Tipping Point New Mexico
Public policy podcast of the Rio Grande Foundation
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Episodes
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856 Scott Hindman – Excellent Schools New Mexico
Thursday, October 29, 2026
On this week’s interview Paul sits down with Scott Hindman, Founder and Executive Director of Excellent Schools New Mexico. Paul and Scott discuss Scott’s decision to get involved in New Mexico education policy after being drafted to play Major League Baseball. How his organization works to improve actual schools and their approach to education, and the impacts and benefits of charter schools and how they work in New Mexico and could be improved upon further to benefit New Mexico children. The post 856 Scott Hindman – Excellent Schools New Mexico appeared first on Tipping Point New Mexico.
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855 Amendment 4 Debate, APS Looking as School Closures, $456 million in IT Cost Overruns, Voices for Children, Bringing Prosperity to NM and more
Tuesday, October 27, 2026
RGF participates in debate over Amendment 4. Albuquerque Public Schools is looking for input on school closures. $456 MILLION in overruns from various New Mexico IT projects. Is Voices for Children coming around to our perspective? Why can’t/won’t New Mexico Democrats bring prosperity to NM? Trump touted the benefit of high oil prices (gasoline) over the weekend. Here’s why Americans and New Mexicans benefit from lower oil (gasoline) prices. The post 855 Amendment 4 Debate, APS Looking as School Closures, $456 million in IT Cost Overruns, Voices for Children, Bringing Prosperity to NM and m...
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854 Cyndi Bohannon and Dr. Victor Gamiz – Judge the Bench
Thursday, October 22, 2026
On this week’s interview Paul sits down with Cyndi Bohannon and Dr. Victor Gamiz, two of the volunteers behind an exciting new project called “Judge the Bench.” You can find more details at: https://judgethebench.com/ If you’ve ever felt overwhelmed by the number of judges on New Mexico’s ballots. If you’ve ever wished for some objective information about the quality of judicial opinions in New Mexico and especially how they deal with repeat offenders, Judge the Bench is for you. This is a new project put together by volunteers using publicly available information along with records reque...
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853 Early Voting, A Stark Choice for Governor, Haaland’s Plan for Bringing Doctors to NM, Democrat Legislators Support Republican in HD 27
Tuesday, October 20, 2026
On this week’s conversation Paul and Wally discuss early voting and their voting plans. Both recommend voting in expanded early voting. There are some Albuquerque local ballot issues that should draw skepticism from voters. Paul and Wally analyze them. Two Supreme Court justices are up for retention. Our reasons for opposing retention are straightforward. Paul will be debating Bob Perls on Saturday from 2pm to 4 on whether voters should support or oppose Amendment 4. If you are in Albuquerque you can attend. New Mexico has a stark choice in this gubernatorial election. Do we want stagnation...
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852 Bob Perls – Debate on New Mexico Constitutional Amendment 4
Thursday, October 15, 2026
On this week’s interview Paul sits down w/ former New Mexico Rep. Bob Perls and current chair of the NM Forward Party for a friendly conversation/debate on Amendment 4 which will be on ballots this November. If passed the amendment would pay legislators an annual salary of approximately $68,000 annually. Bob and Paul agree about many reforms needed for New Mexico’s Legislature and electoral system, but disagree on the merits of Amendment 4 and paying legislators. Don’t miss this important conversation about one of the most important issues on this fall’s ballot! The post 852 Bob Perls – Deb...
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851 Gubernatorial Race, Polling, The Debate That Wasn’t, Income Tax Proposal by Hull, Will Legislators Get Pay Raises and more
Tuesday, October 13, 2026
On this week’s Tipping Point conversation. Paul and Wally discuss the polling numbers in the Hull/Haaland gubernatorial race. They also discuss the numbers in the Greg Cunningham/Gabe Vazquez numbers from the Albuquerque Journal. Paul and Wally discuss the Haaland/Hull “debate” Hull’s simple plan for eliminating the personal income tax is eminently reasonable. The “plan” for this November is for the Legislature to get massive pay raises, but for us to get nothing. A hilariously bad article in the Santa Fe New Mexican highlights the terrible arguments against reducing taxes. According to the...
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850 Janice Arnold Jones and Robert Aragon – Bernalillo County GOP’s Affordability Agenda
Thursday, October 8, 2026
On this week’s interview episode Paul sits down with former Reps. Janice Arnold Jones and Robert Aragon. Both are longtime Republican activists who have served in many roles over the years and are now on the Executive Committee of the Bernalillo County GOP. The County Party just released a rather detailed “Affordability Agenda” which includes numerous detailed proposals, mostly relating to taxes and economic policy that could be enacted at the state level. Paul and his guests discuss WHY the County party has taken this on and they go through each proposal and discuss their pros and cons. Th...
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849 Gala Recap, “Free” Childcare is Not Really Free, Federal School Choice Regs, & Ozempic
Tuesday, October 6, 2026
MLG’s “free” childcare program won’t be “free” for everyone after all. Federal school choice regs have been published. MLG is on the clock. ABQ’s electric buses haven’t been on the roads since December. More issues with Amendment 4 on this Fall’s ballots. Paul and Wally take a closer look at the ballot. The cost of Ozempic for Medicaid patients doubled between 2023 and 2025. New Mexico Senate Democrats have made a few leadership changes. Linda Trujillo will be the new Senate Majority Leader and Cindy Nava the new majority Whip. The post 849 Gala Recap, “Free” Childcare is Not Really Free, F...
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848 Jonathan Williams – New Mexico’s Ranking in the Rich States, Poor States Report, and Getting Federal Budget Under Control
Thursday, October 1, 2026
This week’s interview is with Jonathan Williams, President and Chief Economist of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). They begin with a conversation about the organization’s “Rich States, Poor States” report which measures how all 50 states fare on various economic indicators. New Mexico ranks 35th. What would happen if New Mexico eliminated its personal income tax? In the second part of the interview Paul and Jonathan discuss the federal budget situation and offer some concrete ideas for how to get the federal debt under control. The post 848 Jonathan Williams – New Mexico’s ...
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847 Slight Poverty Improvement, Curtis vs. Chavez Legislative Race, Amendment 4 is Cash Grab and more
Tuesday, September 29, 2026
Slight poverty improvement is hardly an accomplishment. The most interesting of New Mexico’s legislative races this fall is between trial attorney Lisa Curtis and Nicole Chavez. RGF opinion piece in ABQ Journal: Amendment 4 is a cash grab, not reform. Guest column: gluttony thy name is NM pension plan. Poll: New Mexicans overwhelmingly support school choice. Free Childcare will soon require copays for some. NM education department asks for a record $5.9 billion for fiscal year 2028, a 2.9% increase from the year prior (despite dropping enrollment). A federal film tax credit is a terrible id...