HOUSE JOINT MEMORIAL 76

49th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2009

INTRODUCED BY

Nick L. Salazar

A JOINT MEMORIAL

REQUESTING THE OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR TO STUDY THE FEASIBILITY AND BENEFITS OF ESTABLISHING A STATE PLANNING AND COMMUNITY DESIGN OFFICE.

     WHEREAS, the troubled economy of the state and the nation underscores the importance of careful coordination of planning, programming and expending of public resources; and

     WHEREAS, solutions to environmental problems are becoming more difficult to find due to the advance of global climate change and the way in which we live in and build communities; and

     WHEREAS, current and future challenges are presented by such issues as population growth; the community need for job production, education and recreation; the production and use of energy; and the need for sustainable approaches to land management and use; and

     WHEREAS, the Executive Planning Act directs the executive branch to foster implementation of comprehensive planning, to define strategic issues and to coordinate federal and state resources toward a cohesive state policy; and

     WHEREAS, the act further directs the governor's office to focus on overall state plans and policies and on interdepartmental coordination; and

     WHEREAS, by Executive Order Number 2005-060, issued in 2004, the governor created the task force on our communities, our future that met to develop recommendations regarding community livability and growth, environmental integrity, energy use, climate change and job development and to promote quality community investment practices; and

     WHEREAS, in 2007, the task force published a report that identified statutory and funding recommendations on these issues; and

     WHEREAS, the report of the task force included a tool kit describing ways to develop more walkable communities with greater choices for mobility, to provide more housing opportunities, to enhance the environment and natural resources, to preserve critical lands and to provide leadership in the livable economy of the future; and

     WHEREAS, state and local agencies and special jurisdictions customarily operate independently and with limited awareness of each other's data, forecasts, assumptions, policies, plans, programs and projects; and

     WHEREAS, the task force on our communities, our future specifically recommended the creation of a state office of planning and community design to conduct local and regional strategic planning, develop an annual state plan, coordinate capital improvements, develop an annual compendium of infrastructure needs, interface community needs with logical development and conservation of natural resources, preserve critical lands, create jobs related to a livable economy of the future, promote transit-oriented development and get a "bigger bang for the infrastructure buck";

     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that the office of the governor be requested to study the feasibility and benefits of establishing a state planning and community design office; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a broadly representative interagency, intergovernmental and private-sector task force be appointed to conduct the study; and

      BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the study assess current conditions and practices relative to planning and coordination among governmental agencies, tribal entities and special districts in the state; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a report be developed that includes the necessary steps to establish effective, fully integrated, continuous, comprehensive and coordinated state planning to forward the recommendations of the task force on our communities, our future task; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be transmitted to the offices of the governor and the lieutenant governor and to the secretary of finance and administration.

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