Senator Visits Estancia Valley, Discusses Jobs, Health Care Reform
by John Weckerle
New Mexico Senator Jeff Bingaman and Local Elected Officials
Last Wednesday, New Mexico’s senior Senator, Jeff Bingaman, addressed the Estancia Valley Economic Development Association (EVEDA) and local officials from the Valley’s communities. Mr. Bingaman discussed two high-priority issues, job creation and health care reform.
On job creation, Senator Bingaman discussed two bills already passed: the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) and the recently passed jobs bill, commonly known as the HIRE Act. According to Mr. Bingaman, the State of New Mexico recently estimated that it has been awarded $4.3 billion in ARRA funds. According to the map application at the Recovery.gov site, some of that, perhaps $3 million or more, has made it into the NM-Central.com coverage area. Mr. Bingaman highlighted the HIRE act as well, noting its provision for a payroll tax exemption for employers hiring new employees who have been out of work more than 60 days. The HIRE Act also purportedly increases the amount of equipment small businesses can write off in a single year (as opposed to depreciating it over multiple years) from $125,000 to $250,000. Mr. Bingaman expressed a hope of passing a new bill for clean energy projects. He also made mention of the new solar equipment manufacturing plant to be built in Rio Rancho, which may employ as many as 1,500 people by 2014.
On health care, Mr. Bingaman outlined various provisions of the recently passed health care reform bill. He pointed out that the bill does not mandate that small businesses with up to 50 employees provide health benefits to employees. There are, however, incentives to do so, including tax credits, for which up to 22,700 small businesses in the state employing over 100,000 New Mexicans would be eligible. These credits would be phased: Phase I starts immediately, and may offer tax credits of up to 35% of the employer’s share of health insurance costs; Phase 2 starts in 2014 and may cover up to 50%. Other provisions Mr. Bingaman highlighted included access to affordable coverage for those with preexisting conditions, protection from losing existing coverage, free prevention and wellness benefits, elimination of arbitrary coverage limits, allowing parents to maintain family coverage for young adults up to 26 years of age, and funding for community health centers.
Local elected officials asked a questions and provided comments. Many of these were related to matching requirements of some Federal grant programs. According to several officials, it has been difficult or impossible for their communities to obtain grants because, in the current economy, they are unable to provide the matching funds as required. Mr. Bingaman suggested that the officials speak to his staff after the meeting to explore the issue and work toward a solution. Mayor Bob Stearley of Edgewood asked about the status of “cap and trade” regulation, which he said “we should avoid like the plague,” especially if it applied to existing facilities. Mr. Bingaman responded that although a cap and trade bill had passed in the House of Representatives, it did not seem likely that there would be sufficient votes to pass it in the Senate. He stated that, in the absence of Congressional action, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency would develop and implement a regulatory strategy and noted that there had been some indication that the EPA was considering regulating both new and existing facilities.
As an apparent follow-up to the meeting, Mr. Bingaman’s Field Representative, Alberto Gonzales, sent an e-mail (distributed by EVEDA Executive Director Myra Pancrazio) containing two links with information on the health care reform bill and its relevance to small business: