As New Mexico preps for special budget session, rural communities may see COVID-19 relief

New Mexico leaders continued efforts to provide more relief and funding for critical needs of rural communities as the COVID-19 pandemic continued to grow through the state resulting in business closures and a drop in government revenue.

Lawmakers were expected to convene a special session this summer to address the economic fallout caused by the crisis and subsequent closure of businesses. 

State health officials announced 153 new positive cases of the virus on Wednesday in 14 counties, along with seven new deaths bringing New Mexico’s death toll to 169 with 4,291 total cases.

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham announced stay-at-home orders and the closing of most non-essential businesses would continue until May 15 and could be extended while officials worked to expand testing throughout the state.

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Lt. Gov. Howie Morales said rural communities, especially in the southern portion of New Mexico where the regions rely heavily on extractive industries such as oil and gas and mining, could be hit twice by the impact of the pandemic as those industries suffer due to shrinking fuel demands and local businesses were forced to close.

In April, the price per barrel of domestic crude oil fell below $0 for the first time in history and continue to struggle to breach a $30 per barrel threshold in the following weeks, climbing slightly to $23 per barrel as of Wednesday, per data from NASDAQ.

Morales said the state continued to provide outreach and hoped to deliver economic relief to the struggling communities during the unprecedented public health crisis.

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“None of us have expected to be dealing with something like this, and there is no playbook, there is no guideline of what steps to take next,” he said. “A lot of this is based off of data and information that we have at the current time and going from there.”

State data on the spread of COVID-19 showed a possible slowing of the spread, Morales said, due to aggressive health orders announced by Lujan Grisham throughout the pandemic.

“What we’ve seen is we’ve been able to flatten the curve,” he said. “It’s also important to recognize that we have so much more that needs to be done. We are also at the point where we can have the discussion of how we can safely and responsibly look to reopen New Mexico.”

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Local officials push for reopening

Local officials throughout New Mexico recently began calling for a reopening of the economy, demanding the state allow businesses to reopen in hopes of reversing New Mexico’s financial struggles.

The City of Carlsbad and Eddy County both signed resolutions calling on the governor to do so, along with other cities and counties in the southeast where confirmed cases remained lower than other regions to the north.

Eddy and Lea county had 13 and 14 cases of COVID-19 confirmed as of Wednesday, compared with McKinley County in the northwest with 1,337 cases and another 981 in Bernalillo County — the state’s largest metropolitan area.

MORE:New Mexico leaders look to support rural areas in COVID-19 relief funding

But before even the counties with the lowest coronavirus numbers could be reopened, Morales said the state in conjunction with local governments must develop a detailed, phased plan.

“When we talk about the impacts of rural New Mexico, there are some challenges there,” he said. “We see that from small businesses, to impact on agriculture as well as our extractive industries. There are some additional challenges that we’re experiencing that have an impact on the whole state.”

Aside from the southeast oilfields, Morales pointed to the copper mining industry in Silver City and southwest New Mexico that also saw a drop in demand and production.

MORE:New Mexico's rural hospitals suffer amid pandemic; Congress eyes aid

He said the state’s role should be supporting workers in those suffering industries laid off as production grinds to a halt, and with the state Legislature expected to convene a special session in mid-June to address the economic harm of the virus this summer, Morales said more relief funding should be considered.

“We want to make sure that we can provide for those employees that are being impacted and for them having the opportunity to get through the process of applying for unemployment to make sure that they could still get support during these difficult times,” he said.

“As we go into special session, there’s going to be a lot of discussions and a lot of options of what we can do to assist and provide support, not only to state budget but also possibly looking at what local governments’ needs are and then looking to see what needs to be done on the businesses aspect.”

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Lawmakers would also study the level of federal relief funding coming to the states by that time, Morales said, and work to determine how it could be distributed to New Mexico’s communities.

“It has to be about the budget,” he said of the special session. “You have to go in with all the options on the table to see how we can have a balanced budget. I don’t believe you can cut your way out of this and I don’t believe you can tax your way out of this.”

Federal relief aids New Mexico hospitals

At the federal level, New Mexico’s congressional delegation announced on Wednesday that rural healthcare providers in their state received more than $114 million to address lost revenue and increased needs resulting from the coronavirus.

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The dollars came from a health care provider relief fund created under the CARES Act.

Ahead of that funding, New Mexico received about $226 million in emergency federal funds for hospitals.

U.S. Sen. Tom Udall (D-NM) said healthcare workers must be supported on the “front-line” of efforts to stop the spread of the disease.

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“This continued funding is critical for these brave providers to continue their work and serve New Mexico’s rural and high-risk populations. That’s why I fought to enhance this funding,” Udall said.

“Congress had to act boldly and quickly to make sure the nation’s health care system has the resources to treat COVID-19 patients and to protect health care providers from this disease.”

U.S. Rep. Xochitl Torres Small (D-NM) said small hospitals continued to struggle with declining revenues as they were unable to practice elective procedures and other healthcare activities deemed “non-essential” as they worked to treat and address COVID-19.

“Many of our rural communities still have not reached a peak number of COVID-19 cases. Meanwhile, hospitals continue to treat patients with fewer resources and struggle to keep their doors open,” she said.

“The unprecedented strain on our rural hospitals continues, and I am working to ensure providers have access to additional funding secured through the interim relief package.”

Adrian Hedden can be reached at 575-628-5516, achedden@currentargus.com or @AdrianHedden on Twitter.