Gov. Lujan Grisham issues second State of the State address

Layouts BreadCrumbs BreadCrumbs SANTA FE – Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham on Tuesday issued her second annual State of the State address, launching the second session of the 54th New Mexico Legislature with a speech underscoring the need for sustained investment in programs that meet the needs of workers and families, outlining bold expansions of New Mexico’s educational and economic horizons. Delivering an impassioned pitch that emphasized the priorities of New Mexico children, workers and families, the governor highlighted the state’s successes over the course of 2019, including rapid private-sector job growth, unprecedented investments in public education and educator support systems, and pivotal transformations in environmental leadership, roadway infrastructure and state government services, among many others. The governor identified key areas of emphasis over the forthcoming 30-day legislative session, among them: Crafting a strategic and sustainable budget that rebuilds state agencies’ capacity to deliver services to New Mexicans and incorporates significant savings for a future rainy day (the governor’s executive recommendation includes putting 25% of “new money” into the state’s reserves) Investing in game-changing early childhood programs through the new Early Childhood Education and Care Department and the Early Childhood Trust Fund Delivering tuition-free higher education to New Mexico residents by restoring the original promise of the New Mexico Lottery Scholarship with the “last-dollar” Opportunity Scholarship Implementing new measures that will enhance public safety in New Mexico, including a request, in the executive budget recommendation, for 60 new State Police officers Establishing a new fund for senior services; providing equitable and much-needed reform for the state’s public pension system that protects taxpayers and retirees; and more. The prepared text of the governor’s 2020 State of the State address is as follows: Thank you. Mr. Lieutenant Governor, Mr. Speaker, Madam Pro Tem, honorable legislators, distinguished guests, my friends, the first Manny, my daughter Erin, my granddaughter Avery, Avery’s other grandmother Sandy Reiger, my brother Gregory Lujan, everybody who isn’t watching the impeachment trial on C-SPAN, and my fellow New Mexicans: This past year I heard from many members of our extended New Mexico family. Students wrote letters. Parents came to my office. I met advocates and entrepreneurs as we traveled across the state – from Carlsbad and Silver City to the Navajo Nation and beyond. New faces and old friends. Police officers, veterans, educators and business-owners. Over and over, I heard two things. One: Do you really drink that much coffee? No comment – but also, yes. Second, time and again, New Mexicans told me: Keep going. The state of our state is dynamic, ready for more, on the cusp of steady and sustainable progress. We are stronger today than we were one year ago – no question. Fifteen-thousand new jobs in New Mexico since the day I took office, the best year for job growth in the state since 2005. Our economy is booming in every direction: Long-time New Mexico businesses are boosting their investments in our state. Exciting new companies are putting down roots here for the first time, choosing to be in the Land of Enchantment. We are top ten nationally for inbound moves, a complete reversal from only a few years ago, when families were leaving our state – and one third of the people moving to New Mexico are coming here for jobs. Since the day I took office, we are #8 nationally for job growth. I like the sound of top 10, and I like the sound of this even better: Our private-sector job growth is beating Nevada, California and Colorado. As I said a hundred times this year, in every community I visited across our state: New Mexico is the place to be, and if you’re not here, you better get here fast. At the close of Year One, at the outset of Year Two, state government is stronger and gathering strength. Our December statewide rapid-hire events drew 3,700 job-seekers – that’s 3,700 New Mexicans eager for work, eager to serve their communities and neighbors right now. Together we delivered meaningful raises for New Mexico educators passionate about their students. We launched pivotal transformations in environmental leadership and in long-overdue infrastructure. Our Children, Youth and Families Department this year cut the average wait time on its Child Abuse Hotline from an unconscionable hour-plus to less than five minutes. Our Human Services Department settled with each of the behavioral health providers ejected from the state by the Martinez administration, a monumental step toward the robust and rebuilt behavioral health system New Mexico urgently needs. Our Workforce Solutions Department has gone after wage theft, standing up for workers against bad actors who are violating the law and taking advantage of them. Our Corrections Department successfully took over management of the private prison in Clayton, overseeing a safe and seamless transition into better administration. We settled the Jackson and Duran litigations, ending cases that have lasted decades and cost the state tens of millions of dollars. We took the initiative on building up our state’s reserves for a future rainy day. We made sure we have an equitable framework for reforming our state pension system in a way that protects New Mexico taxpayers and respects retirees, both current and future. We boosted common-sense oversight of polluters; and we put New Mexico on a direct path to being the nation’s clean energy leader, ensuring our land, air and water – our inheritance as residents of this incredible state – are passed on to future generations. We brought industry and environmental leaders together, and we are moving forward on creating nation-leading rules that will curb methane pollution, create jobs and deliver more dollars into New Mexico classrooms. We took on the Trump…