Pearce’s campaign for governor shaped by focus on government reform, improving business

Jan. 05--Shifting New Mexico's attitude toward business is a crucial part of Congressman Steve Pearce's agenda if elected governor.

He said New Mexico's government is "hostile" to business, and must be more supportive if the state is to grow and lift itself out of poverty.

By reducing regulations, Pearce hopes to keep business in New Mexico and avoid outsourcing processes such as refining oil from the southern part of the state and processing ores mined in the west.

He pointed to the town of Clayton in New Mexico's northeast corner, where business owners, Pearce said, often give up and move their operations just 15 miles east over the Texas state line.

"New Mexico government is hostile to business," Pearce said. "Every business owner will tell you that. They said New Mexico is just too hard. For people to do that tells you that we've got to change the government's attitude toward business. We have everything that would draw businesses here. Change that attitude, and they will flock to New Mexico."

Reforming several aspects of New Mexico's government is on Pearce's agenda, shaping his campaign to lead the state's executive branch of government.

He said diversifying the economy is his top priority, achieved through making New Mexico more attractive to businesses to open up shop and stay in the state, even across several regions with differing needs.

"You probably should have different plans for different regions of the state," Pearce said. "You have to work on diversifying the economy, that's going to be different in every part of the state."

To the north in the Albuquerque area, Pearce said he envisioned strengthening high-tech jobs in the space industry. Among the biggest hurt is the Spaceport America project, that saw the state invest about $200 million into building a facility near Truth or Consequences for private space travel.

"We have to make it work," he said of the spaceport. "The governor should be right at the forefront to make sure private space travel happens in New Mexico."

Further south, Pearce said support for the oil and gas and agriculture industries should translate into more oil refineries so New Mexico can benefit from its extraction activities.

The state was recently ranked third in the nation for crude oil production by the U.S. Energy Information Administration, an arm of the Department of Energy, and yet only contains two oil refineries in the southeast and northwest part of the state.

"Why don't we refine our own oil, and get those $60,000 a year jobs somewhere in an area of pretty deep poverty in the state?" he said. "Take the jobs where the poverty is the deepest and I think we can start reversing many sections of the state."

But oil isn't the only form of energy that Pearce said he was anxious to see grow in New Mexico.

He said he supports alternative sources of fuel and the use of renewable resources such as wind and solar power, in the past supporting legislation that would have set aside 5 million acres of federal land for solar energy.

The difference between Pearce and his opponents on the other side of aisle, he said, is balancing support for extraction and other traditional forms of energy.

Oil and gas could support up to 40 percent of teacher salaries, Pearce said. He argued that shutting down the industry would mark an enormous pay cut for New Mexico's educators.

"I'm perfectly comfortable with alternative energies, but we don't need to shut down the oil and gas industry, and that will be a difference between me and the Democratic candidates," Pearce said. "They're already running the oil and gas industry down.

"Let's have strong oil and gas, let's have strong renewables."

With more oil and gas activities comes more stress on the state's highway systems.

Aside from ensuring the roads are safe, Pearce said the state needs to invest in transportation infrastructure to allow for growth.

"You should look at the full expenditures on roads, and make sure they are prioritized to the areas that need them the most," he said. "Sometimes I think that's a political decision. As governor, I will certainly sit in on prioritization meetings. Then it'll get done."

With road costs rising to up to $2 million per mile, Pearce said efficient administration of the Department of Transportation will ensure funds are expended properly.

"The governor should really be watching the economics," he said. "For a state like ours, it's desperate. You need to make sure our department is working efficiently. The prioritization should be here (southeast New Mexico) because we send so much to the state."

Locally, Carlsbad's I&W brine well Pearce registers with Pearce as a priority for Eddy County.

He said the well was licensed and monitored by the state before it was closed when the ground was found unstable.

Experts suggested the well could cost $25 million to remediate, preventing a collapse, and up to $1 billion in damages if it falls in.

New Mexico lawmakers did earmark $250,000 to go toward further studies at the well, but Pearce said the state's contributions are not over.

"Whoever was operating the brine well was operating with the state's permission," he said. "The state knew full well what was going on, so the state does have a responsibility. Let's sit down, assign the percentages to the state, county or whoever. Let's make it safe so people don't have to worry about it. Everyone should be at the table on that."

Leaders from both parties should be at that table for the myriad issues facing New Mexicans, Pearce said. He touted his work in Congress, crossing lines to negotiate with Democrats.

Pearce even voted against his own party's first attempt to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, and challenged President Donald Trump's call for a physical wall to cover the U.S.'s entire southern border.

He said if the president and GOP establishment is wrong, he'll let them know.

And although he identifies strongly as a conservative and Republican, when asked how beholden he feels toward Trump, the leader of the GOP, Pearce held his thumb to his index finger to form a zero.

"We're very familiar with not being beholden to our party," he said. "I support it because of the principles, not because I'm a Republican."

Adrian Hedden can be reached at 575-628-5516, achedden@currentargus.com or @AdrianHedden on Twitter.

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