MLG blames Trump, then asks for oil cash rebates

Democrat Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham is calling on lawmakers to send New Mexicans at least $250 in energy relief checks after a spike in oil prices created what she described as an $825 million windfall for the state’s trust funds.

In a new opinion column, Lujan Grisham argued that New Mexico’s latest oil-driven revenue surge should be returned, at least in part, to taxpayers who are paying more at the pump.

“It’s no secret that New Mexico’s finances rise and fall with oil prices — and right now, prices are high,” Lujan Grisham wrote. “That’s good news for state coffers, and it should be good news for New Mexicans, too.”

The column is notable because it openly acknowledges what conservatives have said for years: New Mexico’s budget depends heavily on oil and gas revenues, even as Democrats routinely attack the industry, push aggressive “clean energy” policies, and rail against fossil fuels.

Lujan Grisham placed blame for rising gas prices squarely on President Donald Trump, writing that crude oil prices “surpassed $100 per barrel this spring, up from $58 before President Trump’s reckless war in Iran.”

According to the governor, economists project that the price spike will add an extra $825 million to New Mexico’s trust funds. But she argued that the same surge is hurting working families.

“But the same price surge padding the state’s bank accounts is draining New Mexicans’ wallets at the pump,” she wrote. “Since the start of the war, New Mexicans have paid as much as $1.30 more for a gallon of gasoline, and that adds up fast.”

Lujan Grisham cited a constituent, Urban Trujillo of Bloomfield, who wrote to her office about high gas prices in San Juan County.

“We can blame all kinds of things, but that doesn’t change having to choose between food or fuel,” Trujillo wrote, according to the governor. “If you decide on food, you still can’t get it because you can’t get to it.”

The governor used that example to argue that rising fuel prices are hitting families across the state, from commuters in Gallup to grocery shoppers in Las Cruces to families in Albuquerque reconsidering summer trips to Carlsbad Caverns.

“It is the summer trip to Carlsbad Caverns an Albuquerque family can no longer afford,” she wrote.

Lujan Grisham also claimed households nationwide have shouldered an estimated $450 in additional fuel costs since the conflict began, calling that money “foregone groceries, stalled medical care and spent savings.”

The governor argued that New Mexico is in a unique position because the state benefits financially from rising oil prices while families suffer from higher fuel costs.

“New Mexico is one of the only states in the nation where rising gas prices are simultaneously creating a state budget windfall and a kitchen-table crisis,” Lujan Grisham wrote. “Our severance taxes and oil royalties capture the upside; our families absorb the downside.”

Her proposed answer is a rebate.

“When the state’s good fortune comes at a direct cost to the people who live here, the appropriate response is to share what we’ve collected,” she wrote. “That is why I am asking the Legislature to consider giving some of it back as an energy relief rebate of at least $250 for every taxpaying New Mexican.”

“We can afford it,” she added. “Moreover, it’s just plain good sense to reinvest in the hard-working New Mexicans who fuel this state’s economy.”

The proposal may appeal to New Mexicans frustrated by higher prices, but it also exposes an uncomfortable contradiction for Santa Fe Democrats. The same oil and gas industry often treated as a political punching bag by the left is now being credited by the governor as the source of a massive state windfall.

New Mexico Democrats frequently campaign on “climate change” rhetoric, “green” energy promises, and attacks on fossil fuels. Yet when oil prices rise, state government benefits enormously through severance taxes and royalties.

Now Lujan Grisham wants to use that oil money to soften the impact of high fuel prices — while blaming Trump for the pain families are feeling — despite the terrible economic policies foisted upon New Mexicans by far-left Democrats that are the true driver of costs for families.

“New Mexicans didn’t choose this war or its consequences,” she wrote. “But they’ve borne the cost of this conflict in every gallon of gas they’ve pumped. Now we have an opportunity to give back.”

She closed by urging state lawmakers to return part of the windfall directly to residents.

“New Mexico’s oil revenue windfall belongs to New Mexicans,” Lujan Grisham wrote, “and I urge state lawmakers to return at least part of it directly to them.”

The Legislature would have to act for any rebate to move forward, and if she wants it while she’s governor, she would have to call a special session. But the governor’s column already makes one thing clear: when Santa Fe needs money, oil and gas are indispensable.

And when prices spike, even New Mexico Democrats suddenly remember that energy policy has real consequences for working families.