Q&A: Newest senator talks local needs, Clovis connections

Jan. 20—Editor's note: This is one in a continuing series of interviews with local officials. Sen. Greg Nibert, R-Roswell, was appointed to succeed longtime state Sen. Stuart Ingle, R-Portales, earlier this month.

Q: Talk about your time growing up in Clovis and how did that beginning get you to where you are today?

A: I was 5 years old when we moved to Clovis. I lived on Reed Street south of the then hospital. I went to Mrs. Sanders' kindergarten on South Prince. I then went to first grade at James Bickley Elementary for first and second grade. Then they completed Zia Elementary when I was in third grade and completed third, fourth, fifth, and sixth grade at Zia. I went to Yucca for junior high and graduated from the bicentennial class of Clovis High School in 1976.

I ran track, I played little league football, and basketball. Coach Terry Swan was my track and cross-country coach. I lettered in track.

From Clovis, I went to the University of New Mexico with five or six of my classmates and I went on to law school.

I moved back to New Mexico to take a job in Roswell for Lewis Cox's law firm. I worked with Mr. Cox and eventually got hired at the Hinkle Law firm and have been with them ever since.

My education was largely a result of the teachers I had in the schools that I attended in Clovis. They prepared me well, and a number of my classmates well, because they all went on to earn professional degrees.

Q: From your perspective as a lawmaker, how do Clovis' needs differ from the needs of Roswell where you live now? What are their similarities?

A: I think all the east part of the state has common threads running through it. Agriculture is one of those common threads. Things like dairies and ranching are all common threads that reach nearly every town on the east side of the state.

I think our communities share that common sense of the importance of faith in family life and the concern about traditional family values. I don't think that is unique to just Clovis and Roswell but is common to the entire east side of the state.

The precious need for water and our dependence on that limited resource is acute in eastern New Mexico. We are all aware of how precious water is to each of us and I think that it is a common thread that runs through all the communities.

One difference I have noticed is that Roswell has two high schools and so Roswell did not have its social life centered around the high school; unlike when I was growing up in Clovis it seemed like everything seemed to focus on what the high school was doing.

Q: You've said we have to make it easier to do business in New Mexico. What does that look like for you?

A: If I got to be king for the day, we would be peeling back a lot of regulatory burdens on every industry.

I would start with the regulatory burdens ... and we need to make the tax structure not only fair but easier to understand and navigate.

I think we need to encourage businesses to come here and make it easy for them to secure whatever necessary permits they need to engage in business. New Mexico should not put that many barriers to entry in front of people who want to open businesses. Some of it is regulatory, some of it is statutory.

Lastly, we have to have a workforce that is capable of doing the jobs that businesses need to prosper in New Mexico. Somehow, we have got to figure out our education to where it not only educates our children but gives them some hope that when they graduate, that there is a path to have a good job that they can make a career out of in New Mexico.

So many of our high school graduates are finding that those opportunities are not in New Mexico, so they are moving to Texas, Colorado, and Arizona.

Somehow the education system over the last 50 years has not reflected an advancement of performance in our students. We need to do something in our education system that shows employers that New Mexican students can perform the tasks and take those jobs and can positively contribute to the wellbeing of the economic community.

Q: It seems every study ranks New Mexico last or near last in education. And it's been that way for decades, under Republican and Democrat governors. How do we fix this?

A: It is not going to take just a governor, it is going to take everyone in the state to have a different attitude toward business, toward opportunity, toward the desire to lead and succeed on not just a national basis but an international basis.

We have to collectively desire to advance ideas that are going to produce results, because if we don't we are going to be stuck at the bottom or near the bottom.

It takes a concerted effort of all. It is not just the Legislature, the governor, the City Council, or the county commissioners. We all have to recognize that we have a role in this.

Q: You've said mental health programs are helpful, but they often reach people too late. How do you propose we address mental health issues earlier as a state?

A: I think we are seeing a struggle in every community.

We want people to make their decisions and to live the life that they desire to live, that's freedom. But, at some point, people who are struggling with mental health, whether it is self-induced or genetic that has caused these conditions to exist, we must be able to identify it and have the resources to deal with that portion of our population that suffers from mental health issues.

I believe that we have gotten to a point where the state has to step up and tackle this issue head-on.

Q: New Mexico has a budget surplus well into the billions. The Legislature debate seems to be between those who want to spend it and those who want to save it. Why not give it back to the taxpayers and then slash taxes? Lawmakers can always raise them again if necessary.

A: I believe we should eliminate the personal income tax right now. If we have the ability to make ends meet, we could eliminate the personal income tax right now, and I agree we could reinstate it if we needed to.

We have infrastructure needs, every community in the state has them, and we need to do some things with that surplus to build things that will last longer than 50 years.

We need to replace water lines throughout the state and reinforce bridges and roads while we have this budget surplus.

Q: You've succeeded Stuart Ingle as our region's senator. Ingle's legacy is one of compromise and crossing party lines to make things happen. Most lawmakers today seem to think compromise is a dirty word. How do you feel about the extreme beliefs on the Right and the Left in politics today?

A: The headlines get made when there is conflict and so we see a lot of that. In reality, everything gets done on a bipartisan basis and always has. It is just the big issues that get printed in the papers that create the headlines and create the perception that nobody gets along.

I think if you look at my service in the House over the last seven years, that will tell you how I am going to legislate as a senator here in the Senate.

I have gone and been constructive in dealing with the majority party on legislation, even the things that I cannot vote for. Just trying to make it better and being able to work with the other side.