The table below shows the latest BillTally findings on the New Mexico delegation from National Taxpayers Union Foundation’s analysis of the 112th Congress. The report provides a comprehensive overview of the net cost of all of the spending and savings bills sponsored or cosponsored by each Member of Congress. We cross-index our database of cost estimates with each bill supported by each Member to calculate their net spending agenda (excluding overlapping/duplicate measures).
Net Cost of Legislation Sponsored and Cosponsored by New Mexico’s Congressional Delegation in the 112th Congress (Dollar Figures in Millions)
Name | Party | Increases | Decreases | Net Spending Agenda | # of Increases | # of Decreases |
Bingaman, Jeff | D | $14,482 | ($11,325) | $3,157 | 56 | 6 |
Udall, Tom | D | $40,597 | ($8,759) | $31,838 | 58 | 4 |
Heinrich, Martin | D | $32,675 | ($8,784) | $23,891 | 58 | 8 |
Lujan, Ben | D | $52,586 | ($3,418) | $49,168 | 81 | 6 |
Pearce, Steven | R | $22,054 | ($143,336) | ($121,282) | 20 | 29 |
Note: The links in the names will open a detailed report of that Member’s sponsored bills that had cost estimates. |
Among the states and territories, New Mexico’s House delegation had the 21st smallest average spending agenda: a budget cut of $16 billion. As you can see, the two Democrats proposed more spending increases than spending cuts. However, their net agendas were far lower than that of the average Democrat: if all of the legislation sponsored by the average Democrat were passed into law, spending would have increased by over $550 billion. If all of the bills sponsored by Representative Pearce were enacted into law, spending would have been cut by nearly $122 billion (the average House Republican supported $169 billion in budgetary reduction).
In the Upper Chamber, each of the Senators from New Mexico supported legislation that would, on net, increase spending. Each supported nearly the same number of increases, but those supported by Senator Bingaman would increase the budget by nearly $15 billion (all but $3.2 billion of which was offset with spending decreases) while Senator Udall’s increase proposals would cost over $40 billion (nearly $9 billion of which was offset with decreases). The average Democratic Senator’s net spending agenda was just under $39 billion.
Links:
- Report: https://www.ntu.org/foundation/billtally-report-112-3.html (or pdf)
- Press Release: https://www.ntu.org/foundation/52813_112th-congress-billtally-spending-report.html
- Searchable Database of Members’ Legislation: https://www.ntu.org/on-capitol-hill/billtally/
National Taxpayers Union Foundation108 North Alfred Street, Alexandria, VA 22314703-683-5700, fax: 703-683-5722, e-mail: ntuf@ntu.orgwww.ntu.org/ntuf This report should not be construed as an attempt to aid or hinder the passage of any bill before Congress or as reflecting on a Member’s fitness to serve.