Increasingly, folks in the labor movement are concerned some in the new House leadership just don’t get how much working people are suffering right now … and they are ready to publicly vent their anger if the effort to create more jobs gets trumped by cuts in state government that create more unemployment.
Governor Martinez keeps doubling down on her promise to veto any new revenue measures, and proposing more cuts to the state budget.
Working people have not forgotten that in 2013, it was a Democratically controlled House and Senate that passed the big corporate welfare package while taking money away from city and county government for needed services and employees. The Democrats did not even insist the Governor sign a minimum wage increase sitting on her desk as they caved into her corporate agenda.
But Democrats said they would change all that. They wanted, and got, the financial and boots on the ground support from the labor community to win back the House this past November, after losing it in 2014.
Now the Democrats want more money, even as some in House leadership seem reticent to confront the Governor directly on the budget and other working family issues by putting measures on her desk and forcing her to choose between the ninety-nine percenters and the one percenters.
The following is an excerpt from a fundraising email sent on in late December by the NM HDCC, PO Box 27066, Albuquerque, NM 87125 United States:
“When we elected a Democratic majority in the New Mexico state House this past November, that wasn’t the end of the hard-fought campaign; in fact, it was barely the beginning.
“New Mexico was recently rated the worst-run state in the country for the second year in a row.
“We must get New Mexico back on track.
“Our Democratic majority is working every day to build a better future for our state. We are laser-focused on creating well-paying jobs in every community, because all New Mexicans deserve the security and opportunity for themselves and their families.
“But we need your help.”
It ends with a pitch for more money.
The frustration is increasing … and with some, trust is sadly being replaced by doubt.
Words mean nothing when not followed up with action.
If House leaders talk a big game but embrace a ‘wait till she leaves office’ approach, labor’s response will be felt by Democrats as well as Republicans.
They only need to remember what happened to Democrats in the Rust Belt in 2016.