Santa Fe – Leadership of the New Mexico House of Representatives announced the continuation of their statewide Job Creation Listening Tour, focused on creating jobs and growing the economy. The tour will engage business owners, industry, workforce educators, and other New Mexicans in conversations with members of the New Mexico House of Representatives to discuss solutions for New Mexico's economy. The Job Creation Tour will visit locations around the state over the next three months, commencing with Gallup and Farmington this week.

The tour reflects the House Democratic Leadership's top priority of increasing the number and quality of jobs available to hard-working New Mexico families. Speaker Brian Egolf (D-Santa Fe) launched the tour in late 2015, with House members of both parties from around the state. Previous listening sessions included southern and southeastern New Mexico. This year, the tour will begin in northwestern New Mexico and will end in southern New Mexico.

The Speaker and House Members will host the first listening session of the 2017 Jobs Tour in Farmington on Wednesday, October 18, 1:30 pm at San Juan College School of Energy, Merrion Room A. On Thursday, October 19 at 10:30 am the Jobs Tour will be held in Gallup, at the Gallup Cultural Center.

"Our Job Creation Tour proved invaluable to our work in the 2017 legislative session. After hearing from business owners from around the state, members introduced key initiatives to support economic development. There is still more work to do, and there are too many New Mexicans searching for good-paying jobs. That's why we are continuing the tour this year," said Speaker Egolf, "By listening and sharing ideas with our business community, our colleges, and our workforce, I have confidence that New Mexico can take steps to turn our economy around."

The Speaker and House Members will host additional listening sessions in southern New Mexico in November and December. Legislation introduced during the 2017 session inspired by input received during the 2016 Jobs Creation Tour included: HB 60, HB 91, HB 126, HB 144, HB 147 and HB 289. All became law except for HB 91 and HB 289, which were vetoed.