Republican & Democrat Lawmakers Tout Jobs Council Initiatives In House

Budget
Santa Fe, NM In a show of bipartisanship, Republican and Democrat lawmakers
in the House and Senate held a press conference today to tout the bipartisan Jobs
Council initiatives included in the House budget that passed earlier this week.
Speaker Don Tripp, Senate Pro-Tempore Mary Kay Papen, Rep. Larry Larraaga and
Rep. Kenny Martinez all agreed that the Jobs Council initiatives are important in
moving the state forward.
We need to diversify our economy and make it less reliable on federal dollars
coming out of Washington, Speaker Tripp said. These initiatives are proven job
creators for our state.
The initiatives echo recommendations from the bipartisan Jobs Council, which is
dedicated to creating 160,000 jobs for New Mexico.
I was a part of the Jobs Council from the beginning because I understood that we
needed jobs for our state, said Representative Martinez. It is good to see
Republicans and Democrats coming together on job creation.
Among other things, the House budget calls for a $35 million increase for the
closing fund; $1.6 million for tourism advertising; $7.5 million for the Job Training
and Incentive Program (JTIP), which covers the cost of hiring and training new
worker; a $600,000 increase will go to the New Mexico MainStreet program, which
helps revitalize downtowns across the state.
These issues are not Democrat or Republicanthey are New Mexican, Senator
Papen said. I hope we can continue to find agreement on these issues as the
Senate considers the House budget.
The budget also calls for a total increase of $250,000 for the Economic
Development Partnership to market the state to businesses and $400,000 for the
Technology Research Collaborative in order to bring products developed in our labs
and universities to the private sector in New Mexico.
Larraaga touted the budget that passed on Tuesday.
I'm proud of my colleagues for supporting a budget that aims to improve our
schools, protect our children and help create a vibrant private-sector economy,
said Larraaga, chairman of the House Appropriations Committee. We've come a
long way since the days of record deficits. With this budget, we can show New
Mexicans that we are serious about putting our families first.
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