Want more jobs? Vote for Michelle Lujan Grisham
For the last eight years, Gov. Susana Martinez’s “plan” for job creation was simple. Step 1. Give the ultra-wealthy and out-ofstate corporations huge tax giveaways. Step 2. Pray. Unfortunately, this faith-based strategy isn’t working. New Mexico ranks secondworst nationally for unemployment. We are near bottom in both hourly wages and overall income. We’re the only regional state where more people move out than in as young people find better jobs in places like Colorado.
But we can change and if you want more and better jobs, the choice for a new governor is crystal clear. Democratic U.S. Rep. Michelle Lujan Grisham offers a real and effective path to a 21st-century economy, while Republican U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce will continue Susana’s failures.
Listening to business and economic developers across the state, legislators hear three major things that must be improved to create jobs.
First, there is a huge gap in skills our workers have compared to available jobs. Michelle will address the problem by increasing apprenticeship programs; growing education efforts in science, technology, engineering, arts and math; and aligning community college classes with job needs so students who want to make great money by becoming electricians, welders or medical technicians can get the skills they need.
Modern jobs also require more internet accessibility. Michelle has a history of supporting broadband deployment in Congress and will work to make sure every school, home and business has access to quality internet service.
Furthermore, we know that financing for startups in the technology and agriculture sectors is hard to get. Michelle will use more revenue from our $24 billion permanent funds to invest in businesses that want to start and grow here because she recognizes that investing in our people, not just Wall Street banks, is better for everyone.
All of these are detailed in a job creation plan on her website. Steve Pearce? He’s got no plan.
Michelle wants to raise the minimum wage immediately to $10 per hour, increasing to $12 within four years. This creates local jobs, because workers spend more money on things like fixing their cars and buying school supplies when they’ve got a little extra in their pockets.
Pearce? He voted against raising the minimum wage in Congress in 2007 and 2013. Instead he voted for Donald Trump’s tax giveaway last year, where research shows huge corporations spent 37 times more buying their own stock as they did on bonuses and wage increases for workers.
Favoring CEOs and Wall Street bankers over workers hasn’t worked for
New Mexicans under Martinez, and it will only get worse under Pearce.
Trade with Mexico created more than 8,000 New Mexican jobs between 2009 and 2014. Michelle recognizes the potential here, and will grow port facilities on our southern border and increase marketing and relationships with leaders in Mexico to create even more jobs. Pearce? He has a 94.6 percent voting record with Donald Trump, a man who announced his presidential campaign by calling Mexicans rapists and murderers … not the sort of thing that will encourage them to work with us.
Michelle Lujan Grisham also knows that our amazing TV and movie industry creates great jobs both directly and through increased tourism. That is why she has committed to remove the cap on our film incentive program. Pearce? He refuses to commit to one of the most proven employment opportunity strategies in New Mexico’s history.
We need a fresh start. For more jobs and better wages, Michelle Lujan Grisham is the obvious choice for governor this November. We should vote for her.