Font ResizeSANTA FE - Congress in recent times has been more generous to New Mexico than all but two other states, U.S. Sen. Jeff Bingaman said Thursday.
Bingaman, D-N.M., appeared before both houses of the state Legislature to say that the recession would have been much worse without a stream of federal dollars that far exceeded what state residents paid in taxes.
In 2009, for each dollar paid in taxes, New Mexico got back $3.34 in federal funds.
"New Mexico ranked as the third-highest state in this regard, behind West Virginia and Mississippi," Bingaman said.
In contrast, New York got back 89 cents for every dollar its residents sent to the federal government. Delaware received 33 cents on the dollar.
Money from the U.S. Recovery Act, commonly called stimulus funding, is drawing to its end, Bingaman said.
But New Mexico, he said, "will continue to receive robust federal funding in several key areas."
He cited education, water projects, military bases, health care and research at laboratories Los Alamos as five segments receiving substantial federal money.
Cannon, Kirtland and Holloman Air Force bases and White Sands Missile Range are expanding.
Bingaman said Holloman will receive a new wing, and White Sands is completing expansion for the 2nd Engineering Battalion.
The expansion of Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas, also has helped Southern New Mexico gain jobs, he said.
The challenge, he said, is to leverage these federal dollars to create long-term jobs in the
Santa Fe Bureau Chief Milan Simonich can be reached at msimonich@tnmnp.com or (505) 820-6898. His blog can be found at http://elpasotimes.typepad.com/newmexico.
