On Wednesday New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed what she described as a key housing bill that will help address the state’s shortage of 40,000 homes.
The bill authorizes $125 million in housing development loans and the creation of a housing development revolving fund through revisions to the New Mexico Finance Authority’s “Opportunity Enterprise Act.” Officials said the bill gives local governments more control to incentivize homebuilders and developers.
“There probably isn’t a single New Mexican that isn’t wondering how their children are going to buy a house and stay in their communities,” Lujan Grisham said. “I’ve got family members that are in their 20s that don’t know how they’re going to buy a house.”
The changes also allow more leeway for speculative building — pre-built properties that a builder constructs and designs without a particular buyer in mind. Lujan Grisham said it sends a signal to businesses that their workers will have a sufficient housing stock to choose from.
“We have a lot of companies coming to New Mexico, and all those workers will need a place to live,” she said.
The governor also signed two bills related to infrastructure.
One of those, House Bill 177, creates a matching fund to make it easier for local governments — especially rural municipalities — to qualify for billions of dollars in federal funding available through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act.
“We’re talking about roads, water, broadband, airports. We’ve got to have that infrastructure statewide,” Lujan Grisham said. “It provides our local communities with funds to be able to secure those dollars and also help with the administration and compliance for federal grants.”
Meanwhile, House Bill 232 — the “Department of Finance and Administration Act” creates an infrastructure planning and development division and feeds more resources for such projects into the Department of Finance and Administration.