Stansbury hosts town hall in Rio Rancho

United States Rep. Melanie Stansbury spent part of her afternoon on Aug. 27 at The HUB, Rio Rancho’s quality-of-life center that opened last summer.

But instead of reading a good book or playing pickleball, the congresswoman spent more than an hour hosting an open town hall meeting with senior citizens from across Sandoval County to talk about the future of Medicare, Social Security and the fight for better prices on prescription drugs.

“In New Mexico, we take care of our elders, full stop," Stansbury said. "The Biden Administration and congressional Democrats have been fighting for senior citizens in our state and across the country. We're protecting vital, life-saving programs like Social Security and Medicare, and we took on Big Pharma and won, ensuring life is getting better for one of our most vulnerable populations."

More than two dozen people attended the event, including Rio Rancho Mayor Gregg Hull and Rio Rancho City Manager Matt Geisel.

“You guys are really lucky here in Rio Rancho. You have some of the best city municipal leadership in the state,” Stansbury said. “And I mean that in all honesty; in fact, I'm constantly telling other incorporated towns and municipalities about Rio Rancho, they're doing really cool stuff on housing and on water, on infrastructure. I just really appreciate the work that you're doing in terms of our partnerships with Rio Rancho. We get earmarked funding through Congress, and so we're partnering with the city on a number of different projects right now.”

The event covered a wide range of topics including economic recovery, sustainable economic development, youth opportunities, community well-being, and land and water issues.

Stansbury highlighted the impact of recent legislative achievements, such as the Inflation Reduction Act and the CHIPS and Science Act, on New Mexico. She explained how these laws are contributing to the state’s economic recovery and sustainable development.

“Those bills are being implemented now, and in some cases it'll take a decade to really see the fruit of that. But those bills are funding our communities all over New Mexico. They're funding roads all over the state,” Stansbury said. “These bills are having significant impacts for New Mexico.”

Stansbury also addressed concerns about senior fraud, cybersecurity and local housing issues. She also stressed the urgent need for more medical professionals in New Mexico and discussed the challenges of health care reform.

Stansbury’s work on behalf of senior citizens includes introducing or cosponsoring several bills, including:

• H.R.5935 - SURS Extension Act

• H.R.7618 - SAFE Act

• H.R.8331 - Essential Caregivers Act of 2024

• H.R.6683 - Preserving Seniors’ Access to Physicians Act of 2023

• H.R.2407 - Nancy Gardner Sewell Medicare Multi-Cancer Early Detection Screening Coverage Act

• H.R.9271- To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to make permanent certain telehealth flexibilities under the Medicare program for telehealth services furnished by Indian health programs.

The congresswoman shared her personal journey, from her early career as a science teacher and water resources researcher to her unexpected entry into politics. She also spoke about her commitment to serving the community.

Stansbury also expressed her frustration with the current state of the United States Congress.

“Congress is not really productive right now. We went from having a very hyper-productive Congress to a very dysfunctional Congress. It's all been in the news non-stop for the last two years,” Stansbury said. “There's in-fighting between the members, and there's a divided Congress between the House and the Senate and the White House. And so we went from having the most productive Congress in decades to the least productive since the Great Depression. This is literally the least productive Congress, meaning we haven’t passed very many bills, which I know is extremely frustrating. I find it extremely frustrating. I fly constantly back and forth to D.C., and the level of dysfunction right now is unbelievable.”

The meeting concluded with a question-and-answer session, where community members had the opportunity to ask specific questions and discuss legislative proposals with Stansbury.

As the town hall wrapped up, Stansbury reiterated her commitment to serving the people of New Mexico and working toward a brighter future for all.

“I never expected to do this, but it's also been a joyful ride and a challenging time to serve,” Stansbury said. “It's also been very meaningful because I feel like the work that I get to do on behalf of our communities is very much a continuum of the lifelong work that I've done to try to help with economic development that's sustainable for our communities, that honors cultures and traditions and the ways of our communities, and then build the future for our kids so they want to stay here and live here and thrive here in New Mexico.”