Lawmakers in New Mexico are meeting this week to decide how to spend the projected windfall coming into the state due to higher oil prices. New Mexico is the sixth largest oil-producing state in the U.S., with a monthly production of around 5 million barrels. Taxes and royalties on oil and gas extraction in the State were expected to be around $400 million dollars higher than last year, but the recent decline in oil prices now suggest that $225 million dollars in new money will be available. On the table is a one-time tax rebate of $163 million dollars to help New Mexico families as they struggle with higher energy costs.

It sounds good until you realize that over the past year, the rise in gasoline prices alone has taken more than one billion dollars out of New Mexico’s consumer economy. You can't actually move your economy forward by giving public resources to companies that sell them back to you at enormous profit, even if you tax them and occasionally give taxpayers a rebate.