Monday, November 16, 2020Virus Fatigue Could Impact NM Lockdown As Economic Consequences Continue To Bedevil Santa Fe; Course Correction Awaited The economic consequences of the virus continue to bedevil the state. Santa Fe pushed out a $400 million loan program to ease the impact on businesses and employees but the program has been a bust because it was too restrictive. It now has to be reworked, likely in a special legislative session that MLG says will soon be called. She also plans to put $100 million of federal coronavirus funds to work to alleviate economic pain, with an eye on the high jobless rate. Even a rewritten loan program could be behind the curve. To thwart the virus the state has shut down thousands of businesses and again thrown thousands out of work for the rest of the month. This time it is in the most economically active quarter of the year. If the virus is not restrained, the shutdown could be continued. Instead of loans the city of ABQ is using $10 million of its federal coronavirus money for direct grants to businesses with fewer than 50 employees threatened with collapse. Big boys like Wal-Mart and Target can ride out the storm. If Santa Fe simply copies the ABQ program the money could quickly get out to impacted businesses and workers now--not months from now or never (if there's a problem with the state anti-donation clause charge a small fee.) Santa Fe's damaging penchant for fiscal austerity lingers. If the state is going to get as serious about the impact of lost livelihoods from the virus as it is about the health consequences it's going to have to start showing the money--not impossible to get loans with fine print conditions but cash in hand with few restrictions. The government has shut the state down. Business and workers are not to blame. The virus is. As for that special session, House Speaker Egolf believes it could last just one day and be held remotely. He foresees one omnibus economic package on the table. Then there's the regular 60 day session in January. Gathering 112 lawmakers remotely amid the virus for that length of time is unrealistic. A truncated session of a week could get a budget crafted for the fiscal year starting July 1, keeping in mind that another special session might be needed before then. Also, lawmakers could easily repeal that outdated abortion statute that caused so much upheaval in the June primary and has already passed the House. In addition, the long debated proposal to tap the $20 billion Land Grant Permanent Fund for early childhood education could pass quickly in January now that its chief Senate foes are gone. The measure has repeatedly passed the House. The amendment could be put before voters at the regularly scheduled municipal elections in November. Given the technical challenges, legalizing recreational marijuana could have to wait for a special session called in late spring to finish the work of the shortened 60 day meeting. For the 2021 legislative session less is better--much better--as we await the arrival of a vaccine. We knew that ABQ streets get their names from the developers of the particular subdivisions but we didn't know that if you and your neighbors want to change the name on your street there is a process to do that. . . We blogged last week that the last incumbent NM US Senator to be defeated was in 1976. Actually, it was 1982. That's when Dem Jeff Bingaman defeated Republican Sen. Jack Schmitt. It was 1976 when Schmitt beat Dem Senator Joe Montoya. Anna Muller, a well-known Republican politico and accomplished ABQ business leader, has died at the age of 77. And Johnny Morris, who for decades held forth on the ABQ TV airwaves as a well-liked news anchor, has passed away. He was 96. E-mail your news and comments. (newsguy@yahoo.com)
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