Senator John Arthur Smith

Air Dates: January 9-11, 2021

In this interview, Senator John Arthur Smith, D-Deming, offers a retrospective on his 32 years in the New Mexico Senate and his long service as the powerful chair of the Senate Finance Committee.

Smith sums up where New Mexico stands financially and gives advice to the “New Guard” on how to handle the challenges of this upcoming session.

Drawing on his long experience as a well-respected master of New Mexico state finances, his knowledge of the arcane details of fiscal intricacies inspired the trust of lawmakers and citizens as he guided our state through thick and thin, through times of scarcity and surplus.

Senator Smith reassures New Mexicans about our financial state, saying, “We are in great shape as far as having a strong reserve but we still have the problem that we have one industry that contributes probably close to...40 percent, 40 cents out of every dollar.”

He urges New Mexico to work on diversifying its income sources, so as not to have “all our eggs in one basket.”

Looking back at his long service in the Senate, Smith muses, “So hopefully, if there is one thing that John Arthur might be remembered for, was working collectively together and not trying to get that extreme reaction from far-right or far-left.” And when asked about what he is going to miss about not being in the Senate this year, the Senator said, “You know, I am not going to miss this system...I am going to miss the people"