It would be great if before the Legislature begins considering right-to-work bills some honest broker could demonstrate how New Mexico’s economy will fare if one passes.

Not gonna happen.

Economists have been trying for years to tease out the effect of right-to-work from the countless gears, cogs, levers and switches that make up a state’s economy. Their results are all over the place and depend mainly on the approach they take to research and the data they choose to use, according to the Congressional Research Service. There are simply too many things going on in an economy to separately assess any one policy or event.

A right-to-work law bars requiring payment of union dues as a condition of employment. At the same time, people who don’t pay dues are still entitled to the benefits the union can achieve at the bargaining table. The Congressional Research Service calls states without right-to-work laws union-security states.

Read more here: http://www.abqjournal.com/529778/news/economists-wrestle-over-righttowork-effect-on-economy.html