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Spaceport Southern Access Road Included In Capital Outlay

The Spaceport Southern Access Road is slated to receive $6.4 million dollars in state funds in legislation approved by the House.  The “Work New Mexico Act” sponsored by Rep. Jim Trujillo (D-Santa Fe-45) passed the House by a unanimous vote of 65-0.  The House Taxation and Revenue Committee substitute for House Bill 55, the New Mexico Works Act, authorizes approximately $232.8 million for both state-owned and local projects statewide ($184.8 in Severance Tax Bonds) and includes authorization of $48 million from “other state funds” for infrastructure improvements statewide. 

The job creation package includes capital outlay for facilities statewide that are in dire need of repair, renovation, and/or restoration.  These include senior centers, dam repair, infrastructure and improvements at courts, colleges, and correctional facilities throughout the state.

The bill contains nearly $86 million for various water systems, nearly $18.7 million for roads, $30.6 million for public schools, and $22.4 million for special schools and higher education projects.  An additional $43.7 million will address aging, tribal, and other community needs for such projects as health and public safety facilities, cultural facilities, and parks and recreation facilities.

“Water is an urgent issue for our state, and a huge portion of our capital outlay requests reflect that,” says Rep. Jim Trujillo. “More than a third of the money will be used to improve and build water systems throughout New Mexico.  Beyond the water needs, there are a variety of projects that will be funded.  Lots of effort went into identifying projects everyone could agree on.”

State agency funding allocations total $24.6 million.  Some of the projects funded include:

·         Spaceport Southern Access Road                   $6.4 million

·         SOS Voting System Replacement                  $6 million

·         DoIT Public Safety Comm. Equipment          $5 million

·         Corrections Dept. Facilities Repair                 $2 million

·         EMNRD Fire Crew Carrier/Vehicles              $1.7 million

·         Homeland Security Hazard Mitigation           $1 million

·         State Fair Facility Upgrades                           $1 million

·         Veterans Cemetery Site Improvements          $600,000

·         Armory Facilities Statewide                           $500,000

·         EMNRD Wildfire Mitigation                         $400,000

“The good news is that it’s spread across New Mexico so that should put New Mexicans to work throughout the state of New Mexico,” says Speaker W. Ken Martinez (D-Bernalillo, Cibola, McKinley, Socorro, San Juan, Valencia-69).  “I would hope the Governor would keep her vetoes to a minimum because we’ve already vetted the projects.  The more money we can keep in that bill to be distributed throughout New Mexico to take care of crumbling infrastructure, the more jobs we can create.”