Editorial: Permanent fund raid not fiscally appetizing

“I’ll gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today.”

The famous saying by Popeye’s hamburger-eating pal, Wimpy, has come to symbolize fiscal irresponsibility.

Members of the state Senate are being offered a menu straight out of the comic strip. But if they approve Senate Joint Resolution 3, it could place New Mexico in jeopardy of not having money to pay for tomorrow’s education.

On Sunday, the House approved its version of a proposed constitutional amendment that would ask New Mexico voters in 2014 to take an extra 1 percent out of the state’s Land Grant Permanent Fund to pay for early childhood education. Starting in 2016 that would generate about $113 million annually for pre-kindergarten programs. The fund now puts more than $500 million annually toward education.

The resolution also would extend a half-percent distribution rate for teacher raises that voters approved in 2003. That half percent is scheduled to sunset in 2016, but the House proposal has no sunset and if approved by voters would make permanent the additional 1.5 percent withdrawal — over and above the 5 percent the state already drew to fund elementary, secondary and higher education before we tapped it for more in 2003.

The fund, created to benefit public education, is now valued at $11.45 billion. That may seem like a lot of money, but it is supported mainly by oil and gas extractions. This income from non-renewable energy sources will one day run out and the extra hamburgers we eat today will be put on the tab of future generations.

A State Investment Council analysis says that in the long run, dipping into the fund more deeply “would increase the risk that the (fund) may fail to deliver the same benefits to the General Fund and other beneficiaries as it does today.”

Boosting early childhood programs is a worthy goal, but lawmakers should find other ways to fund it. The Senate should exercise fiscal discipline and stop this raid, instead of ordering something today it won’t be able to pay for on Tuesday.

This editorial first appeared in the Albuquerque Journal. It was written by members of the editorial board and is unsigned as it represents the opinion of the newspaper rather than the writers.