(Sanchez Saturno, New Mexican)

New Mexico received a long-awaited psychological boost Wednesday as the Governor announced the coronavirus curve has flattened and began a measured pivot toward what will be the eventual reopening of the state.

For now the state will stay in lockdown mode through May 15 but a NM Economic Recovery Council she appointed will recommend what and how will reopen once that stay-at-home order expires.

The 15 member council will be co-chaired by former GOP state Rep. Brian Moore of Clayton in Union County, one of a handful of the 33 counties that has yet to register a coronavirus case. He's a grocery store owner who became known to La Politica when he served briefly as a deputy chief of staff to Gov. Susana Martinez but lost an insider power struggle and was ousted. He was then named the state's DC lobbyist but that post was soon eliminated. Moore has also been a lobbyist for the NM Association of Counties. The other council co-chair is Christina Campos of Santa Rosa, an administrator at the ten bed Guadalupe Regional Hospital.

The leadership tilt of the council is toward rural New Mexico where discontent with MLG's handling of the virus crisis has been most criticized for being overly restrictive.

There are few recognizable names on the panel. That led one of the Alligators to wonder whether it would be very influential in getting New Mexicans to get on board with the reopening process and whether it would be very innovative in a post-corona world.

But it is a start or a restart, if you will. Ultimately, it will be the Governor who will take much of the blame or credit for what's to come and she appears to want a panel geared toward that, not one that is going to try to reinvent the wheel.

While the council was being announced the scuttlebutt at the Capitol over the future of  Olivia Padilla-Jackson, Secretary of the Department of Finance and Administration, became more intense. That department will be front and center as all things economic take center stage. Whether Padilla-Jackson will be around to see it was the question circulating and with few details beyond that.

LEANING FORWARD

In case those pushing for an immediate special legislative session to deal with the embryonic budget crisis thought they were on to something, MLG reiterated at her Wednesday news conference that while there will be a special it won't be until June "at the earliest." And she added:

By 2021 we expect that our revenues could be dramatically reduced and we’re gonna have to have a whole different set of strategies for education, health care, economic investments and the like.

One new strategy getting discussion is this: Why not take the $325 million established for the new early childhood trust fund and move that it into the state's reserves to help plug the massive deficit to come. Then get on the November ballot the proposed constitutional amendment for early childhood education that would tap money from the multi-billion dollar Land Grant Permanent Fund.

The trust fund approved by the legislature this year must be funded each year but where will the money come from in the post-crash economy? The Permanent Fund plan would provide for permanent long-term funding for early childhood. In addition, supporters estimate it would mean the hiring of some 3,000 early childhood educators, helping with the state's widespread unemployment problem. That's a lot of oomph from one move.

SLOW DOWN, VALERIE

Plame TV

Slow down, Valerie, you're making us feel guilty.

In her first TV spot northern Dem congressional candidate and onetime CIA spy Valerie Plame showcased her daredevil driving skills with a hot rod Camaro, skills that the spook agency taught her. Now she's back with a second spot that highlights the CIA obstacle course training she received.