I am writing today to announce the closure of the New Mexico Independent. After three and a half years of operation in New Mexico, the board of the American Independent News Network, has decided to shift publication of its news…
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Roughly one quarter of University of New Mexico students are unimpressed with the state’s flagship public school, according to a survey that questioned college students about their higher education experiences.
SANTA FE — A new state agency will oversee how New Mexico spends $1.8 billion in federal stimulus money, Gov. Bill Richardson announced earlier today.
Former Gov. Toney Anaya will head up the temporary agency named the Office of Recovery and Reinvestment.
Anaya will draw on a team of advisers, mostly composed of state workers on loan from agencies, to help oversee the spending of that $1.8 billion. But his team’s efforts also will try to boost New Mexico’s chances for winning hundreds of millions of dollars in federal grants in addition to the $1.8 billion the state already is getting.
“That’s why the team will have the best and brightest of our citizens,” Richardson said during a late morning news conference at the state Capitol.
Wednesday’s announcement comes at a time when New Mexico, like all states, is hoping to get as much federal money as possible to buffer itself against the difficult times created by the nation’s faltering economy.
Some of the $1.8 billion in federal money earmarked for the Land of Enchantment is already moving through New Mexico. Three road construction projects already are using a portion of $252 million in federal stimulus money dedicated to transportation.
The projects would improve U.S. 84/285 between Pojoaque and Española; U.S. 491 between Tohatchi and Shiprock; and U.S. 62/180 between Carlsbad and the Texas state line.
Construction on those three projects should start in late April, Richardson said.
Another two projects will be put out to bid Friday and a sixth project next week. Construction should begin in May on those three projects, Richardson added.
The six projects amount to $106 million in federal transportation money.
A portion of the federal dollars will fund local road projects, including those in the state’s urban centers like Albuquerque, and in New Mexico’s rural redoubts, according to a breakdown handed out by state transportation officials.
All told, the federal stimulus money will flow into myriad areas of need in New Mexico over the next few months. From shoring up the government’s Medicaid low-income health-care system, to helping people weatherize their homes, the money will spark job creation as well as help people barely scraping by, Richardson said.
Here’s the rundown of priorities on how the federal stimulus money will be spent in New Mexico.
Stimulus monies will eliminate the need for cuts to New Mexico’s K-12 public education system, which were proposed to help balance the state’s budget, Richardson and others said.
“This money will be vital to our schools,” said state Sen. Cynthia Nava, D-Las Cruces, and chairwoman of the Senate Education Committee. “It will help us avoid eliminating positions and people.”
More than $200 million in federal money will flow to New Mexico’s public schools, including $106 million in Title 1 funds “for the Disadvantaged to help close the achievement gap and enable disadvantaged students to reach their potential,” according to a summary.
While the federal dollars will provide a big boost to the state, the governor was adamant that the stimulus funding won’t solve all of New Mexico’s fiscal problems. New Mexico, like the rest of the nation, is struggling with budgetary shortfalls.
“This is not a panacea,” Richardson said.
State Rep. Luciano “Lucky” Varela, D-Santa Fe, agreed that New Mexico must carefully shepherd the money.
“This is a stopgap measure,” Varela said. “We need to be careful that we do not build new programs that we cannot sustain.”
At the same time that the $1.8 billion flows into the state, Anaya’s team of advisers will try to identify how New Mexico can qualify for hundreds of millions of dollars in more aid, officials said.
This is a “once in a lifetime chance to institutionalize some structural changes,” Anaya said.
The state also hopes to compete to win a portion of $80 billion in competitive federal grants, said Richardson spokesman Pahl Shipley. Those grants, like the stimulus money, would flow into several areas, but the details of where and when the grants would be announced weren’t discussed Wednesday.
The state’s transportation secretary, Gary Giron, said New Mexico will attempt to win a portion of the $1.5 billion in additional federal money that will be parceled out through a competitive grant process.
Here’s the news release announcing the members of Anaya’s team of advisers.
