ABQ Times

General Obligation Bonds, or GO Bonds, come before the voters in New Mexico every two years. For higher education institutions across the state, they are a proven and accepted method of funding bricks and mortar projects throughout the state.

This November, voters will have an opportunity to pass GO Bond 3 for Higher Education to help provide New Mexico’s colleges, universities, and specialty schools with the ability to ensure students have the tools and resources they need to be successful. There are no tax increases associated with these bonds.

This year’s GO Bond 3 will provide more than $230 million in higher education funding statewide, including $94.5 million for The University of New Mexico (UNM) and its branch campuses. Supporting GO Bond 3 not only provides funding for more than 40 projects at colleges and universities in New Mexico but also helps attract, retain, and recruit new students through various projects designed with student success in mind.

UNM has several important projects as part of the GO Bond this year, including a new Humanities & Social Sciences Complex on the main campus and a College of Pharmacy Renovation for the UNM Health Sciences Center on the north campus. Each of UNM’s four branch campuses—UNM-Gallup (Gurley Hall Renovations), UNM-Los Alamos (Student Services and Success Renovation), UNM-Taos (Science & Space Education), and UNM-Valencia (Nursing and Health Sciences Phase 1)—has relevant projects to improve amenities on those campuses.

Additionally, the passage of GO Bond 3 would create more than 2,300 new jobs in architecture, construction, education, and related fields. It will contribute to the economies of 29 cities in 23 counties across New Mexico. The economic impact of GO Bond 3 is estimated to be hundreds of millions of dollars, affecting businesses large and small from every corner of New Mexico.

“We’re looking forward to a new humanities building that fits in with the architectural style of the campus,” said UNM College of Arts & Sciences Dean Jennifer Malat. “We need spaces where we can think about how the humanities interact with all sorts of different disciplines. We want students to arrive at UNM and see that their flagship university respects their education as much as they do.”

Students at UNM's College of Pharmacy could benefit from a renovated building if GO Bond 3 passes this November. Continued investment in higher education will make New Mexico attractive to innovative businesses, creating opportunities for high-paying jobs. Community commitment to colleges and universities will help bring new jobs to the state while ensuring graduates stay in New Mexico.

Your support of GO Bond 3 will help students gain a competitive edge when they graduate. Voters from around New Mexico overwhelmingly supported these improvement bonds for the past six cycles (2012-2022), investing in higher education without increasing taxes.

For complete information on UNM projects, visit bonds.unm.edu.

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