. I'm big for diversifying energy. I don't know if you wanted to go this direction, but I'm going
Abenicio Baldonado:this direction. Yeah, absolutely.
Elaine Sena Cortez:I'm big for diversifying energy, but not one in place of the other. Add the other things. I think that that's great. We should have that, but not in place of oil and gas. And they always say we're trying to diversify to get away from oil and gas, but the bills that are being proposed are making them more dependent on oil and gas.
Elaine Sena Cortez:Raising taxes on oil and gas, fining, having these fees, these penalties.
Abenicio Baldonado:Higher GRTs.
Elaine Sena Cortez:Everything. And you drive up the cost of energy, which fuels our transportation goods and services, that is not making it more affordable for New Mexicans. And I've heard from the other side over and over, we want to make it more affordable for New Mexicans. You're not. Not when you drive up energy costs.
Elaine Sena Cortez:And so all of these propositions that the left has proposed, I call it the unaffordable act. It is not making it more affordable for New Mexicans.
Abenicio Baldonado:And we want to tax them more. You know, we've seen bills like paid family medical leave come through the panels.
Elaine Sena Cortez:Oh yeah, that we are still fighting.
Abenicio Baldonado:Yeah.
Elaine Sena Cortez:Absolutely. And so that would hurt small businesses. Give people the power to decide. I believe that we have, a state filled with amazing small businesses. They're the backbone of New Mexico, but give them the autonomy to decide what is right for them and let them, do what is right for their employees.
Elaine Sena Cortez:I believe a lot of our business owners have amazing hearts and they will do what they can to work with their employees when there's a sickness, when, one has a baby, but give them the autonomy. And I'm in government, And it is ironic that I'm always trying to move government out of the way. I believe we should have less government and let's give power back to the people because that is where it has always belonged.
Abenicio Baldonado:Yep, that's freedom. And now having, we met when I worked for the New Mexico Oil and Gas Association and since then, you know, I've always said, and even before that, you know, having worked in public policy over a number of years is why aren't we a state that does all the above? Why do we have to sacrifice one thing for Let's flourish in all sectors of energy, renewable, oil and gas. Let's do it all. I think there's a misunderstanding and misconception about the impacts of renewable energy because you can't have renewable energy without oil and gas.
Elaine Sena Cortez:That's right.
Abenicio Baldonado:Petroleum byproducts are just about everything that we touch and we have today including our clothes that we wear in and our boots and our shoes. I love that. And also you want to empower seniors, seniors who rely on social security. You know, I think about my family, I think a lot of people think and we've heard this conversation that there's this assumption that people are living well off social security, which is not the case. We have grandmas and grandpas who are raising grandchildren because parents aren't involved and their sole income is social security tax.
Abenicio Baldonado:I know you wanted to remove the caps on social security and I'd love for you to just fill our followers in a little bit more about that bill as well.
Elaine Sena Cortez:Absolutely. So one thing that you should know about me is that I grew up in really humble beginnings. Like I was the kid whose goals and dreams were so much bigger than my family's income. And just to paint the picture of how I grew up across the street from me was a prostitute who conducted her body out by the hour. And then if that wasn't bad enough, we had thugs and gang members across the street on this side, and there was police and brawls.
Elaine Sena Cortez:And if that wasn't bad enough we had drunks behind us who would fight their roosters and their pit bulls and I grew up in the hood, went to the highest risk elementary school in Hobbs, New Mexico in the Southeastern part of the state and, my mom, my late mom and my dad would always speak life to me and say, you're going to leave your mark on this world and you're going to impact thousands of people, but we can't afford to get you to college, you're going have to figure that out. And I remember having that conversation with him in the first grade and thinking, I'm gonna have to figure my life out. And that's what I did. I, to get my undergrad degree, I worked four jobs to pay for my tuition, graduated debt free, got my master's, my husband and I are still paying for my doctorate. But someone like me in the neighborhood I grew up in, I should have been a statistic and I could have been a statistic, but I chose different for my life.
Elaine Sena Cortez:And that is the power of the American dream, right? And I had an incentive to work. I never took government assistance. I just chose to work my butt off. And so I believe that we should be incentivizing people to work hard.
