Nov. 18 – Policymakers in New Mexico continue to grapple with the implications of former and future President Donald Trump’s re-election, including what his second term in the White House could mean for federal infrastructure investments.
Speaking Monday at the symposium on the Future of Transportation in New Mexico, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham told attendees that securing federal funding for transportation initiatives — particularly “in the clean energy space” — will be “challenging.”
“Now I don’t know what that means yet – no one knows,” the governor told those in attendance. “I will tell you that all governors, bipartisan, are preparing for a lot of that money to be diverted or blocked.”
The past four years have seen historic investments in America’s infrastructure. Hailed by the Biden administration as “a once-in-a-generation investment” in roads, bridges, internet access and water and electricity systems, the bipartisan infrastructure bill – signed three years ago – has released more than $568 billion for more than 66,000 people. projects throughout the country.
As of October, New Mexico had secured $6.5 billion in public investments in clean energy, infrastructure and manufacturing under the Biden administration.
The law aimed to promote clean energy production and resilience to climate change, both of which the Biden administration identified as “key sectors” for infrastructure improvements.
In her remarks Monday, Lujan Grisham noted that New Mexico is “already lining up” for its share of federal infrastructure dollars.
Changes in presidential administrations — “regardless of who is in the White House” — tend to delay the disbursement of federal funds, the governor noted. But the return to the Trump presidency will mark a shift in thinking about whether transportation investments are a federal responsibility.
“That means we really have to think about where we are competitively as a state,” Lujan Grisham said.
She continued, “We have to recognize that we’re going to have more workforce traffic, more oil and gas, and more oil and gas [agricultural] traffic, increased commuting – and we must meet our obligations to New Mexicans on these roads.
Lujan Grisham tied the infrastructure discussion to her public safety agenda, which, despite a lackluster special session this summer on public safety, is expected to be a major focus during the upcoming legislative session.
While the Department of Transportation is known for its work on roads and bridges, Lujan Grisham says the agency also plays an important role in public safety, especially in minimizing motor vehicle crashes and pedestrian deaths.
“The Department of Transportation is everything to everyone, every minute of every day in every corner of the state,” she said.
The department’s Target Zero New Mexico initiative, announced in June, will use data to make decisions and develop solutions — from engineering repairs to more street lighting to additional social services — at New Mexico’s most dangerous intersections and interchanges, Cabinet Secretary said Ricky Serna at Monday’s symposium. .
“This is big,” Serna said of the Target Zero initiative. “It would be different if we had $6 billion – what it would cost to plug the holes in all of our own infrastructure needs – but that’s not the case. And so we have to think, and we have to choose.”
