Platform

FUND THE POLICE

• I am a proponent of making the necessary investment to recruit, train, and hire hundreds of more local and state police officers, as well as providing retention incentives.

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• We also need to get these police officers out of their stations and onto the streets, which has been proven to be a deterrent to criminal activity. You need more police officers to do this.

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• We need to adequately compensate our public safety officers by offering generous signing bonuses, hazard pay, and retirement benefits, and more than adequately providing their families a guaranteed standard of living if a head of household is injured or killed in the line of duty.

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 HEALTHCARE 

 

Have you tried to get in to see you doctor lately?  Or find a doctor after moving into the state?  Or even more difficult, see a specialist?  There is a shortage of doctors and other healthcare professionals in New Mexico, and this shortage is more acute in rural areas.  The critical condition our healthcare system is in is a result of the policies and laws passed by our state legislature.  The high costs of maintaining a private practice in this state is one reason doctors are fleeing our state.  To stop the hemorrhaging and to entice more doctors to move in, I support raising the Medicaid reimbursement rates and eliminating the hidden GRT on medical services that health care professionals have to absorb.  New Mexico is one of only a handful of states that applies a sales tax on medical services.  There's much more the legislature can do to stop the doctor exodus and to ensure high quality healthcare is available to all resdients.

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PUBLIC SAFETY & CRIME

Top of mind on most New Mexicans is crime. Reducing crime will be one of my top priorities as a legislator, and I support funding a wide range of criminal justice programs and reforms, including:

• Support programs for victims of crime.

• Require prison time for gun-related offenses.

• Require pretrial detention for violent crimes.

• Revitalize distressed spaces that attract criminal activity.

• Provide proven support services for those transitioning from prison to society to reduce recidivism.

• Increase health-related services, including treatment centers which would provide mental, behavioral, and substance abuse therapy.
   

WATER QUALITY & SUSTAINABILITY

Agua es Vida, water is life, has been a defining mantra for me. Water should not be politicized. Everyone, regardless of their background, deserves a sustainable and safe water supply. We need to maintain private property protections associated with seniority of water rights and continue to protect the centuries old Acequia communities and sovereignty of Tribal water rights. I support settling all outstanding Indian water right claims to provide certainty to tribes and neighboring communities which will enhance economic development for all.

I am concerned about the sustainability of our growing communities, especially the City of Rio Rancho, which relies on the same aquifer that supplies water to the City of Albuquerque. I will support opportunities for using recycled and reuse water, treated brackish water and produced water to augment supplies throughout the state for agriculture, powerplants, and manufacturing, which would offset the freshwater supply currently used by those activities and facilities.

 

INFRASTRUCTURE & CAPITAL OUTLAY REFORM
 

A 2021 report commissioned from the Council of Development Finance Agencies by the New Mexico Finance Authority concluded “reforming the capital outlay process is the single most important action that would catalyze economic development finance in New Mexico.” Currently, New Mexico earmarks funding for individual lawmakers to allocate to their own pet projects without evaluating and prioritizing projects using consistent and transparent criteria that considers prioritization based on readiness to proceed, need, public purpose, and merit. Not until then should projects proceed to the Legislature for funding.

Today, several billion dollars of unexpended appropriations for several thousand projects are inactive due to poor project selection, insufficient engineering and planning, a fragmented approach to funding, and unknown construction costs delay and often prevent project completion. New Mexico needs to accelerate project delivery, transform project financing and budgeting, and improving permitting and regulatory reform, along with allowing for public, private partnerships to address our broken capital outlay process.
 

PUBLIC & CHARTER SCHOOLS

I am a supporter of investing in public schools, but also a proponent of charter schools that can accommodate the special needs and interests of a diverse range of students. I also support investments in STEM programs and trade schools and community colleges. Not everyone needs a college degree to succeed today, and the economy doesn’t need everyone to be degreed.

After reviewing Think New Mexico’s education reform plan, I would support the majority of their reforms, such as optimizing time for teaching and learning, improving teacher training, maximizing the benefits of charter schools, providing a relevant and rigorous curriculum, and revamping the state’s colleges of education. New Mexico needs to quit blindly throwing money at one of the worst education systems in the country, and its leaders need to have the courage to deliver the education our children deserve.
 

HOMEOWNERS ASSOCIATION BILL OF RIGHTS

With the proliferation of homeowner associations within my community and throughout the state, it has become very clear that New Mexico’s Homeowners Association Act is in desperate need of an update. I am proposing introducing legislation that would include a homeowners’ bill of rights that would provide additional rights to homeowners, provide more transparency of board decisions and expenditures, and prevent developers from overstaying their welcome on HOA boards. Currently, the HOA Act has too many loopholes that desperately need to be closed. And too many times residents are finding themselves having to raise funds to hire an attorney to fight for their rights in court to get relief because of these loopholes.

