21-02-2025
Billion-dollar transportation bond bill gets greenlight from first legislative committee
SANTA FE, N.M. (KRQE) – New Mexico leaders say billions of dollars are needed to repair roads across the state, and a bill making its way through the legislature aimed at doing just that passed its first committee Thursday.
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'What we're trying to do here is position New Mexico for the foreseeable future,' said Ricky Serna, Cabinet Secretary for the New Mexico Department of Transportation (NMDOT).
It's a law that would allow the state to issue more than a billion dollars in transportation bonds to fix roads all around New Mexico. After unanimous approval in its first committee, HB145 only needs two more approvals before landing on the governor's desk.
'The last time an endeavor like this was approved by the legislature and signed into law was 2003,' Serna said.
If approved, the bill would authorize the state's Transportation Commission, a group that oversees how NMDOT spends transportation funds, to issue bonds for state highway projects.
'The commission will be able to make those major investments, chunks at a time, at a pace that the agency can keep up with as we get these projects ready for construction,' Serna explained.
According to the state, a recent study shows that 57% of state and local roads are in 'poor', or 'mediocre' condition. State leaders said this bill will also help keep up with inflating construction costs.
'The gap between what we need to get done to maintain our infrastructure and what we can afford to do, and that gap is $5.6 billion, and so as we push these projects further down the road, that cost of construction compounds,' Serna added.
The state said eligible projects for the funding will be identified through the Statewide Transportation Improvement Program.
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