New Mexico legislators send oil, gas drilling letter to Gov. Martinez

Dozens of New Mexico legislators want the governor to link approval of state funding for projects proposed by counties and municipalities to their willingness to allow mineral extraction such as drilling for gas and oil. A letter making the request was sent to Gov. Susana Martinez on Feb. 6. It was signed by 30 mostly Republican members of the 70-member House of Representatives, the Las Vegas Optic (http://bit.ly/X9GHDD ) reported Thursday. The governor's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The letter came as environmentalists and others are pressuring local governments to restrict drilling. Meanwhile, industry supporters are urging officials to allow extraction while citing potential tax revenue and jobs created. The letter said the unwillingness of communities to allow drilling reduces state tax collections that pay for capital projects. "While it is certainly a local government's prerogative to enact such restrictions, it limits the amount of taxes on natural resources and available capital outlay funds," the letter said. It urged Martinez to "give careful consideration to capital outlay projects located in those counties or municipalities that have voluntarily restricted the extractive industries."...more

Cost the state money, and the state won't be sending any your way. 

The counties and municipalities should learn the more they entangle themselves with the state, the less freedom they have to set policy.

The states should understand the more they rely on federal funding the less sovereign they are as a state.

And individuals must learn the more reliant they are on governments of any kind the less freedom of labor, income, entrepreneurship, association and artful expression they will retain.