NM delegation gathers $198.6M in earmarks for local projects across the state

New Mexico’s congressional delegation secured $198.6 million in federal funding for 152 different projects across the state.

The U.S. Senate passed the $1.2 trillion spending package on March 23 and President Joe Biden signed it later that day.

The earmarks in that spending bill for New Mexico include funding for projects related to policing, firefighting, education, youth programs, early childhood education, water and sewer infrastructure, community centers, recreation facilities and public parks.

“These investments underscore a commitment to investing in the future generation of New Mexico and ensuring its community members have the necessary tools and support to thrive,” Rep. Melanie Stansbury said.

Democrats in Congress have repeatedly praised the spending package for not including “extreme cuts” proposed by Republicans. The bill does include cuts for agencies including the FBI and the National Park Service.

“I’ve traveled across the district listening to the needs of our rural, urban, and Tribal communities and have worked hard to deliver critical infrastructure funding, even during a time of Congressional gridlock,” Rep. Gabe Vasquez said.

Congress was supposed to pass this budget on Oct. 1, 2023. The bill funds government agencies through Sept. 30. It’s unclear when funding from this spending bill will reach the local projects.

“While Congress should have done this months ago, I am glad Speaker Johnson finally let us vote on this bipartisan funding bill,” Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández said.

The 152 projects include 108 from senators and 44 from representatives – all Democrats. One project, a $637,195 investment in Sierra County’s emergency operations center, was secured by both senators and also Vasquez, the newly elected representative in the state’s 2nd Congressional District.

The 118th Congress, which convened in January 2023, was the first to begin using earmarks – commonly called “pork” – following a 10-year congressionally approved ban.

See a list below of every delegation member’s earmarks for local projects in the latest spending bill.

Stansbury

The spending bill has $15.1 million for 15 projects in Stansbury’s district, including:

$3 million to build the Homeless Youth Center in Albuquerque (Secured with help from Sen. Martin Heinrich.)

$1.4 million for improving Sara Road near Highway 527 in Rio Rancho (Secured with help from Sen. Ben Ray Luján.)

$1 million to build a new fire station in Peralta

$1 million to build a new Head Start facility in Mescalero (Secured with Heinrich and Luján’s help)

$963,000 for police vehicles for the Sandoval County Sheriff’s Office in Bernalillo

$994,950 to build transitional housing and provide wraparound services for unhoused people in Albuquerque’s west side neighborhood

$959,752 to build an aquifer storage and recovery facility in Albuquerque

$959,752 to build water lines to rural homes in Los Lunas

$850,000 to build a new child development center in Sandia Pueblo

$850,000 to build an early childhood development center and daycare at the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center in Albuquerque

$850,000 to build walkways, road improvements, signs and marking for the Blue Hole in Santa Rosa

$850,000 to renovate the historic Sena Building at the El Zocalo Plaza in Bernalillo (Secured with Luján’s help.)

$500,000 to build an early childhood center in Ruidoso (Secured with Luján’s help.)

$500,000 to accelerate DNA evidence testing at the Statewide Forensic Laboratory in Santa Fe (Secured with Heinrich and Luján’s help.)

$500,000 for life skills and job training for unhoused young people in Albuquerque (Secured with Luján’s help.)

Vasquez

The spending bill has $13.3 million for 14 projects in Vasquez’s district, including:

$4 million for reconstruction of 2.35 miles of Atrisco Vista Boulevard in Albuquerque (secured with Heinrich’s help)

$1.4 million for renovating the Boys and Girls Club of Las Cruces

$959,752 for sewer system repairs in Bayard

$959,752 to replace leaky water lines in the Double Eagle well field in Carlsbad (secured with Heinrich’s help)

$850,000 to build an agricultural economic development center at the South Valley Economy Development Center in Albuquerque

$500,000 for the re-paving nine miles of Interstate 10 in Grant County

$500,000 to improve the sewer treatment facility in Columbus

$500,000 to renovate a community center in Lordsburg

$400,000 to build a new community center in Gila

$300,000 to build a permanent food pantry in Hatch

Leger Fernández

The spending bill sets aside $11.8 million for 15 projects in Leger Fernández’s district, including:

$1.6 million to build a convention facility in Questa

$1 million for building a new Navajo Nation animal shelter in Crownpoint

$1 million to revitalize Filemon Sanchez Park in Taos

$963,000 for the Chaves County CASA Crime Victim Trauma Intervention Project in Roswell

