Funding has now been approved for road, bridge, recreation center, and school infrastructure projects across the state.
New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham has given her approval to upwards of $511 million in projects that include just under $5 million for the construction of a soccer and multi-use stadium in Albuquerque.
Dona Ana County is receiving $3.1 million for a flood diversion project; with nearly $15 million going for Navajo Nation projects in Bernalillo, Cibola, McKinley, San Juan, Sandoval, and Socorro counties.
The Roswell campus of Eastern New Mexico University is receiving more than $2.8 million in funding for half a dozen projects, including $2.4 million that will go for facility upgrades and improved sewer lines.
The projects, approved as House Bill 285 earlier this year by state lawmakers, include $61 million for water and wastewater projects, $53 million for road projects, $52 million for tribal projects, and $48 million for public safety projects.
Exercising her line-item authority, Grisham axed less than 2% of the legislation’s capital outlay allocations, contending, among other things, that such projects were not ready to proceed or were too small.
A news released issued by the Governor’s office stated that “Capital funds should be targeted toward well-considered and more significant projects, and not relatively small items.”
By Garry Boulard
