BLUE CD2 NEW MEXICO
  • About Us
    • Your Privacy
    • Diversity, Equity, Inclusion
  • Events
  • Get Involved
    • Join Our Committees
  • Gabe Vasquez District 2 Congressman
  • Free Graphics & Videos
    • Free Graphics
    • Free Videos
  • Donate
  • News & Views
  • Contact Us
  • Be A Voter
  • Your Tax Dollars at Work
  • Podcast - Red, Green and Blue
  • Thrive
  • Our Team
  • We Will Win Sponsorships
Picture

IN BERNALILLO COUNTY

Want to learn about what's happening in
Bernalillo County?

Click on the bars below.
Bipartisan Infrastructure Law
Picture
AIRPORTS
New Mexico's 46 airports are key economic drivers for our state.
~Sen. Ben Ray Lujan (D-NM)
Sunport International Airport; see details here and here.
  • upgrading safety and security infrastructure
  • reimagining its food, beverage and retail offerings
  • '21-'22 funding = $15.2 million

Double Eagle II Airport
  • '21-'22 funding = $587,000 for improvements to Double Eagle II’s infrastructure
Picture
ROADS & BRIDGES
Picture
​Albuquerque Rail Trail Project - ​​an approximately one-mile-long urban trail through the heart of Downtown Albuquerque linking neighborhoods, mass transportation options, the Rail Yards, the National Hispanic Cultural Center, BioPark, Old Town, Sawmill District, Indian Pueblo Cultural Center, Convention Center, Rail Yards, and more. The project will provide employment opportunities and activity centers.
​
Watch a short video about the project here.
TRANSPORTATION
Picture
Uptown Transit Center
The Uptown Transit Center has been awarded $25 million for the construction of six bus docks that will include protected waiting areas, signage, security features, lighting, electric charging stations, and underground parking, as well as entertainment, affordable housing, and retail uses. The funding will enhance a public-private partnership called Uptown Connect, where at least 400 apartments are planned so people can live, work, play, and hop on mass transit within a walk from their home. See more here.
 
Electric Buses
 
$18 million grant for electric buses so the City of Albuquerque can add several electric buses to the city’s bus fleet. See more here.
 
Picture
BROADBAND
It’s a game changer for New Mexico. It’s a game changer for agriculture, it’s a game changer for anybody in rural areas, because they can live the way that urban America has.”
​~ John Diamond, Beaverhead Ranch Group
Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program: $26 million to install fiber to provide Internet to 1,526 Native American households, 54 community institutions and 10 businesses. You may be eligible to receive a monthly discount on an internet service plan. Sign up here: Affordable Connectivity Program.
Picture
RESILIENCE: FLOOD CONTROL
Funding pays for a proposal by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to restore approximately 216 acres of the Middle Rio Grande bosque, improving the watershed by constructing high-flow channels, willow swales, and wetlands, and by restoring native vegetation and habitat and restoring the forest along the banks of the Rio Grande. 
 
Funding pays for a study of approximately 20 river miles from Bernalillo to Belen​, approximately 110 square miles of drainage area including Isleta Pueblo and multiple small rural communities on both sides of the Rio Grande in Bernalillo and Valencia counties. The study lays out plans to manage flood risks and evaluates whether a 1996 plan, based on studies done in1941, can still be implemented and what actions would best reduce flood risk. 
Picture
It really is our infrastructure moment for a generation. 
– Sen. Martin Heinrich
You can save $$ by electrifying at home thanks to the
​Inflation Reduction Act 
​
Learn more 
here!  
Picture
MEDICARE RECIPIENTS BENEFIT
Picture
  • Caps on out-of-pocket annual prescription costs,
  • Expanded eligibility for premium subsidies,
  • For the first time Medicare will be able to begin negotiating pricing for some drugs.
  • A $35 monthly cap for insulin!
RURAL RESIDENTS BENEFIT
Picture
  • An improved rural electrical grid, to make sure it remains strong and resilient for decades and to avoid the kind of blackouts we’ve seen in Texas.
  • Climate-smart agricultural funding that supports farmers while reducing pollution and emissions.
  • Support for rural electrical co-ops and renewable energy projects, USDA conservation programs, and debt relief for distressed farmers.
  • New Mexico tribes will receive expanded broadband, guaranteed loans, money to mitigate drought, and funding for projects such as fish hatcheries
Farmers can keep farming; ranchers can keep ranching.
New Mexico has over 23,800 family-owned farms and ranches, encompasses 49 million acres of farmland and is home to more than 1.4 million head of cattle. Agriculture is the third largest industry in our state, with a total economic impact of $40 billion, and yearly revenue of over 3 billion dollars. We are the leading producer of chile nationwide, often the largest producer of pecans in the U.S, and rank third for onion production, ninth for milk production, and sixteenth for cattle and calf production.
The Inflation Reduction Act is designed to keep producers producing on their land. It does so by providing:
  • Assistance for distressed Farm Loan programs borrowers. The IRA provided $3.1 billion through USDA for relief to distressed borrowers. See more here. (Since the Inflation Reduction Act was signed into law by Biden in August 2022, USDA has provided approximately $1.15 billion in assistance to more than 20,000 distressed borrowers.
  • ​assistance to more than 20,000 distressed borrowers.)
  • Assistance for underserved farmers, ranchers, and forest landowners. The IRA provides $2.2 billion in financial assistance for socially-disadvantaged farmers, ranchers, and forest landowners, including veterans who experienced discrimination previously. See more here.
  • $125 million for climate smart conservation activities. Learn more at farmers.gov and nrcs.usda.gov
Picture
BUSINESSES BENEFIT
Picture
  • Tax credits for 159,000 small businesses in New Mexico to improve energy efficiency, install solar power and buy clean trucks and vans for commercial fleets
  • Businesses can “stack” credits. For instance, on top of a 30% tax credit, a developer can earn more credits by paying the prevailing wage for labor, using apprenticeship labor, or using U.S.-made steel and aluminum.
  • For every federal dollar ($2.3 billion available for NM), the public and private sector will spend $2-$3, making it a $10 billion deal.
  • Between now and 2030, $15 billion will be invested in new and existing businesses that will generate and store clean power in New Mexico.
  • 8,000 small businesses and self-employed adults in New Mexico now qualify for lower premiums through the Affordable Care Act.
ALL OF US BENEFIT
Picture
  • Wildfire prevention and protection of water sources.
  • A rebate program to help make our homes safer and greener with insulation and windows, solar panels, heat pumps, and by replacing old fossil-fuel appliances.
  • Restoring fairness to our tax code: attending to the backlog of paperwork that’s allowed the ultra-rich to avoid paying what they owe. Plus a 15% corporate minimum tax rate that will allow us to plan for our country’s future and build an economy that works for all Americans.
The Inflation Reduction Act will provide a historic investment in a clean energy economy.
​–Rep. Gabe Vasquez (D-NM) 
You lived through the fastest recovery in three decades!
All because of the 

