What is universal basic income? Why is it important? Most importantly, who will pay for it?

Universal basic income is a social program designed to help everyone who is a citizen of a

country by giving them a reoccurring amount of money every month. The implementation of

universal basic income could help millions of New Mexico citizens break out of the poverty

cycle. Poverty is such a large issue within New Mexico as it has one of the highest poverty rates

in the United States. The oil and gas industry within New Mexico would be a perfect way to

obtain the money for such a budget intense project The introduction a universal basic income

system would help millions of impoverished New Mexicans break the cycle of poverty and

propel New Mexico into one of the top earners in the United States.

New Mexico has a poverty problem. It has one of the highest poverty rates in the United

States. Something must be done to help people claw their way out of poverty. New Mexico has a

very high employment rate which makes the poverty rate very confusing. How could New

Mexico have such a high poverty rate but such a low unemployment rate? The primary reason is

that most jobs in New Mexico are low paying jobs that require little to no education. Introducing

a universal basic income system would help alleviate poverty. Whenever people get a little bit of

extra income, they tend to invest it in agriculture and other small business industries. Researchers

in Kenya watched this happen. A set group of individuals were given universal basic income in

Kenya as an experiment, and they indirectly assisted those who did not get it by investing in

agriculture.

New Mexico’s poverty rate is sky high and there seems to be very little that the average

person can do about it. What is the solution? The most permanent solution would be the

implementation of a universal basic income system. There would be a couple of rules that go
along with it to ensure equality. The first one being that every person above 18 regardless of

income can qualify for universal basic income. The next rule being that it is delivered in cash.

This ensures that everyone, even those without online banking capabilities, can use the money

they have been given. The final rule is that it will be reoccurring. The payments should be

delivered monthly or every other month.

Introducing universal basic income would require a little bit of preliminary work. There are a

couple of industries that the state of New Mexico can pull from to fund a universal basic income

system. The primary place I would like to pull money from is the oil and gas industry. New

Mexico is the second most profitable in the country. It pulls around 12.9 million dollars per year

and some of that could go to a universal basic income system. If we were to pull around 20% for

the universal basic income system, we would total $2,400,00. This would not be enough on its

own but there is one other industry that has been skyrocketing in New Mexico. The film industry

is a blossoming one here in New Mexico and that is very advantageous for us. The film leaders

have already spent around 794 million dollars in New Mexico alone. My main goal for this

project is to get around anywhere from 500,000,000-1,000,000,000 dollars. The current New

Mexico budget is still at 10.21 billion dollars. But 500,000,000-1,000,000,000 dollars should be

a very sustainable start because a slow roll out of this project would be required. Starting in

Santa Fe because of the smaller population size we could see the budgeting effects in a relatively

small, controlled environment rolling it out city by city. Adding one city at a time would allow

for proper budget adjustments to make sure that we do not overspend on anything.

The benefits of a universal basic income system are far reaching. It will allow impoverished

workers to gain a possible future outside of minimum wage jobs. Whenever people get a taste of

improved wealth, they tend to invest their money to help the community. The hope is that
whenever the people of Santa Fe gain access to the universal basic income system they will

invest it in small companies and agriculture. This has multiple benefits for not just residents of

Santa Fe, it also helps farmers who work in agriculture. They may be able to invest in more

farming products, that way they can grow more crops much more efficiently. This would

indirectly help the citizens of Albuquerque by lowering the cost of vegetables. If this were to fail

the fallout would be horrific. People would grow to rely on the set amount of income that comes

in every month and without it they may never financially recover and fall into a massive money

bit that nothing could pull them out of. Whenever you consistently give someone something they

tend to rely on it and without it they may find themselves overspending. People will have to

adjust their budgets and the places that the citizens invested in will see sharp declines in stock

prices. Whenever the stock drops the price on things goes up because the businesses must recoup

the loss one way or another. This will harm the residents of New Mexico even more because they

don’t have as much disposable income to use on food, water, and entertainment. This in turn

hurts the film industry because there will be less people investing in it and less people purchasing

tickets to see movies and enjoying other media such as Meow Wolf.

Right now, in New Mexico its sink or swim. We have one of the highest poverty rates in New

Mexico so that means many are sinking. We must act. We must do something to help these

people and pull them out of the unfortunate situation that they have found themselves in. Without

the introduction of a universal basic income system a lot of people won’t be able to afford the

cost of living with rising inflation and stagnating wages. Even now people with full time

minimum wage jobs are unable to afford rent and must take in roommates. I feel if you are

working a full-time job then you should be able to at least afford a apartment. Universal basic

income would be able to help these people afford rent without needing a roommate it would also
help them get a higher education that way they can work their way to a better life. Coming form

a poor family makes working your way out very difficult so anything that may help these people

climb out easier would be a welcome change in my book.

 Works Cited

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“Effects of a Universal Basic Income during the pandemic.” UC San Diego Department of Economics, 8

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2024.

“Film and television industry sets record-breaking wages for New Mexicans - Communities outside of

Albuquerque/Santa Fe see 150% increase in spending - Office of the Governor - Michelle Lujan

Grisham.” Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham, 18 July 2023,

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capital-outlay-bills/. Accessed 19 March 2024.

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local-finance-initiative/projects/state-fiscal-briefs/new-mexico. Accessed 19 March 2024.