Education

Our teachers need to be able to teach, without worrying about bureaucracy or stresses that out of their control. While I strongly support teacher evaluations, I think too much emphasis has been placed upon national testing programs. I think that test scores should have a lower percentage of impact in evaluations. I am evaluated daily in my small business for the job that I do; I believe it is absolutely fair and reasonable to evaluate public sector employees at least annually.

Jobs

We can invest more in the areas that our state desperate needs by simply utilizing our abundant natural resources that we’ve been granted by the federal government. Federal and state legislation proposed by the New Mexico Land Commissioner is exactly the “out of the box thinking” that we can use to fund early childhood development programs without taking away funds elsewhere.

Civil Liberties

I strongly believe that people, not politicians, should make choices in their own personal lives. Responsible adults should be free to make their own choices — as long as they aren’t harming anyone else in doing so."

Infrastructure

We must overhaul our years-old way of thinking and our defunct “Christmas Tree Bill” - the capital outlay bill funds our infrastructure using money from bonds issued against the state’s severance taxes on oil, gas, and minerals. However, those projects are selected using a political formula: the dollars are divided up among the governor and 112 legislators, each of whom individually select projects to fund in their districts (the bill is known as the "Christmas Tree Bill" because it contains "presents" for every district and lawmaker).

Budget / Capital Outlay Reform

First, attract more entrepreneurs to the state by offering in-state tuition to international STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) and Business students at New Mexico’s public universities. Statistically, these students are most likely to start new companies and create jobs for New Mexicans.

Second, reduce administrative burdens on businesses by creating a one-stop business portal for all fees and filings, similar to those in 18 other states.