Governor candidate Sam Bregman talks plans and policies at NMSU tour stop

Sam Bregman, current District Attorney of Bernalillo County, brought his Common Sense Over Chaos Tour to NMSU on Nov. 15 to speak about his policies and plans for New Mexico in anticipation of his run for governor.

Bregman laid out issues facing many New Mexicans and how he plans to tackle them, along with his stance on the current political atmosphere.

“We cannot count anymore on Washington [D.C.] to be consistent in any way,” Bregman said.

Bregman attributed this to the recent government shutdown and cuts on Medicaid funding, harming hospitals that make up a big portion of the economy of small towns in New Mexico.

“I will, as your next governor, at every opportunity stand up to the folks in Washington, Donald Trump, the GOP, or anybody else that wants to do things that harm the people in New Mexico,” Bregman said.

One of his main issues in New Mexico, he said, was the amount of crime, especially juvenile crime. His plans included a zero-tolerance gun policy in schools and more police-officer recruitment.

“We do face challenges, and juvenile crime with guns is a real challenge I have,” Bregman said. “…I’ve started a zero-tolerance policy for guns in school…[and] there’s a lot of issues we can do to fix crime in this state. One of them is put more police officers on the street and have a real sense of community-based policing.”

Bregman also noted that a cause of juvenile crime could stem from childhood education.

“Your education should be great in New Mexico regardless of the zip code that you live in, and that’s not the case too often,” Bregman said.

Bregman further talked about his plans to provide behavioral health programs for at-risk youth, offer support for students struggling academically, and to push for more summer camps and after-school programs.

“If they’re not reading and doing the math at the third-grade level when they’re in third grade, then we know for a fact, and the statistics show it, that they’re going to continue to have troubles going throughout,” Bregman said.

Bregman stated that the production of the oil and gas industry, making of a large portion of New Mexico’s general fund revenue, will eventually go down. It is because of this, he says, New Mexico needs to consider focusing on renewables.

“We have to build it out to make sure, No. 1, that our people are getting affordable, reliable energy,” Bregman said. “…but also, down the road, we can have the kind of energy—and wind and solars clean—that we could be exporting energy.”

Bregman added that the focus would bring more jobs and opportunities for trades workers. The notion extended to Project Jupiter, which Bregman stands in support of.

“I know there’s been some controversy down here, but I will tell you, high tech is coming to New Mexico,” Bregman said. “…I’ll also tell you when it comes to economic development and diversity, and we do want to diversify from simply a state that relies on oil and gas and federal jobs. We have to diversify from that.”

Bregman made the audience aware of his stance to improve medical care in New Mexico, stating that New Mexico is the only state losing doctors. His plans included eliminating gross receipts tax on medical services, conducting a medical malpractice reform, and joining the interstate compact, allowing New Mexican residents to receive care from a licensed doctor in another state via their computer.

“We urgently need more doctors here,” Bregman said. “We have to make it as attractive as possible…Every year you work in New Mexico as a doctor, we need to compete with everybody else, so I’m suggesting we give you every year you complete will reduce a year of your medical debt.”

Further considerations Bregman included related to tourism and the outdoors. Bregman stated that he plans to double tourism, build more wildlife corridors in collaboration with tribal communities, and hire more people trained to fight and prevent wildfires.

“I like the idea of continuing and increasing our conservation corps out there, and adding another hundred people,” Bregman said.

His plans for the outdoors extended to holding polluters accountable and creating more opportunities for New Mexicans to enjoy outside activities.

“I truly believe that we should have a plan or policy, and I don’t know how to pull this off yet, that every New Mexican should live within 30 minutes of a trailhead, a river, or a state park so they have the ability to truly enjoy the outdoors, because that’s one of the things that makes this state special,” Bregman said.