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Rep. Harper had started to work on some amendments but admitted that it is hard to get them through committees and onto the floor for a vote because the lobbyists come out in droves at the first hint of proposed changes to the HOA Act. I am determined to pick up where Harper left off, meet with disgruntled homeowners who have been unfairly treated and taken advantage of by their developer-controlled HOA boards, and develop a homeowners’ bill of rights which would have bi-partisan support.
 

SMALL BUSINESSES

According to statistics, 99.9% of all businesses in the United States are considered small businesses, which employ 41.7% of the global workforce. Small businesses pay taxes, create jobs, and support their local communities. To succeed, small businesses need access to capital and investment. They also need the government to reduce unnecessary or outdated regulations and to streamline and reduce the bureaucratic process. The New Mexico legislature can assist by:
 

• Providing additional funding opportunities to small businesses, entrepreneurs, micro-businesses, and start-ups by investing in programs that offer various types of funding mechanisms, such as grants, loans, and tax incentives.

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• Implementing government additional incentives and assistance to financial institutions to lend more to small businesses would also key to the reducing the headwinds many businesses face.
   

VETERANS

During my 22 years with the US Army Corps of Engineers as a civilian, I had the pleasure of working with career Army soldiers in a variety of engineering and construction projects, emergency operations during nationally declared disasters, and implementing policy and procedures for several state, regional, and national initiatives. Many of the soldiers were deployed/served in the Iraqi and Afghanistan conflicts and suffered from PTSD after their return. Our service men and women have protected our civil rights and freedoms and deserve the upmost respect and support from their legislatures as they transition back to civil life and service.
 

TAXES

New Mexico is at a competitive disadvantage for companies considering locating to the state as our state’s Gross Receipt Taxes (GRT) acts more as a broad-based sales tax on vendors of goods and services (the tax is applied to sellers rather than buyers).  By lowering the state GRT rate, New Mexico could increase its business tax climate competitiveness nationally and with the surrounding states, Arizona, Colorado, and Texas.

Also, with taxation of internet sales beginning July 1, 2019, retail trade’s share of the tax base increased significantly. With the broader base, a lower rate is justified benefiting all New Mexicans. Although reducing the GRT and compensating tax rates reduces General Fund revenues, this comes after significant increases in revenue from the expansion of the tax base over the last several years and would greatly help our local small businesses.

 

PUBLIC/PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS

I believe the government, the private sector, and the educational systems have a responsibility to work together as partners to prepare our students for the workforce and to create a thriving economy, which attracts businesses and provides good paying jobs, both of which provide tax revenues so that government can provide the services they are responsible for providing to their citizens. We are all in it together.
 

NATURAL OPEN SPACE & RECREATION

I am in full support of the bipartisan Land of Enchantment Legacy Fund, which was funded during the 2024 legislative session. The Legacy Fund is the state’s first-ever recurring funding source for land and water conservation, agriculture, and outdoor recreation projects. These funds will enable the state to unlock federal dollars so that we can invest in projects that will safeguard our water supplies, preserve our agricultural heritage, and grow our outdoor recreation economy.
 

ENERGY INDEPENDENCE & ALTERNATIVE ENERGY

As New Mexico continues to grow so will our energy demands, and it is important that we stay diversified and balanced as we transition to alternative forms of energy. Our state is blessed with an abundance of natural resources, including oil and gas and renewable sources of energy from wind, solar, geo-thermal and potentially hydrogen, but too quick a transition puts us at risk of unreliable power and a lack of redundant power in case of weather or other emergencies. The quick energy transition away from oil and gas will also increase everyone’s electric bills disproportionally and work against our goal of energy independence. It is important to understand that over half of the state’s budget is funded by oil and gas revenues, and these continued revenues are necessary for New Mexico to make a safe and affordable transition to alternate energy sources.
 

AGRICULTURE
 

As a former New Mexico State Engineer, I have always been a proponent of private property rights and have successfully supported state and federal legislation and funding to protect senior water rights, including funding for farmers to voluntarily fallow land with monetary compensation to help deal with current drought issues. Agriculture represents approximately 80% of water use in New Mexico but is constantly subject to surface water shortages and declining aquifer viability and could greatly benefit from new sources of treated brackish and produced water. I am currently working to support the agricultural community in Southeast New Mexico by investigating the use of treated produced water and brackish water to augment the dwindling Ogallala aquifer in support of continued agricultural production.
 

FIRST & SECOND AMENDMENT RIGHTS
 

I believe in the freedom to believe and to express different ideas and opinions.

 

I believe in the right to bear arms and the security of a free state.