The prospect of new school construction and facility upgrade projects are expected to be seen across New Mexico if voters approve a more than $230 million bond in November.
What is officially being called the Public Education Bond Issue is designed to fund a wide variety of capital improvements in both district and tribal schools, as well as some acquisition projects.
The bond will also provide funding for some institutions of higher learning capital projects.
The bond proposal was initially approved in February of this year by members of the New Mexico State Legislature, before winning the signature support of Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham the following month.
Prospects for the bond look good, if the state’s voting history can serve as a guide: out of 31 bond issues presented to New Mexico voters in the last nearly two decades, 30 have won approval.
The only recent bond failure came in 2010 during the Great Recession, when voters by the close margin of 50.1% to 49.9% turned down a $155 million bond to fund higher education projects.
The most recent state-wide bond elections were held in 2022 and saw 62.7% of voters approving a $19.2 million bond for public library improvements; just over 61% supporting a bond of $215 million for improvements to special education and tribal schools; and a final $24.4 million bond for senior citizen facilities projects.
By Garry Boulard
Image Credit: Courtesy of Unsplash
