Trump touts NM business activity
SANTA FE — Donald Trump doesn’t make as much news on Facebook as he does on Twitter. But the president highlighted New Mexico in a Facebook post Tuesday, citing a short article by Bloomberg, the New York-based media company.
“Business applications are thriving in New Mexico since I took office,” the president’s Facebook post said. “A key battleground state!”
The Bloomberg article said business applications have jumped 29% since Trump was elected, the biggest increase in the country.
As for New Mexico’s status as a presidential “battleground state,” local experts are skeptical. They’ve noted that New
Mexico has backed Democratic presidential candidates in the last three cycles, and Hillary Clinton carried the state by 8 percentage points in 2016.
SALT LAKE CITY-BOUND: Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham was traveling to Salt Lake City on Wednesday to attend the summer meeting of the National Governors Association.
She will help launch the association’s Outdoor Recreation Learning Network — a partnership among governors to explore strategies to take advantage of the state’s natural resources for economic and environmental benefits.
Lujan Grisham signed legislation in April establishing an outdoor recreation office in New Mexico.
The National Governors Association is a forum that allows states’ chief executives to share best practices.
The state is paying for Lujan Grisham’s trip. She returns this weekend.
PED MEETING SOUGHT: Rep. Alonzo Baldonado, R-Los Lunas, is calling for an emergency legislative hearing on the removal of Karen Trujillo as public education secretary.
Trujillo was fired this week by Lujan Grisham, who said the Cabinet secretary wasn’t meeting expectations. The Governor’s Office cited communication and leadership issues.
But lawmakers, educators and others have expressed surprise and concern at the quick dismissal. Trujillo was appointed in late January.
“New Mexicans deserve to know why the head of our state’s education system was terminated after just six months on the job just as we are about to start the school year,” Baldonado said. “The governor says she plans a nationwide search for a new PED secretary, but it will be hard to recruit top-tier candidates unless they know they’ll have the necessary support to make needed changes and the criteria for their success is clearly defined.”