Before joining Vice President Joe Biden at a fundraising lunch at the Hotel Albuquerque earlier today, U.S. Rep. Martin Heinrich and Lt. Gov. Diane Denish got a look at how some of the funds from the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act of 2009 are being spent in New Mexico.
This morning, they visited Juan DeLeon, a retired union carpenter, in the city’s South Valley. Last August, DeLeon’s wife died, but not before applying with the Central New Mexico Housing Corporation for assistance weatherizing their home.
Heinrich, who voted for ARRA, secured $26.8 million in ARRA funds for the N.M. Mortgage Finance Authority’s NM Energy$mart program over the next three years.
Heinrich said the program, which can reduce heating bills by an average of 32 percent, will also help reduce the country’s dependency on foreign oil. He said the weatherization projects are just a sample of the “the building blocks of our nation’s economic recovery efforts.”
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With the additional money, Heinrich’s office reports an additional 2,788 homes are expected to be weatherized over the next three years on top of the 1,500 homes already scheduled for work each year.
Heinrich noted that lower-income people spend up to 17 percent of their income on energy bills, and he’d like to see that lowered to about 3 percent.
Denish said beyond reducing energy use, the program allows people like DeLeon to stay in their homes.
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After the ARRA funds were approved, the eligible income limits for weatherization services increased from 150 percent of poverty level to 200 percent, or $44,100 for a family of four. The work, which can include replacing windows, furnaces, water heaters and weather stripping for doors and windows, is now capped at $6,500, compared to $3,000 last year.
Not only are homes being weatherized, helping to save energy costs and lower carbon footprints, but the program is also putting people to work. Central New Mexico Housing Corp’s Executive Director Joe Stevens told NMPolitics.net that 34 news jobs will be created from the ARRA funding, and 56 existing jobs will be retained.
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Additionally, Stevens said 95 new subcontractors will get contracts by service providers, and 24 current sub-contractors will be retained.
In September, Biden, who is overseeing ARRA for President Barack Obama said, “the Recovery Act has played a significant role in changing the trajectory of our economy, and changing the conversation about the economy in this country. Instead of talking about the beginning of a depression, we’re talking about the end of a recession.”
After the VIP tour left his home earlier today, Juan DeLeon told NMPolitics.net that he misses his wife and thanks her for applying for the program. He said getting the call about the help with weatherizing his home was like hearing his wife talk from the grave.
He said this Thanksgiving Day will be a special one. He’s planning to have his extended family over for dinner in his newly retrofitted home.
St. Cyr is a contributing writer for this site and a reporter at 770KKOB.com. He can be reached at peter.stcyr@gmail.com.