The New Mexico Senate passed a bill today worth $295 million to pay for brick-and-mortar projects and roads around the state. The legislation heads to the House of Representative for a vote.
As per usual, the Senate discussion, which lasted less than an hour, sounded a self-congratulatory note. Nowhere amid all the comments did a lawmaker question the process by which New Mexico regularly selects brick-and-mortar projects for funding.
Earlier this year, one university professor who studies capital spending — the process by which states pay for brick-and-mortar projects — told New Mexico In Depth that “It certainly wouldn’t be in the textbooks about how to do capital improvement planning. In fact, it would be the illustration about how not to do capital improvement planning.”
We’ll see if any one in the New Mexico House of Representatives questions the process when the legislation comes up for a vote there.