Elaine Sena Cortez:Know, it's all about the power of the choices that we make to create the life that we want. And many people in my neighborhood got addicted to drugs, became teen moms. Some of them got killed in drug affiliated wars, but I chose differently. And I felt incentivized to work after the, like to fight for the American dream and in eliminating the social security income tax, I believe a lot of these people were like me. They fought for the American dream.
Elaine Sena Cortez:And so let's incentivize people to work, to work hard for their money. Let them keep the money that they work for. And a lot of these people, now that they're at an age where they're retired, this money was already taxed for a worker's working years. I want to say that again. This money was already taxed for a worker during their working years.
Elaine Sena Cortez:So essentially it is a double tax and that's not okay. That is also a vulnerable population that is aging.
Abenicio Baldonado:Government's living well while individual families are
Elaine Sena Cortez:trying to put food
Abenicio Baldonado:on the fixed
Elaine Sena Cortez:incomes and just like you said, they're raising grandchildren and if we also eliminated that tax on social security, again, more GRTs, they'd buy things that they need. They would do things for their grandkids, buy things that their grandkids need, some of them they're raising them. So it would stimulate the economy, make it an attractive state for retirees to stay here. Because I know where I live, we lose a lot of retirees. The moment it's time to retire, they leave to Texas, they leave to Florida.
Abenicio Baldonado:Where they're not taxed. Yeah. On personal income tax and on
Elaine Sena Cortez:social security They will for environments that have a favorable tax structure. So again, let's keep our retirees in New Mexico. It's a beautiful state. We have so much to offer, but let's keep our retirees. And then because we have so much to offer, let's attract our retirees.
Abenicio Baldonado:Absolutely. And I couldn't think of a more beautiful story. You know, you just spoke to the gente is what I really like because I grew up in Las Vegas, New Mexico, very small rural town, humble beginnings as well. My grandparents were very prideful people. They didn't seek government assistance.
Abenicio Baldonado:They wanted to work for everything they had. To them, it was frowned upon to accept government assistance. They wanted to work hard. And those were values and traditions they instilled in my parents and my parents instilled in me. But I think you talk about a great story that I think as a former educator, I had a lot of students who came from backgrounds like mine and even some from more struggling backgrounds who always said, I don't think I can make it.
Abenicio Baldonado:I don't think I could be a doctor. I don't think I could be a lawyer. I don't think I could do what you do. But here are two of us having a conversation who kind of broke those doors down. And, you know, we didn't fall into being the statistic.
Abenicio Baldonado:You know, we worked really hard to get where we were. And, you know, luckily we had great family support. But I think you just spoke to the American dream that anything is possible and it may be difficult, but as long as you work hard, we have people like yourself who are now elected trying to create policies that are going to make it easier for those pathways to grow your life and live the true American dream. Just thank you for telling your story to our followers and here on the Chili Wire. I know we're running short on time, so I want to jump in.
Abenicio Baldonado:Big congratulations. Yesterday, you had a big momentous opportunity to pass your first bill and it passed unanimously on the House floor. And I'd love for you to fill in our followers on the Silver Act.
Elaine Sena Cortez:So what this does, this bill does, is that it adds to the Silver Alert. And right now, like a medical diagnosis is required, for anyone who has gone missing for the silver alert to be issued, right? And so typically this person has Alzheimer's or other cognitive issues. And this bill adds that if a person merely shows signs of cognitive decline or impairment, they don't have to be medically diagnosed. If they just show the signs of it, we can issue that silver alert.
Elaine Sena Cortez:And more than anything, this bill would help individuals who've gone missing return to their family. Absolutely. The heart of this bill was there was a New Mex Mexican that had signs of cognitive impairment. They couldn't issue the silver alert and this person was from the northern part of the state. In twenty four hours, they found this person in a complete different city in the rural part of New Mexico and that's not okay.
Elaine Sena Cortez:They're a vulnerable population and the beauty of this was that there was unanimous support to take care of this vulnerable population.
Abenicio Baldonado:Well, thank you for always taking care of families and thinking about New Mexicans first. Here at the Chile Wire, we are honored to have you as a representative defending our state, defending values, and just trying to create a better world for our future. So, representative, I wanna thank you for joining the Chile Wire. Thank you again, and thank you for your tireless efforts and one more week to go.
Elaine Sena Cortez:I'm excited. Let's get it done.
Abenicio Baldonado:Yep. Thank you everyone, and tune in next time for the ChiliWired podcast.