$963,000 for a mobile command center for the San Juan County Sheriff’s Office in Aztec

$963,000 for police vehicles and license plate recognition systems for the Rio Arriba County Sheriff’s Office in Española

$959,752 for a new sewer treatment system at the Wastewater Treatment Plant in Tesuque Pueblo (secured with Heinrich’s help)

$959,752 for upgrades to the Wastewater Treatment Plant in Lovington

$850,000 for improvements to Red Rock Park in Gallup (secured with Heinrich’s help)

$562,500 for roof, windows and insulation repairs at the El Valle Community Center in Villanueva

$500,000 to improve streets around Eastern New Mexico University in Portales

$500,000 to repair 1.3 miles of Navajo Road 474 in Sandoval County

$500,000 to replace and upgrade electrical service panels and breaker boxes for 183 low-income rental units in Santa Fe

$335,750 to replace the roof and gym floor at the YMCA in Los Alamos

$84,150 for building improvements, equipment, materials, warehousing, and transportation for the Casita de Comida food bank in Española (secured with Heinrich’s help)

Luján

The spending bill has $7.1 million for 10 projects secured solely by Sen. Ben Ray Luján:

$1 million to the Albuquerque Community Foundation for the Asian American Cultural Center

$900,000 for Complete College America (CCA) to implement co-requisite remediation in higher education through Project ECHO

$862,000 for the Central New Mexico Community College for quantum and STEM-related training

$750,000 for Gallup Community Health for rural primary care expansion.

$680,000 for the student health-based clinic at Cuba Independent Schools

$650,000 for a new CT scanner at Guadalupe County Hospital in Santa Rosa

$600,000 for the University of New Mexico to implement substance use disorder screening, intervention and referral in school-based health centers

$400,000 for a City of Hobbs Fire Department ambulance

$208,000 for the private technology support tutoring program Teeniors, through the Albuquerque Community Foundation

$81,000 for mental health advocacy and suicide prevention by local health council Socorro County Options Prevention and Education (SCOPE)

Heinrich

The spending bill has $142 million for 82 projects secured solely by Sen. Martin Heinrich.

$8.2 million to build a fire station headquarters at White Sands Missile Range in Alamogordo

$5.6 million to renovate and expand the Guided Missile Building at the White Sands Missile Range

$4.45 million to build a satellite fire station at the high-energy laser systems test facility at White Sands Missile Range

$3.6 million to relocate and build a new gate at White Sands Missile Range

$3 million to build a new laboratory at the high-energy laser systems test facility at White Sands Missile Range

$6.75 million for the Army Corps of Engineers to build irrigation infrastructure connecting to acequias in Socorro and San Juan counties

$1.72 million for the Army Corps of Engineers to build water infrastructure in Bernalillo and Sandoval counties

$4.3 million to refurbish a New Mexico National Guard gym in Roswell

$4.3 million to replace old and damaged water lines in Truth or Consequences

$3.9 million to expand the Neonatal Opiate Withdrawal Syndrome Project at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque

$3 million to build a mental health response station in Las Cruces

$2.5 million to build a new Albuquerque Police Department substation in the southwest part of the city

$2.17 million to build public vehicle garage in Red River

$2 million to build a fire station and dispatch center at Cannon Air Force Base in Clovis

$2 million to build a community wellness and cultural complex at Navajo Preparatory School in Farmington

$500,000 to create the Classrooms Without Walls program at Navajo Preparatory School

$2 million to build housing in Santo Domingo Pueblo

$1.8 million to improve substance use disorder treatment at Presbyterian Española Hospital

$1.8 million to complete the Chamisa Verde Housing Project in Taos

$1.6 million to plan for improving U.S. Route 87/64 in Clayton

$1.57 million for a fire substation in Springer

$1.55 million for magnetic trackers and license plate readers for New Mexico State Police

$1.5 million to build a fire station in Costilla

$1.45 million to build a drinking water storage tank in Questa

$1.35 million for the Next Generation Building Trades Program at the Southwest Piping Institute in Albuquerque

$1.2 million to start a cybersecurity training program at New Mexico State University in Las Cruces

$644,00 to start a cybersecurity training program at the University of New Mexico

$1.2 million to study post-wildfire restoration using seeds and seedlings at the New Mexico Reforestation Center at NMSU

$1.2 million to reduce wildfire risk in the Rio Chama watershed in Rio Arriba County

