Taking Stock of NM�s Sustainable Economy Advisory Council and Task Force (2021-2024)
SEAC/SET Force updates
Taking Stock of New Mexico’s Sustainable Economy Advisory Council and Task Force (2021-2024)
Kayla Lucero-Matteucci, Just Transition Advisor & Sustainable
Economy Task Force Chair
James Povijua, Sustainable Economy Advisory Council Chair
June 2024
SUMMARY: Since its inception in 2021, the Sustainable Economy Advisory Council and Task Force and their leadership have recognized the importance of dedicated staff capacity to support both bodies within the New Mexico Economic Development Department. With the 2023 addition of staff focused exclusively on building a sustainable economy, the task force and advisory council have moved toward functioning more efficiently and more directly engaging with the EDD’s statewide strategic plan. This year, the department will pursue its first in-house authorship of the statewide plan, encouraging broad engagement from stakeholders. Additional needs and challenges remain for the advisory council and task force to reach their full potential, specifically a need for added time and resources.
LEGISLATIVE BACKGROUND: The Sustainable Economy Advisory Council (SEAC) and Task Force (SET Force) were created in 2021 with the passage of Senate Bill 112 (SB112), which calls for “a strategic plan to transition the state economy away from reliance on natural resource extraction” and requires that “department secretaries of state agencies comply with the strategic plan.” SEAC’s stated role is to “advise the sustainable economy task force on developing and achieving the goals of the strategic plan.” As delineated in SB112, the strategic plan should work in consultation with affected communities toward the creation of policies to promote:
“diversifying the state’s tax base to replace the revenue generated from the natural resource extraction sector” (with specific reference to economic development, state investments, infrastructure, and alternative funding for education and healthcare)
“long-term economic growth”
“the addition of new jobs statewide to replace jobs that rely on the extraction or development of natural resources”
“recommendations provided in current and future economic studies and development efforts” including input from state agencies, universities, and research institutions
Implementation of the 2020 New Mexico Clean Energy Workforce Development Study
Expansion of “jobs with family-sustaining wages and benefits, opportunities for advancement and safe working conditions in industries engaged in sustainable economic development”
Per SB112, the Economic Development Department (EDD) administers the task force, with a designee of the EDD secretary serving as chair. EDD also administratively supports the advisory council. Broadly, SET Force is comprised of state agency representatives and SEAC is comprised of representatives of local governments, disproportionately impacted communities, Tribal governments or entities, industry, and other sustainable economic development professionals. As required by SB112, the task force developed its first iteration of the strategic plan in fiscal year 2022 and has continued to provide annual updates to the legislature no later than October 1 of each year.
RECENT DEVELOPMENTS: Before funding support for dedicated staff, the State, advisory council, and task force, utilized outside contract support from SRI International, Agenda, LLC, and Westwood Economics to develop its first iteration of the plan. The first version of the statewide strategic plan names nine target sectors: (1) film and television, (2) cybersecurity, (3) biosciences, (4) sustainable and value-added agriculture, (5) outdoor recreation, (6) aerospace, (7) global trade, (8) intelligent manufacturing, and (9) sustainable and green energy.
As of October 2023, EDD gained Just Transition Advisor Kayla Lucero-Matteucci. She is devoted to the state’s sustainable economy work and adds capacity to administer SEAC and SET Force, meeting weekly with Advisory Council Chair James Povijua. In 2024, the Just Transition Advisor will undertake the EDD’s first in-house authorship of the statewide strategic plan in 2024.
This document provides context on the status of SEAC and SET Force, laying out future goals, needs, challenges, and opportunities. For interested stakeholders—from members of the public to state legislators to fellow state agencies—this summary clarifies the processes and structures cemented by the Just Transition Advisor and SEAC Chair James Povijua. From October 2023 to June 2024, the Just Transition Advisor was supported by Center for Civic Policy contractors Michael Leon Guerrero, Nena Benavidez, and Samantha Salazar. In March of 2024 the Just Transition Advisor gained Cornell Policy Fellow Thomas Silva, who joins the program for the next year and brings critical research support and legal expertise. Finally, the Just Transition Advisor will soon be joined by additional fellows from Harvard University’s Taubman Center for State and Local Governance and Harvard Growth Lab.
As part of EDD’s annual updates to the New Mexico Legislature, the EDD Just Transition Advisor and Center for Civic Policy Contractor obtained updates in January 2024 from state agencies and economic development stakeholders about each of the plan’s priorities and corresponding recommendations. In total, they spoke to 48 individuals representing 18 state agencies, several Councils of Governments, and numerous economic development partners from across New Mexico.
In doing so and by interviewing sustainable economy stakeholders during her first six months on the job, the Just Transition Advisor compiled the below feedback from government and nongovernmental stakeholders. These insights were also bolstered by reviewing recordings and agendas from all available SEAC and SET Force meetings, equaling over 60 hours of video materials from 2021 to 2023. Thus, the conclusions below are informed by a…