My friend and colleague Rep. Meredith Dixon (D-Bernalillo) recently penned an opinion piece urging support for the federal SPEED Act. I applaud her and join her. The SPEED Act is permitting reform legislation with real potential to un-cuff a myriad of environmental projects across New Mexico, including in my district right here in Albuquerque. Equally impactful is the legislation’s potential to reflect true bipartisan efforts in a truly hyper-partisan environment. And our own Senator Martin Heinrich is well-positioned to be a leader in the negotiations often needed when the demands from the left are ballasted by the demands on the right.
Marian Matthews is a state representative serving House District 27 in Albuquerque’s Northeast Heights. She has served since 2020.
Senator Heinrich has experienced, first hand, the frustrations that accompany the redundancy of bureaucratic red-tape and endless litigation. He worked for 17 years to advance the SunZia Transmission line and its $20 billion dollar injection and hundreds of jobs in southern New Mexico through never-ending and sometimes circular permit processes, all while costs increased and workers waited.
For years, he and others in the Senate have championed permitting reform that allows for these essential environmental and regulatory reviews through a more streamlined and timely process. While previous efforts have not become law, Heinrich and his colleague, Sen. Whitehorse, recently secured agreements from the Trump administration that open the door for real bipartisan negotiations that protect environmental reviews and provide certainty that bureaucrats won’t revoke permits once they are issued.
New Mexico has hundreds of millions of dollars sitting in bank accounts of local governments and businesses, ready to build essential infrastructure—roads, broadband, water lines, and clean energy projects we desperately need. But New Mexicans aren’t getting the services or jobs they are designed to deliver because, too often, these vital projects are stalled in an endless loop of redundant permits and public hearings that have no requirement to ever end.
Pajarito Powder LLC is a materials science company with a global footprint located in my Albuquerque District (D-27). Pajarito Power is just one of many victims of governmental inefficiency as an estimated $18.5 million in federal funding remains in bureaucratic limbo. The other victims…New Mexicans. Pajarito Powder LLC is at the forefront of clean hydrogen manufacturing which includes fuel cell deployment responsible for dramatically reducing harmful NOX emissions from fossil fuel operations and municipal public transit fleets.
If the SPEED Act can relieve environmental projects and their accompanying jobs from red-tape entanglements Senate democrats should stay at the negotiating table and deliver for their constituents.