​​American Rescue Plan
Picture
THE ECONOMY RESCUED
The U.S. had the fastest recovery of any nation in the world.
  •  New Mexico’s unemployment rate fell to 3.5% in December 2022 from 8.2% in January 2021New Mexico added 70,000 jobs due to the American Rescue Plan
  • New Mexicans applied for 51,000 new Small Business Applications, the highest 2-year total on record.
  • Hispanic unemployment saw its fastest 1-year drop and reached its lowest annual rate ever in 2022 nationwide.
  • Restaurants rescued. 602 New Mexico restaurants received vital relief through the American Rescue Plan's Restaurant Revitalization Fund
FAMILIES & YOUNG PEOPLE RESCUED
  • 355 child care programs in Bernalillo County received money to help keep their doors open
  • Working families got tax relief: 252,000 families with 420,000 children In New Mexico benefited from the ARP’s Child Tax Credit.
  •  56,000 New Mexico students received 145,000 Internet-connected devices (including hotspots) to close the homework gap
  • Emergency Rental Assistance was provided to thousands of hard-pressed renters in New Mexico
    - 73,000 payments to help families meet their ongoing rent and utility costs
    - 60,000 payments to help families address past due rent and utility bills
  • 93,000 New Mexico college students received direct financial relief through the Higher Education Emergency Relief Program in 2021 to help them stay enrolled and cover their bills in 2021.
PEOPLE RESCUED
  • An expanded  Earned Income Tax Credit  provided up to $1,500 of tax relief to an estimated 134,000 New Mexico workers without dependent children
  • 41,000 more New Mexico homes and businesses will receive affordable, high-speed internet through the American Rescue Plan’s Capital Project Fund
  • Over 230 million Americans are fully vaccinated, up from 3.5 million when President Biden took office.
  • 46,000 New Mexicans saved hundreds of dollars on their health premiums from the American Rescue Plan. With the Inflation Reduction Act’s extension of these savings, 41,000 New Mexicans signed up for quality, affordable care in the 2023 ACA open enrollment period.
COUNTIES, CITIES AND TRIBES RESCUED
​Direct pandemic recovery funds were provided to the county, cities, municipalities, and tribes to avoid cuts and to invest in public safety, housing and the workforce, e.g.,
  • Bernalillo County, $132 million
  • Albuquerque, $109 million
  • Rio Rancho, $13 million
  • Corrales, $2 million
  • Los Ranchos de Albuquerque, $1.5 million
  • Tijeras, $126,000
As of July 2021, Isleta Pueblo received $14,000 in American Rescue Plan funds to respond to the pandemic or replace lost revenue.
SCHOOL DISTRICTS RESCUED
Albuquerque Public Schools, Rio Rancho Public Schools, and other school districts received recovery funds for academic recovery, student mental health and to reopen schools safely.
More jobs have been created in one year than in our nation’s history.
​– Rep. Melanie Stansbury, D-NM
Picture
​​WANT MORE PROGRESS? VOTE!
Meet your representative
​Gabe Vasquez.

​Download and share the slide show below:
rep._gabe_vasquez.pptx
File Size: 31564 kb
File Type: pptx
Download File

 
Home
Home
About Us
Contact Us
Your Privacy
Diversity, Equity, Inclusion
Donate
Paid for by Blue CD2 New Mexico and not authorized by any candidate or candidate committee. www.BlueCD2nm.com
Copyright © 2023
  • About Us
    • Your Privacy
    • Diversity, Equity, Inclusion
  • Events
  • Get Involved
    • Join Our Committees
  • Gabe Vasquez District 2 Congressman
  • Free Graphics & Videos
    • Free Graphics
    • Free Videos
  • Donate
  • News & Views
  • Contact Us
  • Be A Voter
  • Your Tax Dollars at Work
  • Podcast - Red, Green and Blue
  • Thrive
  • Our Team
  • We Will Win Sponsorships