Stansbury vote helps secure $3 million for projects in Sandoval County

U.S. Rep. Melanie Stansbury voted Wednesday to pass funding for six federal funding bills as part of a bipartisan budget deal to avert another partial government shutdown and keep federal agencies operational through the remainder of the fiscal year. Funding for these six bills was set to expire March 8 due to several successive short-term continuing resolutions that helped avert multiple shutdown threats.

The passage of the package of bills will fund agriculture, commerce, justice, science, energy and water, interior and environment, transportation and housing, and military and Veterans Affairs programs through the remainder of the fiscal year on Sept. 31. Another slate of funding bills is set to expire on March 22, which will require additional negotiations to reach the finish line next week.

In addition to keeping federal agencies operational for the remainder of the fiscal year, the deal includes more than $15 million for community project funding, passed by Stansbury and the New Mexico delegation of Sens. Martin Heinrich and Ben Ray Luján, and Reps. Teresa Leger-Fernandez and Gabe Vasquez.

“The passage of this bipartisan budget deal includes major wins for New Mexico, including 15 community projects I secured funding for to address housing and homelessness, crime and public safety, early education and youth programs, and critical infrastructure for our communities,” Stansbury said. “This includes funding all across our district from Sandia Pueblo to Mescalero, Bernalillo to Valencia Country, Rio Rancho to Ruidoso and Santa Rosa, and communities in between. These investments underscore a commitment to investing in the future generation of New Mexico and ensuring its community members have the necessary tools and support to thrive. By investing in our communities, we are investing in the future of prosperity and success of our state. We are deeply proud and grateful for the leaders in our communities championing these projects and we are excited to deliver this funding.”

The provisions secured byStansbury include several for projects in Sandoval County.

• $963,000 for the Sandoval County sheriff vehicles. This project is urgent in order for the Sheriff’s Office to continue to provide emergency services to the residents, visitors and businesses of Sandoval County. This project will replace patrol, detective and unmarked vehicles that are unsafe or that have extremely high miles and are incurring costly repairs.
• $1,466,279 in Rio Rancho for Sara Road. The funding will help design and construct improvements to Sara Road near Highway 528, which provides a critical transportation artery to technology-related employment, residential areas, a commercial/retail area, educational facilities, senior housing and support facilities, an urgent care facility, and community organizations. This was secured by Stansbury and Luján.
• $850,000 in Bernalillo for the El Zocalo-Sena Building Renovation Project. This funding will help renovate and refit the historic Sena Building, located within the town of Bernalillo’s historic El Zocalo Plaza. These improvements would bring 4,800 square feet of community facility online, which could be used for public meetings, business conferences, retreats and other community events. This was secured by Stansbury and Luján.
• $850,000 in Sandia Pueblo for the Pueblo of Sandia Child Development Center. The pueblo of Sandia will use this funding to construct a new child development center to accommodate the pueblo’s growing number of students and retire portable classrooms. The center will also include several new facilities needed to serve students with special needs.

Other provisions secured by the New Mexico delegation include:

Secured Stansbury:

• $1,000,000 in Valencia County for the Peralta Fire Station. The town of Peralta will use the funding to build a new fire station. The Peralta Volunteer Fire Department has been working in an over 50-year-old, outdated building with limited storage of equipment, and training without adequate decontamination area for their bunker gear. The new fire station will better serve Peralta residents, neighboring communities and fire/EMS departments within Valencia and adjoining counties.

Secured by Stansbury, Heinrich and Luján:

• $500,000 for statewide forensic laboratory DNA analysis by state police. The New Mexico Department of Public Safety will use this funding to accelerate the processing of forensic DNA to address more than 1,000 nonviolent cases that remain unworked and the more than 450 cases the forensic lab receives a year.

Education and youth programs

Secured by Stansbury, Heinrich and Luján:

• $1,000,000 in Mescalero for the Mescalero Apache Head Start Center. This funding will be used to help design and construct a new Mescalero Head Start facility to provide educational opportunities for children under age 5 and replace current facilities, which are inadequate and require a new facility.

Secured by Stansbury:

• $850,000 in Albuquerque for the Corn Maiden Early Learning Center at the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center. This funding will be used to plan, design, construct, furnish and equip an early childhood development center and day care for children in the Albuquerque area. Corn Maiden will provide a pueblo- and indigenous-centered education program for preschool-aged children.

Secured by Stansbury and Luján:

• $500,000 in Ruidoso for the Early Childhood Education Center. This funding will be used by the Region 9 Early Learning Cooperative to construct an early childhood center (ECE) for educational care, after-school care, and an ECE teacher training site in Ruidoso to serve families across the region.

Housing and homelessness

Secured by Stansbury and Heinrich:

• $3,000,000 in Albuquerque for the homeless youth center. This funding will support the construction of a shelter and navigation center for youth experiencing homelessness in Albuquerque, in support of investments in addressing youth homelessness.

Secured by Stansbury:

• $994,950 in Albuquerque for transitional Housing for families experiencing homelessness. This funding will support Saranam’s project to construct a new transitional housing project to serve unhoused families in Albuquerque’s west side and provide wrap-around services as families get back on their feet.

Secured by Stansbury and Luján:

• $500,000 in Albuquerque for empowering homeless youth with independence, life skills and workforce development.

Water, roads and economic infrastructure

Secured by Stansbury:

• $959,752 in Albuquerque for the Albuquerque Bernalillo County Water Utility Authority for the Aquifer Storage and Recovery Project. This funding will be used to plan, construct and equip an aquifer storage and recovery facility (ASR). This request would fund the next phase of the direct injection ASR project on the east side of Albuquerque —a key component of the Water Authority’s 100-year management strategy.

Secured by Stansbury:

• $959,752 in Las Lunas for the village of Los Lunas for a water extension project. This funding will help to construct water utility lines to connect rural households in Valencia County to the village’s utility system.

Secured by Stansbury:

• $850,000 in Santa Rosa for the Santa Rosa Blue Hole Access Project. This funding will be used for signage, marking, and construction associated with pedestrian walkways and road improvements near Blue Hole in Santa Rosa. The project primarily consists of the widening of the existing access from Old Route 66 onto the Blue Hole area. The construction will improve public safety by alleviating possible traffic incidents and keeping pedestrians safe from vehicle activity.

In addition to funding community projects, the deal includes funding to serve veterans, delivers on climate and clean energy priorities, protects funding for food and housing programs, expands funding for water infrastructure, and gives a pay raise for our wildland firefighters. The bill is expected to be voted on in the Senate this week and be signed by President Joe Biden before Friday. An additional funding deal on the remaining six budget bills set to expire next week is currently being negotiated.