Over 300 elected-officials from 43 states gathered in Philadelphia last week at the DLC's National Conversation, themed 'What We're Fighting For.' In two days of policy debate and strategy sessions, attendees revisited that question frequently. What are we fighting for? In his keynote address, New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, struck upon an important part of the answer: "We need to show the world that we have a party of sound principles and sound values."
As governor of New Mexico, Richardson has translated his New Democrat values into an effective policy agenda. "We've shown that it's possible to pursue a progressive Democratic agenda which cuts taxes and provides economic incentives for businesses while at the same time improving education, exploding childcare availability, protecting the environment, fighting discrimination, and balancing the budget," he said.
Richardson's successes have been turning heads. When he arrived in Philadelphia, he had just been nominated chairman of the 2004 Democratic National Convention.
Richardson would have been an appealing choice for the job purely on the strength of his impressive resume -- fifteen years in Congress, successful terms as UN Ambassador and Secretary of Energy -- and the fact that he will be the first ever Hispanic American to fill the role of Chairman. But his recent successes as governor have made the nomination all the more appropriate.
In the state's most recent legislative term, Richardson's first as governor, over 90 percent of his agenda was adopted. That includes boosting public school teachers' pay, increasing unemployment benefits, toughening hate crimes penalties, and implementing a new policy allowing poor seniors to purchase prescription drugs through Medicaid -- all while enacting significant tax cuts (slicing the top income tax rate from 8.2 percent to 4.9 percent over 5 years). Meanwhile, the state maintains a budget surplus.
Richardson's progress has been helped by the fact that he enjoys a friendly statehouse and continued public support since November's record 16-point margin of victory. Even so, it has required an innovative approach for Richardson to be able to expand key state investments while cutting taxes. His focus has been on squeezing waste and increasing efficiency in state government. His pledge to the citizens of New Mexico has been: "every government program, indeed, every government employee, must be held accountable to you the taxpayers." In April, the governor instructed his cabinet to "scrutinize every penny." He unveiled a comprehensive multi-part performance review to "thoroughly evaluate state services and operations and identify key issues and opportunities to improve service delivery or reduce costs."
Richardson led by example, announcing that week a slew of cuts that would save the state $21 million without adversely affecting services. Agencies have slimmed down their number of outside consulting contracts; the Corrections Department has relocated some 140 state prisoners; and the Revenue and Taxation Department has stepped up its pursuit of delinquent taxpayers.
While New Mexico is taking steps to stretch its limited pool of state dollars further, the next step in Richardson's plan is to increase revenues by spurring economic growth. Richardson eagerly supports business development, especially the type of businesses and institutions -- science, technology, venture capital, medicine, higher education -- that bring high wage jobs with them. Richardson says his tax cuts have been one important step toward making New Mexico more attractive to businesses. But he has also proposed dedicating over $200 million -- 2 percent of the state's permanent funds -- to invest in business startup organizations, an in-plant training fund, and new recruitment efforts.
A little "seed" investment from the state today, Richardson suggests, will pay-off in the form of a diverse, stable, and thriving state economy in the years to come. Richardson is already seeing results. In July, he announced that a targeted $29 million investment in a local firms like Mesa Semiconductors and Eclipse Aviation, will result in more than 1,600 new jobs.
New Mexico's investment in itself has also brought a new group of supporters into the state party. "Business... is becoming increasingly Democratic," Richardson said in Philadelphia.
"We should be proud to be the moderate party of sound economic management and fiscal responsibility and a friend of the economic engines -- the businesspeople of this country."
