Legislature approves relief bill

The New Mexico Legislature easily approved a coronavirus relief bill during a special session last week, but two lawmakers whose districts encompass all or most of Quay County were among those who voted against the measure.

District 67 Rep. Jack Chatfield (R-Mosquero) voted against it in part because he said the $330 million package didn't address the growing debt in the state's unemployment insurance fund. District 7 Sen. Pat Woods (R-Broadview) opposed the bill partly because he said it was unnecessarily rushed.

The bill, proposed by Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, breezed through the Democrat-controlled House and Senate by 59-11 and 33-5 votes, respectively, with few changes. She signed it into law Wednesday, less than a day after its passage.

"I know this stimulus will mean so much to so many New Mexicans as we enter the holiday season," Lujan Grisham stated after signing the bill. "I'm grateful to the Legislature, both chambers and both parties, for their work yesterday. New Mexico will always step up, even when the federal government won't."

The COVID-19 relief bill uses $319 million from leftover federal CARES Act funds, plus another $10 million in state money. The breakdown:

• $194 million for 161,000 unemployed people in New Mexico that includes total payments of $1,200 due to arrive this month;

• $100 million in grants to small businesses or nonprofits of 100 or fewer employees administered by the New Mexico Finance Authority. Grants are capped at $50,000, with a priority to those in the hospitality or travel leisure industries;

• $15 million in emergency housing or rent assistance;

• $10 million for $10 million for COVID-19 contact tracing, testing and vaccine distribution;

• $5 million in emergency food-bank services;

• $5 million in direct emergency assistance for low-income residents that includes a $750 payment to households that didn't get aid from the federal coronavirus relief bill.

Chatfield, who's on the House appropriations committee, said in a telephone interview Wednesday the leftover federal CARES Act money should have been used to erase debt in the state's unemployment insurance fund.

He said the fund is losing $70 million a month, is $150 million in the red and is projected to be $220 million in debt by the end of the year.

"Any business that starts back up and has employees will have to play enormously higher unemployment taxes in order to repay that debt," he said. "Instead of putting it into the program so it could continue to exist, she wanted to make an arbitrary payment of $1,200 to everybody across the board. I believe she's buying favor by doing that."

On small-business grants, Chatfield noted the state has hundreds of millions of dollars available in low-interest loans that are available but unattainable for many.

"Most of the businesses either weren't eligible or they thought it wasn't worth the effort to apply," he said. "We were not allowed to change this bill in a manner to make it acceptable to me to let our people be more eligible for it. It turned out to be a gift to entities at the discretion of the governor."

Chatfield said the emergency housing assistance is "a very valid thing" but said it's not close to enough, noting an estimated 56% of households in New Mexico will go through foreclosure by January.

Chatfield described the bill as "feelgood" legislation and "a stopgap measure to ameliorate the pain caused by the governor herself," referring to her emergency health orders that have shut down many businesses in a quest to slow the virus' spread.

"It sounds good to go on TV and give you free money," he added. "We need to do what our great country has done for centuries - allow the freedom for people to make money, for their businesses to thrive, for their employees. ... We need our freedom to make our own way."

Woods said the special session should have been called by the governor months ago. With state agencies required to spend the remaining CARES Act money before the end of the calendar year, he said those efforts will be "rushed" and haphazard.

"We've had at least three months to do this," Woods said of the special session during a telephone interview Wednesday. "Why was it so imperative to wait until the last minute and then all of a sudden call a special session when we had to have this money out by the end of December? Why didn't the governor call us in sometime back and give the departments in the state time to put out $319 million? Can you imagine spending $10 million a day?

"If we'd been called into session three months ago, we could do a whole lot better getting this money out to the citizens of the state of New Mexico. We really didn't think this thing through."

Woods noted, however, the bill contains an amendment where any money leftover by late December will be allocated into the depleted unemployment insurance fund.

"That was the best part of the whole deal," he said. "If I could have voted on that part alone, that's what I would have voted a 'yes' on."

Woods also was skeptical the business grants would have much of an effect. With the $50,000 cap, that would mean just 2,000 small businesses across the state would receive grants, he said.

"There's going to be a hell of a lot more that don't get nothing," he said.