Governor Appoints Duffy Rodriguez as Secretary of Taxation & Revenue

SANTA FE – Governor Bill Richardson today announced that Rick Homans will become the permanent Executive Director of the New Mexico Spaceport Authority as of July 1. Homans will step down from his position as Secretary of the New Mexico Taxation and Revenue Department.

Governor Richardson also announced that he has appointed Duffy Rodriguez to become the new Secretary of the Taxation and Revenue Department. Rodriguez has 30 years of government experience, most recently serving a dual role as Deputy Cabinet Secretary for Finance & Administration and Chief Financial Officer for the NM Department of Health.

“Spaceport America will soon be moving from a major construction project to an operational spaceport, launching humans into sub-orbit, and Rick has the project background, knowledge of the issues, and relationships with the many government and business partners,” Governor Richardson said. “This appointment assures we have the continuity we need to ensure the success of Spaceport America.”

The Board of the New Mexico Spaceport Authority met today in Truth or Consequences and voted unanimously to hire Homans. He will be based in Las Cruces.

Homans served as the first chairman of the New Mexico Spaceport Authority from 2005 to 2007, and was briefly its executive director in 2007. Homans served as Secretary of Economic Development from 2003 through 2007, and Secretary of Taxation and Revenue from 2008 through the present. Governor Richardson appointed Homans in April to serve as Interim Executive Director and as Chairman of the Board, in addition to his job as Secretary of TRD.

Governor Richardson said Rodriguez’s vast experience in government will allow her to hit the ground running at the Taxation & Revenue Department.

Rodriguez, a graduate of Smith College, has served in state government and worked for or with every Governor since Governor Jerry Apodaca. Her experience includes leading management and performance analyses of state agencies for Governor Garrey Carruthers and serving as the State Budget Director under Governor Gary Johnson. She also worked for the House Appropriations and Finance Committee as well as serving twice as a principal analyst with the bipartisan Legislative Finance Committee. She has a strong finance and budget background, is well versed with the revenue forecasting process and is very familiar with all of the operations of Taxation & Revenue Department from her previous legislative and executive work.

Source: Virgin Galactic