Members of both major parities are combining on a bill to subsidize the New Mexico Bowl.
Reps. Nate Gentry, right, a Republican, and Antonio Maestas, a Democrat, want to allocate $1.5 million in taxpayers' money for the game across three years. Both lawmakers are from Albuquerque.
"This nationally televised sporting event is the
kind of sports tourism that creates jobs, brings tourism dollars into
the state and showcases New Mexico as a tourism and business
destination," Maestas said in a statement.
The New Mexico Bowl started in 2006. The game has been played on the Saturday afternoon before Christmas on the UNM campus.
One question for Gentry and Maestas will be whether tourism generated by the bowl game helps anyone except select hospitality businesses near University Stadium.
A second will be whether, in a difficult economy, a bowl game subsidy is the best use of tax dollars.
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