$1.2 million to build a sewer system in Carnuel

$1.2 million to build a public park in Farmington

$1.15 million to buy four ballistic imaging machines in Farmington, Gallup, Las Cruces and Roswell

$1.1 million to build mixed-income housing in Santa Fe

$1 million to replace old, lead-filled water lines in Gallup

$1 million to build a behavioral health clinic in Carlsbad

$1 million to remove condemned buildings in Jemez Pueblo

$994,950 to build transitional housing at nonprofit Saranam in Albuquerque

$944,000 to expand adult intellectual and developmental disabilities services at Las Cumbres Community Services in Española

$360,000 to enhance the Walking in Grace with Survivors of Torture program at Las Cumbres Community Services

$900,000 to buy an ambulance in Mora

$850,000 to replace water lines and install new meters in Rio Lucio

$840,000 to create a virtual reality laboratory at the Artemis 3D Challenge at the University of New Mexico

$825,000 to build a new public safety building in Anthony

$800,000 to install satellite data connections in State Police vehicles

$780,000 to expand substance use disorder treatment at the Amador Health Center in Las Cruces

$750,000 to redesign the Bernalillo County Emergency Operations Center

$749,000 to build a community farm building in Tesuque Pueblo

$700,000 to expand substance use disorder treatment at Taos Whole Community Health

$675,000 to start a youth diversion program at Family and Youth Innovation Plus in Las Cruces

$605,000 to replace breathing apparatuses for San Juan County Fire and Rescue

$600,000 to replace all water and sewer lines in Chama

$530,000 to expand drug overdose outreach and training at Women in Leadership in Albuquerque

$516,000 to add behavioral health services to Gallup Community Health

$500,000 to speed up forensic DNA analysis at the Santa Fe Forensic Laboratory

$500,000 to Kit Carson Electric Cooperative to repurpose the Chevron Mine Facility into a “green hydrogen” production site

$500,000 to expand teacher training at Central New Mexico Community College in Albuquerque

$500,000 for the New Mexico Department of Transportation to finish projects along I-10

$495,000 to buy a rescue engine in Portales

$430,000 to build sewer lines and manholes in Portales

$427,000 to launch a career readiness program at Las Cruces Public Schools

$400,000 to upgrade the sewer system in Santa Clara Pueblo

$375,000 to build an emergency vehicle garage in Santa Ana Pueblo

$364,000 for drug identification equipment for the Albuquerque Police Department

$295,000 for drug identification equipment for local police in Hidalgo, Catron and Grant counties

$194,000 for drug identification equipment for the Las Cruces Police Department

$172,000 for drug identification equipment for the Silver City Police Department

$338,000 for the New Mexico Small Business Development Center to provide free business management training, including programs for hard-to-reach rural clients and minority, underserved populations

$338,000 to develop lots and infrastructure for low- and mixed-income housing in Silver City

$307,000 for online technical assistance and training materials in English and Spanish for small businesses and entrepreneurs DreamSpring, a loan agency in Albuquerque

$300,000 to expand the Hidalgo County Emergency Medical Services building in Lordsburg

$300,000 to create a team of trauma-informed responders at the Mobile Integrated Health Office in Santa Fe

$200,000 for DreamSpring to hire a Community Engagement Officer to provide one-on-one technical assistance in English and Spanish to rural small businesses

$300,000 for Three Sisters Kitchen’s Manufactured Food Business Training Program to launch Spanish language training and technical assistance for low-income, aspiring food business entrepreneurs in Bernalillo County

$300,000 to create an Adult Workforce Training Program Hub at the Albuquerque Sign Language Academy

$289,000 to buy an ambulance in Logan

$283,000 to expand the Española Teen Center at the Family YMCA

$275,000 to upgrade electrical and plumbing at the Roosevelt County Detention Center in Portales

$260,000 for the Army Corps of Engineers to plan to remove jetty jacks from the bosque in Albuquerque

$250,000 for the Quality Child Care Matters Program, a small businesses and entrepreneur child care training program, being launched at the at the Partnership for Community Action in the South Valley

$250,000 for the Roswell Museum and Art Center to digitize their collection and make it accessible to the public online

$250,000 for bilingual teacher training statewide

$234,000 for a wildland fire engine and utility terrain vehicle for Taos County Fire and EMS

$225,000 for technical assistance in funding strategies, marketing, and industry best practices for small businesses and arts entrepreneurs working in the creative industries, at the Keshet Ideas and Innovation Community in Albuquerque

