Jeff Bingaman United States Senator from New Mexico

For the past few weeks, Congress has been debating a recovery package aimed at jump-starting our economy. News coverage of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 has centered mostly on the cost of the package and how many jobs it would create. Little attention has been given to how this funding will be distributed and whether it contains "earmarks" – a term that is often used to describe the funding set aside for a single, specific project.   

Along with all of my New Mexico colleagues, I am working hard to ensure that every dollar of public funding included in the Recovery and Reinvestment Act goes toward projects that will create jobs, have a long-term economic impact, and spend funds immediately in order to hasten economic recovery. Earmarks and special interests have no place in this measure. 

To that end, we have crafted a bill that would grant funding to states and require them to use it quickly and efficiently to create jobs. For example, the Senate bill would direct $19.7 million to New Mexico to tackle long-standing drinking water infrastructure needs; it leaves the task of identifying the greatest need for this funding to the state. But Congress will not be "earmarking" any of the funds in the bill. 

After speaking with economists of all persuasions, I am convinced that in order to begin economic rehabilitation, we must act decisively now. 

The Recovery and Reinvestment Act would inject a significant amount of capital into economy, putting New Mexicans to work, helping New Mexicans go to college, helping keep New Mexico the clean energy leader in the U.S., and repairing some of New Mexico's crumbling roads, schools, and infrastructure. Perhaps one of the most important pieces of the package will help our state and the entire country build new infrastructure to support renewable energy. New Mexico is already a leader in solar, wind and other renewable power.

As it stands now, the legislation includes provisions that will help New Mexicans immediately and in the long-term. Again, there are no earmarks within this bill, so it is impossible to accurately predict which specific projects or individuals will receive funding from Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Presently, the Recovery and Reinvestment Act includes provisions that will benefit our state by:

• Creating or saving 22,000 New Mexican jobs over the next two years;
• Providing a workers tax cut that will affect nearly 700,000 New Mexican workers and their families, designed to pay out immediately into workers' paychecks;
• Creating the American Opportunity Tax Credit that will help make college affordable to 36,000 New Mexican families;
• Funding modernization of 82 New Mexican schools, which will provide labs, classrooms, and libraries to help our children compete in the 21^st century; and,
• Increasing unemployment insurance to 14,000 laid-off New Mexican workers to help them and their families as they recover from financial setbacks.

The Recovery and Reinvestment Act also includes tax credits for producers of solar panels and "green" energy to help the nation reach our goal of energy independence, as well as funding to restructuring the nation's energy grid. These provisions will boost our local economy and create jobs in New Mexico while also benefiting the country.

This bill is indeed a large, complex piece of legislation, yet I am confident that it is necessary, and will spur national economic stability as well as local economic growth. I voted to help pass this essential measure, which will now return to the House of Representatives for reconciliation with their original bill. It is my hope that the Recovery and Reinvestment Act will go to President Obama to be signed into law very soon so that we can begin rebuilding our economy.

For more information on the Financial Stability Plan, I encourage you to check out the U.S. Department of Treasury's Fact Sheet. You can find more information on their main website and on mine as it becomes available.