Martinez makes pitch for state to leaders in Outdoor Industries Association
Gov. Susana Martinez traveled to Salt Lake City on Thursday for an economic development fishing trip of sorts aimed at wooing businesses to New Mexico.
While in Utah, the second-term Republican governor will meet with business leaders and executives with the Outdoor Industry Association, a spokesman said.
The Outdoor Retailer show, a twice-yearly expo that’s tied to the Outdoor Industry Association, announced earlier this year that it was leaving Utah due to disagreement over public land issues. But the show’s organizers have picked Denver as its new location.
In a statement, Martinez spokesman Joseph Cueto cited a recent increase in the number of tourist visits to New Mexico and described the state as the “perfect place” for both adventure seekers and the industries that serve them.
However, the governor recently drew the ire of environmental groups by backing Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke’s decision to review and possibly reduce the size of two national monuments in New Mexico, though she did not recommend what action, if any, should be taken.
Martinez traveled to Utah with a delegation that includes her chief of staff, Keith Gardner, and Economic Development Secretary Matt Geisel. Travel costs for all three will be paid for by the New Mexico Partnership, the marketing arm of the state Economic Development Department.
Martinez took similar trips last year to Chicago and California, and the Governor’s Office said a 2015 trip to California helped pave the way for Facebook to pick New Mexico for the site of a massive new data center.
The governor is scheduled to return to New Mexico today.
KUDOS: A Washington, D.C.-based company that uses a data-based approach to analyze lawmaking has selected Sen. Mimi Stewart as New Mexico’s most effective legislator.
The formula developed by FiscalNote measured legislators’ effectiveness by tracking their ability to get substantive bills enacted, compared to other lawmakers from the same state, according to the company.
Stewart, an Albuquerque Democrat, sponsored 11 bills during this year’s 60-day legislative session that passed both legislative chambers. Six of those bills were vetoed by Gov. Susana Martinez, though the governor signed Stewart-sponsored bills dealing with rape kit testing, court interpreters and more.
A retired educator, Stewart served in the state House for 20 years before being appointed to the Senate in 2015. She was re-elected last year to represent an east Albuquerque district.
Nationally, most of the legislators deemed to be most effective were Republicans.