Legislature OKs $330M pandemic aid package
New Mexico lawmakers took less than eight hours Tuesday to pass a nearly $330 million economic relief package designed to help residents and small business owners who have been squeezed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Senate voted 33-5 and the House of Representatives voted 59-11 to approve the bill during a special session Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham called before Thanksgiving to provide aid to the unemployed and others amid a surge in coronavirus infections, hospitalizations and deaths.
After the session ended, Lujan Grisham, a Democrat, said during an online news conference that the bill “will help New Mexicans who have real issues about putting food on the table, a roof over their head and give them some economic stability.”
The bill, which the governor said she expects to sign as soon as today, will mostly tap into existing federal CARES Act funding to provide grants for struggling small businesses, $1,200 in extra unemployment benefits for jobless workers, housing assistance and allocations for food banks.
Read more: http://www.scdailypress.com/site/2020/11/25/legislature-oks-330m-pandemic-aid-package/
(Silver City Daily Press)