SW New Mexico News

New Mexico wants to diversify its economy and rely less on revenues from energy production.

Proposals from both Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham and lawmakers in the legislature seek to address the issue. Some of the initiatives by the governor include providing $7 million for the state’s Tourism Department to fund a marketing campaign to lure visitors from out of state.

Other proposals by Lujan Grisham include adding staff to state agencies that oversee film production and outdoor recreation in New Mexico. She also wants to boost the number of full-time employees who work at Spaceport America to eight. The hope is that the spaceport will bring in business for the aerospace industry in the state. Rural infrastructure would also get a $10 million boost from the governor to fund projects.

When it comes to energy production, the state is working to promote renewable sources, including solar and wind. This includes providing grants to pay for job training for 2,100 workers, as well as create 1,700 jobs.

For Lujan Grisham, there is no one specific program or emphasis when it comes to diversifying the economy.

“I get challenged to pick one thing—we’ll be the tech state, the startup state, the innovation state," she said, according to the NM Political Report. “We are all of those things, but we’re also small and one of those things by itself is not going to transform our economy and completely diversify it.”

New Mexico is currently experiencing an influx of money from oil and gas revenue. However, in 2016 the state economy experienced a downturn when oil prices dropped. For New Mexico, that amounted to a loss of $600 million combined for 2016 and 2017.

Currently, about 45% of the revenue that the state collects come from the energy sector. Energy is responsible for almost 70% of revenue growth for 2018-2019.

However, the concern is that New Mexico will once again face a downturn in prices.

“At some point we’ll have a bust in oil and gas and for a lot of reasons, especially state revenue, we need to have an economy that doesn’t depend so much on one industry," Jim Peach, a retired professor of economics from New Mexico State University, told the NM Political Report.