(Albuquerque, New Mexico) – With the House of Representatives having just passed a spending increase of nearly 11 percent for FY 2008, taxpayers may be left wondering how they are going to pay for this largesse, especially when oil and gas revenues return to normal levels.

In a new study released today by the Rio Grande Foundation, Paul Gessing analyzes how spending might have been restrained over the last two decades had New Mexico’s politicians had to prioritize in a limited budget as opposed to spending whatever revenue flowed into government’s coffers.

Notable findings in “New Mexico’s Taxpayer Protection Act: One Small Step for Taxpayers?” include the fact that, if, starting in FY 1989, general fund spending growth had been limited to the rate of population growth plus 3.6 percent as outlined in the “Taxpayer Protection Act” which is sponsored by Sen. Kent Cravens (R-Albuquerque) and Rep. Tom Taylor (R-Farmington), FY 2007 spending would have been $1.3 billion lower ($3.8 billion instead of $5.1).

Of the excess revenue, $520 million would have been refunded directly to taxpayers while $780 million would have been deposited in the state’s permanent fund to provide financial security for future generations.

“Those numbers don’t even take into account Richardson’s ambitious spending plans for FY 2008,” Gessing pointed out. “In fact, assuming that Richardson gets his wish and an 11 percent spending increase is passed into law, the state’s general fund will be $5.7 billion next year as compared to $4.0 billion under the Taxpayer Protection Act. Even more shocking is the without spending protections in effect for FY 2008, government will grow $444 million more than it otherwise would in just one year.”

The study along with a chart illustrating the trend to spend can be found online at http://www.riograndefoundation.org/downloads/rgf_taxpayer_protection_act.pdf
Background data and hard copies of the paper can be obtained by emailing your name and street address to info@riograndefoundation.org.