New Mexico poised to receive $3.7B under bipartisan infrastructure bill
New Mexico’s deteriorating roads and bridges — and everyone who uses them — stand to be the biggest beneficiaries of a $1 trillion infrastructure bill President Joe Biden is expected to sign into law this week.
The Bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act is poised to deliver at least $3.5 billion to the state for a wide variety of uses, from expanding the number of electric vehicle charging stations and mitigating wildfires to improving broadband access in rural areas.
But the lion’s share — more than $2.5 billion — would go toward repairing and rebuilding New Mexico roads and bridges.
“For decades, New Mexico has been held back by a systemic lack of investment in infrastructure. That’s about to change,” U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich said in a statement. “The historic Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act will mean hundreds of thousands of good-paying jobs and ensure that our nation’s infrastructure meets 21st century needs.”
Sen. Ben Ray Luján called the legislation “the most significant investment in our nation’s infrastructure in generations.”
According to Heinrich’s office, New Mexico expects to receive $38 million over five years to support the expansion of an electric vehicle charging network in the state; $100 million to increase broadband coverage; $38 million for wildfire mitigation; $13 million to protect against cyberattacks; $355 million to improve water infrastructure; and $90 million to improve infrastructure at the state’s airports.
New Mexico Transportation Secretary Michael Sandoval said Monday he was “extremely pleased” Congress had approved the bill.
“We have here in New Mexico close to a $3 billion need [for roads and bridges] so this will definitely help us try and eat into that need that we have and hopefully continue us on the right path to get a lot of our infrastructure improved,” he said.
Sandoval said the state receives about $400 million a year in federal funding for transportation and the infrastructure package would deliver an additional $100 million annually.
“That’s the baseline,” he said. “There’s also a lot of discretionary funds and competitive funds and other things that we can qualify for. We won’t know all of that until the final guidelines are written … [but] we’ll continue to follow that and obviously try and get every penny that we can.”
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham tweeted Saturday she was proud to have been directly involved in advocating for what she called “critical funding measures” the bill will provide in New Mexico.
“The passage of federal investments in so many areas that mirror the governor’s priorities is good news for New Mexico, including repairing and rebuilding physical infrastructure across the state, creating good-paying jobs for New Mexicans, and addressing and mitigating climate change,” Nora Meyers Sackett, Lujan Grisham’s press secretary, wrote in an email Monday.
“We look forward to the positive impact they will make for New Mexico and families across the state,” she added.
Sandoval also noted New Mexico stands to benefit in myriad ways.
“A lot of this money is for roads, bridges and highways, but there’s also other pieces to this that are really important, such as electric vehicle charging stations and money for broadband and money to help with out climate [and] airports,” he said. “There’s so many other pieces to this that I think make it such a great thing that hasn’t been included before and just a much more comprehensive way to address all of our infrastructure here in our state, so we’re definitely looking forward to receiving that and putting that to good use.”
After the U.S. House of Representatives passed the bill Friday, Biden issued a statement in which he said the nation had taken a “monumental step forward” with passage of the legislation. He called it a “once-in-generation investment” in America.
“Generations from now, people will look back and know this is when America won the economic competition for the 21st Century,” the president said in a statement.
