Legislators talk redistricting, other issues

A legislative forum hosted last week by Mesalands Community College might be sort of a last hurrah for state Sen. Pat Woods with his Tucumcari constituents.

Woods, a Republican based in Broadview who's represented District 7 since 2012, said a legislative special session held later this month likely will redraw senate district lines to where he loses Tucumcari as part of his district. Woods' district includes parts of Quay, Union and Curry counties.

He said the only parts of Quay County that likely would remain in District 7 are House and San Jon. Tucumcari would be moved into Senate District 8, represented by Sen. Pete Campos (D-Las Vegas).

Campos was invited to the forum but did not attend.

Woods said he didn't want to lose Tucumcari from his district.

"I like representing Tucumcari," he said.

He said the rationale for moving Tucumcari from Woods' district was Campos' district had lost about 3,000 people in population.

State Rep. Jack Chatfield (R-Mosquero), who attended the forum, said he was concerned what Woods' loss of Tucumcari it might mean, especially for the city receiving capital outlay projects. Chatfield urged Tucumcari residents to contact legislators to express their concerns about the proposed redistricting.

Chatfield said his District 67 would be "fairly the same" under redistricting proposals he's seen. His district includes parts of Quay, Colfax, Curry, Harding, Roosevelt, San Miguel and Union counties.

The forum, held Nov. 23 in the auditorium of the college's North American Wind Research and Training Center, was moderated by Logan Municipal Schools superintendent and former state representative Dennis Roch in front of about 50 people from the city, county and eastern New Mexico. A free meal was provided by Watson's Barbecue of Tucumcari.

Other topics discussed by Woods and Chatfield:

Infrastructure

Chatfield said a bipartisan group of lawmakers sued Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham after she claimed she alone could allocate federal coronavirus relief funds. Lawmakers claimed they should decide where the money goes, and they won the lawsuit.

"Government worked like it was supposed to in that instance," Chatfield said.

Woods said he doesn't foresee big changes, now that the New Mexico Legislature can decide where that federal money goes.

"It will go essentially where it started with," he said, referring to the legislature's earlier attempts at allocations.

Woods said the flood of federal relief funds has caused the state's Secretary of Transportation to inform him that bids for roadwork have risen 20% to 30%.

He said the relief money was needed, but state and federal lawmakers needed to be more "guarded" on how it was spent.

"We're receiving a lot of money, but what are we getting?" Woods said, referring to inflation.

Chatfield said he heard state contractors are raising their rates 10% every 60 days.

Woods said the federal and state government want more spending on broadband internet, especially after schools went to remote learning during the pandemic.

The state Department of Transportation had advocated steep increases for the use of highway rights-of-way for broadband lines but a lawmaker pushed back hard on that idea after "a major backlash."

"What would our own agencies hike the costs like that? It would kill economic development in eastern New Mexico," Chatfield said.

Jefferson Byrd, a member of the state's Public Regulation Commission who was sitting in the audience, said improving broadband in New Mexico is difficult to coordinate because internet providers are reluctant to give proprietary information about their networks.

Lake pipeline

Chatfield assured audience members that a proposed water pipeline from Ute Lake to Clovis would use shared water rights on the south side of the lake and connect to existing water systems.

"They're not going to pump the lake dry," he said.

Woods said the federal infrastructure share of the pipeline was $500 million. But he doubted that would be enough to finish the project, considering rising construction costs.

"I don't see them getting to that lake with this money," he said.

State budget

Chatfield said the state legislature, when it meets in January for its annual session, will deal with a budget surplus of $1 billion and growing. Most of the revenue comes from the oil and gas industry.

"Now matter how much they keep stepping on it, oil and gas keeps producing for the state," he said.

Woods said the state is so flush with money, many counties and municipalities are hard-pressed to spend all their capital outlay allocations.

He said since 2019-2020, Quay County has nearly $3 million in unspent capital outlay funds. He said in some cases, those funds are redesignated seven or eight times before they're spent.

He said one lawmaker, noting the unspent funds, has proposed a bill that would allow a reauthorization of capital outlay funds just one time before they're taken back by the state government.

"I signed my name to $2.6 million of that, and I want it to be spent," Woods said.

Workforce

Asked about what it would take to fill scores of job openings in the region, Chatfield said, "Quit paying $1,200 a week not to work," referring to additional unemployment benefits during the pandemic.

Woods said he heard more workers, noticing their leverage with prospective employers, are demanding cash-only jobs that skirt tax requirements or permitting.

Officials from the Eastern Plains Council of Governments expressed concern about a proposal to consolidate Workforce Solutions development board districts from seven to two. They feared large swaths of rural New Mexico would get left behind on such consolidations.