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…
While environmental activists played their part yesterday during demonstrations at the capitol building, going so far as to dress up as solar panels and to sing the tune of “You Are My Sunshine,” their counterparts, the anti-cap-and-trade contingency who has…
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.
Gov. Bill Richardson has created a task force to brainstorm on how to bring high-wage jobs to New Mexico’s Native American tribes, nations and pueblos.
According to the governor’s office, the latest data bears out the need for high-wage jobs in Indian Country: 36.2 percent of Native Americans in New Mexico live below the federal rate of poverty; and the median income of Native American families is amongst the lowest in the State of New Mexico.
“I have formed this task force to improve economic development for Native Americans with the hopes of expanding the opportunities on pueblos and tribal lands in New Mexico,” Richardson said in a press release e-mailed Thursday afternoon.
The Tribal Economic Development Task Force will study ways to foster economic development, including determining how tribes, nations and pueblos can participate in the economic opportunities offered by the state’s tourism and film industries.
One option the task force will examine is the concept of an enterprise zone, an area where special tax incentives and other measures are put to use to lure business investment.
Other states have tried Native American enterprise zones, the governor’s office said in a release. Such enterprise zones can be established on tribal land in New Mexico through state-tribal collaboration and the exercise of sovereign authority, the release said.
The task force also will examine current and potential incentive options, including the development of Gross Receipt Tax incentives.
