By Esteban Candelaria
The Santa Fe New Mexican
House Democrats rallied support for a bill to create trade ports in New Mexico after the measure stalled in its second committee Wednesday.
House Bill 19, sponsored by several Democrats — including Rep. Patricia “Patty” Lundstrom, D-Gallup — would allow the state to enter into partnerships with private companies to create trade ports near travel infrastructure, such as interstate highways, railroads and airports.
At a news conference Wednesday at the state Capitol, Lundstrom described those trade ports as essentially industrial parks specifically designed to facilitate the distribution and processing of goods. Customs agents, for example, would be on-site to process incoming shipments, she said.
“Economic development is about location, location, location,” Lundstrom said. “And when you think about where New Mexico is in the country — when you’re looking at [Interstate 40], [Interstate 10] … we’re right in the center.”
At least three counties have trade port projects in the works that may be able to take advantage of the bill, Lundstrom said — Bernalillo, Doña Ana and McKinley counties. Bernalillo County commissioners in mid-October accepted a $15 million grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation for a trade port corridor project along Interstate 40, which would include a hub in Albuquerque.
House Speaker Rep. Javier Martínez, D-Albuquerque, also emphasized the importance of the bill, calling it a potential “game-changer for the state” at the news conference.
The news conference came after members of the House Taxation and Revenue Committee tabled the bill following a roughly hourlong discussion, citing its significant fiscal impact.
The measure would create a “trade ports development fund” administered by the state Economic Development Department to distribute grants for partnerships to develop the ports. Private companies in the partnerships would match or exceed public contributions.
A trade ports advisory committee created by HB 19 would review and approve potential trade port partnerships and grants from the fund.
The bill would divert 1% of gross receipts tax revenue and 4% of motor vehicle excise tax revenue to the fund until July of 2035. According to an analysis of the bill, creating the fund would cost nearly $12 million in motor vehicle excise tax revenue and $55.4 million in gross receipts tax revenue in fiscal year 2026.
“I think this is an interesting concept,” Rep. Christine Chandler, D-Los Alamos said during the committee meeting. “My concern, though, is 1% is [a] significant amount of money that we will not be receiving.”
Lundstrom said creating trade ports would establish necessary infrastructure to boost economic development in New Mexico, as well as to improve nationwide supply chains.
“I think the state of New Mexico needs to just pull up their big boy pants and start driving the economy,” she told lawmakers.
Still, committee chair Rep. Derrick Lente, D-Sandia Pueblo, said per the committee’s standard practices, the bill would be tabled for further reflection and potentially brought back as part of the state’s larger omnibus tax package.
The discussion around House Bill 19 comes amid escalating global tensions over trade, after newly inaugurated President Donald Trump threatened to impose 25% tariffs on imports from its two largest trade partners, Mexico and Canada. The nations worked out plans to delay the tariffs in exchange for border enforcement commitments, some of which, The New York Times reported, were already in motion.