KOAT Action 7 News: Senator deems government shutdown irresponsible

WASHINGTON, D.C. —One of New Mexico’s leaders is calling a looming government shutdown irresponsible.

Sen. Martin Heinrich said he doesn’t think any sort of government shutdown or slowdown makes for a solution.

He said a lot is at stake for the state, noting concern that New Mexico’s economy could be hurt.

“We need to keep the lights on,” he said. “We need to make sure people in New Mexico, whether they be military families or whether they work for the Bureau of Land Management or at Head Start, know that on Oct. 1, the lights are going to be on.”

He said numerous agencies in New Mexico would be affected by a shutdown.

“This is something for a state like New Mexico, that does a lot of things in the national service of the nation, our labs, our military bases, the security that we have to provide along the border,” he said.

In terms of the state’s labs, reimbursement from the government would stop. Additionally, local energy production would slow down on New Mexico’s federal lands, and Department of Defense employees wouldn’t get paid.

“The impacts would ripple throughout the entire economy,” said Heinrich, adding he’d do all he could to avoid a shutdown.

He said Congress needs to pass a clean appropriations bill. He also said lawmakers can fight about numbers but shouldn’t hold be holding the nation hostage for a political fight.