New Mexico's busted budget could be getting a big patch from the Feds soon. Although a proposed $150 billion to fill state and local government budget gaps was not included in the latest congressional coronavirus package approved by the Senate Tuesday another corona bill is in the works that includes the budget relief. President Trump has signaled his support. That bill is expected to move forward early next month.

Santa Fe is anxiously awaiting the measure. The $7.6 billion state budget set to take effect July 1 could  have a hole of a billion dollars or more stemming from the shutdown and the oil crash.

Meanwhile, $150 million in federal aid previously approved for ABQ hit the city's bank account this week. The money can only be used to address the impact of the coronavirus but city officials are hoping that they will be permitted to use some of it to plug budget deficits that could easily reach $60 million or more for the remainder of this fiscal year and the budget year that begins July 1. They probably have a good shot since it's not expected federal auditors are going to go out of their way to punish governments trying to make ends meet.

On the oil front, you can't buy good news. The June futures contract for West Texas oil has now crashed following the crash in the May contract Monday that for the first time time in history took the price below zero. The June contract could not hold on to the $20 level and settled at $11.57 a barrel Tuesday, down 43 percent in a single day and a 21 year low. NM oil producers need a price of at least $40 a barrel to get out of the hole.

BUDGET CUTTING

We've been saying that if the Feds come through with that direct budget relief package New Mexico could actually keep most of its $7.6 million budget for the year that starts July 1 and go to work on cutting the budget that begins July 1, 2021. Not all agree, including reader David Meurer:

You wrote our surplus could carry us forward to the July 2021 budget. Yes, it’s an option, but I believe that is not looking at the possible long term effects of this crisis. Look, it took many years after the downtown of 2008 to finally turn the corner. If we let the July 2020 budget go forward, we bake in pay raises and other recurring expenses that are nearly impossible to cut in later budgets. It is very risky not to rework the July 2020 budget while we still have the chance. The unions won’t like this, but we can’t afford to dig a huge hole that holds us back in the following years.

You're probably right, David. The collapse has gone beyond anything anyone expected and it looks as if it will be multi-year affair. That means cuts for the upcoming budget when the Legislature meets in special session. There will be a dogfight, however, over keeping those teacher pay raises passed this past session.

KEEP THEM WORKING

Now that the new bill in DC contains another $75 billion to help put hospitals dealing with the coronavirus, can Lovelace Health Systems and Christus St Vincent in Santa Fe, among others, stop the furloughs of our valuable medical workers and keep them on the job during this crisis?

FIESTA'S FATE

We characterized it as "very likely" that the 2020 edition of the ABQ International Balloon Fiesta could be cancelled because of the coronavirus. But Fiesta spokesman Tom Garrity tells us organizers are moving ahead with planning for the early October event, even as they consult with health officials. He points out that other major events such as the Boston Marathon, Cochella and Kentucky Derby are all being rescheduled for the September/October timeframe.

The bottom line is it is too early to say with any certainty what the fate of the Fiesta will be and ditto for the annual September burning of Zozobra in Santa Fe.

PRIMARY 2020


Reader Cliff Rees comes with some can do spirit as we prepare for the June 2 primary election:

Joe, thanks for your continuing great coverage about New Mexico’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. I wanted you and your readers to know that within hours after the New Mexico Supreme Court’s absentee ballot decision last week, I e-mailed Santa Fe County Clerk Geraldine Salazar with an offer to again serve as a Santa Fe County Election Judge, a public service I performed between 2006-2016.

I’m a 68 year old retired NM Department of Health attorney who co-authored many of the State’s public health emergency preparedness statutes in the aftermath of 9/11, now being used for the first time to respond to COVID-19. I don’t have a “death wish” about  being exposed to this novel virus in a Voter Convenience Center during the June 2nd Primary voting hours, but I’m comfortable that all reasonable precautions will be used for those hopefully small number of voters who choose to vote in person. Clerk Salazar immediately responded favorably to my request and asked me to also train other Santa Fe County Election Workers as needed.

So, in these troubling times, we can all make our own unique and responsible contribution to the State and Country we love to maintain our democratic principles.

The high court ruled that the in-person election will go on, but ordered the Secretary of State to mail absentee ballot application to all eligible registered voters.

Bully for you, Cliff. The Supreme Court made a difficult decision but you (and other) NM patriots are making it easier for them.
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(c)NM POLITICS WITH JOE MONAHAN 2020