By Sherry Robinson
All She Wrote

Texas has always wanted more of New Mexico.

Before New Mexico could join the United States as a territory, Congress had to settle a boundary dispute. Texas claimed all of New Mexico east of the Rio Grande, even though it had never fought for or held any of it. In the historic Compromise of 1850, Congress placed the New Mexico-Texas boundary along the 103rd meridian and agreed to pay Texas $10 million for its “loss.”

Then in 1859 a surveying mistake gave Texas a 310-mile strip, 601,152, acres, that belonged to New Mexico. When the mistake came to light, New Mexico accepted it under duress. “It was the first of many times that Texas blackjacked us,” said Sen. John Morrow, a Capulin rancher, in 1991.

There was ample historic precedent when Texas House Speaker Dustin Burrows recently added taking a chunk of New Mexico to his list of priorities for 2027. Burrows ordered a study of the constitutional, statutory, fiscal and economic implications of adding such contiguous counties as Roosevelt and Lea to Texas.

I doubt this is a serious proposal, but just in case, here’s something to think about: Do you want to be one of 33 counties in New Mexico or one of 254-plus counties in Texas?

Burrows took his cue from New Mexico’s House Joint Resolution 10, introduced in the recent legislative session by Republican Reps. Randall Pettigrew of Lovington and Jimmy Mason of Artesia. It would have amended the state Constitution to allow three or more contiguous counties to secede if two-thirds of voters and their county commissions agree and if Congress and the president approve.

Pettigrew, who was born and raised in New Mexico, said he wanted to stimulate a conversation about the cultural and financial divides between southeastern New Mexico and the rest of the state.

“We have no seat at the table when it comes to policy,” he told the Albuquerque Journal. Leaders need to see that “the frustration from southeast New Mexico is real, and our voice needs to be heard.”

Pettigrew was miffed that his bill wasn’t heard, but he should know by now that a great many bills go unheard during the state’s 30-day session.

Still, he’s not wrong about the need for conversation. The oil patch underwrites a significant piece of the state budget ­— this year it made the governor’s universal child care bill possible – and yet Santa Fe takes the industry for granted. It wouldn’t kill Roundhouse Democrats to publicly acknowledge the oil-producing counties; they waste plenty of time on less important pomp and ceremony.

But if we’re going to converse, let’s expand the topic. I invite Pettigrew and Mason to leave their comfort zone and spend time in the rest of the state. Go to southwestern New Mexico, with its mix of mining, ranching and tourism. Go to the reservations. Go to the tourist towns. Go to the peanut- and onion-producing East Side and the pecan- and chile-producing southern counties. Go to the northern mountains. Go to the cities.

They would find that New Mexico is home to a great many cultures and economies and that each place is quite different from its neighbor. Think of Española and Santa Fe, for example, or Clovis and Portales, or Angel Fire and Eagle Nest. Many of them feel that Santa Fe doesn’t understand them. I’ve heard it myself in covering every corner of the state for 50 years.

I think a lot of this comes from having a small population spread over a very large state. Legislative budgeters are challenged to stretch limited money across many disparate needs. And yet, the process is slow, designed to give everyone a fair hearing and accommodate differences.

In the current political climate, Republicans don’t feel heard in the Legislature, and they probably aren’t. It’s an experience they share with Democrats in Congress. Both bodies once had norms and courtesies that gave the minority party a voice. Pettigrew’s conversation could include the role of the party out of power.

Let’s remember John Morrow’s words of 1991 and not be naïve about Texans’ intentions. Burrows is an opportunist. He talks a good line about “culture, opportunity, and the right to choose a path that reflects the shared values of the Permian and Delaware basins,” but he knows nothing about New Mexico or New Mexicans. As I keep saying, we’re different here.

If Texas wants more of New Mexico, let them be good capitalists and invest in our companies.