Economy • Jobs • Infrastructure • Growth

Create Good Jobs that Pay Good Wages

A long-term economic strategy to diversify New Mexico’s economy, strengthen rural and urban communities, attract high-paying industries, and build a more resilient future beyond boom-and-bust cycles.

Construction workers at geo-thermal plant

New Mexico’s economy is too vulnerable to forces outside our control. Heavy reliance on oil and gas, low incomes, and underinvestment in infrastructure have left too many communities — especially rural ones — without opportunity. This plan focuses on diversification, smarter regulation, workforce development, and infrastructure investment so growth is stable, inclusive, and sustainable statewide.

New Mexico faces a number of economic challenges. We are highly reliant on oil and gas, which causes revenue problems when prices for fossil fuels decline. We rank near the bottom in per-capita income and near the top in poverty rates. Many rural counties face population losses, lack of economic opportunity and suffer from lack of high-speed internet, investment in transportation and irrigation. The tax and regulatory climate inhibits growth and development.

We can fix this by:

  1. Diversifying our sources of energy and tax base with an all-of-the-above approach to electricity generation, including wind, solar, oil and gas and geo-thermal.

  2. Becoming more business friendly with a top-to-bottom review of the regulatory climate and reducing the paperwork required for employers and manufacturing facilities.

  3. Stepping up recruitment efforts to attract high-paying industries to areas with the labor force and infrastructure to handle them, including aerospace, electronics, and industries the dovetail with our existing research facilities.

  4. Making the hard decisions required to expand access to high-speed broadband, fix our poorly maintained roads and bridges.

  5. Increasing access to workforce development, funding for community colleges and workforce training facilities.

  6. Making a concerted effort to increase the supply of affordable middle-class housing.

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