$213,000 for child abuse and neglect prevention at Young Fathers New Mexico in Albuquerque

$200,000 for Luna County to provide substance-use prevention outreach, education, and alternative activities for youth in the Deming and Columbus area

$200,000 for the University of New Mexico Art Museum to create an online version of their collection that will be available to the public

$200,000 for agricultural emergency planning at the New Mexico Department of Agriculture

$200,000 for NMSU to study burn scar wood waste processing in Jemez Pueblo

$200,000 to build five low-income homes in Deming

$180,000 for a North Central Regional Transit District bus to go between Mora and Las Vegas

$175,000 for Girls, Inc. to conduct two programs for girls to build skills for resisting pressure to use illicit substances

$175,000 for the Farmington Museum to digitize the Farmington Daily Times’ archival and photograph collection and provide an online database to facilitate learning about the history and cultures of Farmington and the Four Corners region

$173,000 for a pilot virtual incubation program for small businesses and entrepreneurs at WESST, a business incubator in Albuquerque

$139,000 for entrepreneurship programming for formerly incarcerated people at WESST

$170,000 for the Borderlands and Ethnic Studies Department at New Mexico State University to expand their program to collect and archive primary sources on Southern New Mexico history to create an online digital archive and lesson plans resource

$160,000 for year-round technical support, training, and resources to small farmers, cultural tourism efforts, and emerging small businesses at the Center of Southwest Culture’s Community Development Center in Albuquerque

$151,000 for Sunrise Clinics to buy the property in Santa Rosa were they run a mental health clinic

$150,000 for veterinary testing equipment for the New Mexico Department of Agriculture

$150,000 to enhance child abuse and neglect prevention services at the New Mexico Child Advocacy Network in Albuquerque

$150,000 to place remote observation equipment to protect wildlife and cultural resources on the Caja del Rio Plateau

$128,000 to develop a renewable heating technology at Mesalands Community College in Tucumcari

$113,000 to increase dual credit attainment at Siembra Leadership High School in Albuquerque

$100,000 for small business technical assistance and public/private partnership resources at the Asian Business Collaborative in Albuquerque

$100,000 to New Mexico Department of Agriculture and NMDU to locate and destroy invasive toxic plants in Doña Ana County

$81,000 to replace the roof at the Aztec Public Library

$80,000 to study “low-carbon hydrogen” in Jicarilla Apache Nation

$56,000 to open a satellite office for La Piñon Sexual Assault Recovery Services

$50,000 for the New Mexico Veterans Business Advocates Expo in Albuquerque

$49,000 to buy a tractor and other equipment to create a Native seed bank at the Hozho Voices of Healing Center in Crownpoint

$35,000 to distribute naloxone and other overdose prevention products in Laguna Pueblo

$11,000 to the Rio Rancho National Guard’s garage

Both senators

Both New Mexico senators are taking credit for $9.3 million for 16 projects:

$1.9 million for the State of New Mexico Office of Broadband Access and Expansion for workforce development trailer, curriculum and training

$1,040,000 for a flood mitigation project in Estancia

$1 million for MRI equipment at the Gila Regional Medical Center

$852,000 for Taos County’s Rural Co-Working and Resource Network Initiative to leverage their existing network of rural community centers to provide space, resources, and technical assistance to small businesses

$700,000 for the Primary Care Community Hub at the New Mexico Department of Health

$637,195 for the Sierra County Emergency Operations Center (also secured with help from Vasquez)

$500,000 for the University of New Mexico to measure child maltreatment for prevention

$500,000 for the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture to digitize and create a catalog of a portion of their archives to increase access for scholars, educators, artists, and the wider public

$450,000 to Los Alamos County for Jemez Mountain fire mitigation

$350,000 for Santa Clara Pueblo for the Santa Clara Pueblo Behavioral Health Center

$300,000 for flood mitigation in Aztec

$247,000 for El Puente de Encuentros for Proyecto Crecer

$250,000 to the New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs for Fort Stanton Historic Site fire mitigation

$200,000 for statewide professional business development services for minority-owned businesses at the New Mexico Minority Business Development Center in Albuquerque

$150,000 for the New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs for Bosque Redondo Memorial at Fort Sumner Historic Site fire mitigation.

$116,000 for the New Mexico Museum of Space History to photograph and catalog its object collection and archival records, which will be made accessible on their website