GOP leader chides Lujan Grisham for ignoring oil in speech

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico's leading House Republican said he found it “disrespectful” that Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham failed to cite the oil and gas industry in her State of the State speech on Tuesday at a time when the industry is providing record revenues to the state's coffers that will fund some of the Democrat's educational initiatives.

House Minority Leader James Townsend, R-Artesia, said Tuesday he would have liked to hear the Democratic governor give credit to the business sector that has helped keep one of the nation's poorest states afloat and provided high-paying jobs.

“Not once did she mention the oil and gas industry except when she talked about methane rules,” Townsend said. “This is the industry in the area that I represent that is funding her proposed spending spree. I found it incredibly disrespectful.”

In her State of the State speech to mark the beginning of New Mexico's Legislative session, Lujan Grisham urged legislators to legalize recreational marijuana, underwrite tuition-free college for residents and boost spending on early childhood education amid efforts to improve economic opportunity in a state with the highest rate of poverty in the American West.

She also advocated teacher pay raises and new “cradle-to-career” investments in public education that include $74 million in new annual general fund spending for early childhood programs.

Lujan Grisham spokesman Tripp Stelnicki said the governor throughout her first year in office has made it clear that she appreciates the state's oil and gas industry. She has met with the New Mexico Oil and Gas Association and has said she hopes New Mexico can overtake North Dakota as the No. 2 U.S. oil producing state, Stelnicki said.

“I'm sorry they are expressing that sentiment and I would hope people in the industry don't...