This week, the governor of neighboring Sonora, Mexico, presented a new state budget. He’s promised both austerity and increased social spending.
Sonora Governor Alfonso Durazo says nearly two-thirds of the 2022 state budget is earmarked for social programs.
“I think the foundation is the largest social budget in the history of the state,” he said during a press conference Tuesday.
But he added that the budget is also austere and efficient.
“Zero debt, zero increase in existing taxes and zero new taxes,” he said.
Despite investing more in social program, Durazo said the approximately $3.2 billion dollar budget is well below the previous year’s spending under his predecessor.
In part, that’s because the federal government has already committed to pay for a number of costly infrastructure projects — including modernizing border ports, fixing roads and investing in the state’s Indigenous communities.
Durazo, a member of the president’s MORENA party, served as security secretary before stepping down to run for governor.
The budget must now be ratified by the state congress.
