New Mexico Senators Vote for Legislation Pushing Expensive Electric Vehicles, Refuse to Say if They Drive Them

August 16, 2022

Last week, both of New Mexico’s U.S. Senators – Martin Heinrich and Ben Ray Lujan – voted to pass the Democrats’ massive spending legislation. The bill, now signed into law, is a massive boon for the electric vehicle (EV) industry. It includes huge taxpayer-dollar incentives for Americans looking to purchase used or new EVs and for manufacturers looking to build them.

Even with all these incentives, electric vehicles are still very expensive for most Americans. In New Mexico, the average salary is $52,000 a year, and the average price of an electric vehicle is $64,000. So, The Center Square asked both Heinrich and Lujan if they, their families, or their staffs drove electric vehicles.

“After New Mexico’s Democratic Sens. Martin Heinrich and Ben Ray Lujan voted for the Inflation Reduction Act and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg suggested that Americans buy electric vehicles to reduce their costs of gas at the pump, neither senator would confirm if they drive electric vehicles or responded to questions about how New Mexicans would be able to afford purchasing one.”

Power The Future asked both Senators the same question… we’ve yet to receive a response.

“Their refusal to answer a simple question speaks volumes,” said Larry Behrens, communications director of PTF. “Senators Lujan and Heinrich breathlessly support every green initiative when it’s our families footing the bill, but they won’t put their own money where their votes are. This is nothing more than another tax break for the rich that won’t help New Mexico’s struggling families.”