Business owners in NM and their staff will receive some relief.

In just one day, New Mexico lawmakers yesterday passed a $330 million package of COVID-19 relief aid that will benefit unemployed workers, businesses and others impacted by the pandemic and concomitant economic downturn. House Bill 1 specifically will provide $1,200 one-time payments to people who are unemployed; grants of up to $50,000 to small businesses; and up to $750 to some low-income households. Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham says she will sign the bill—perhaps as early as today—which mostly uses $319 million in federal CARES Act funds that need to be spent by the end of the year.

Yesterday, the state health and environment departments rolled out a new voluntary agreement intended to help essential businesses such as grocery stores avoid COVID-19-related closures. Under a protocol introduced last month, establishments with at least two rapid responses within 14 days for employees testing positive for COVID-19 appear on a daily watchlist; those with four or more can be closed for 14 days. Under the new agreement, businesses that agree to conduct regular COVID-19 testing for staff and help the health department with contact tracing won’t have positive cases discovered during the process counted toward closure.

Sourced from The Reporter Morning Word – 11/25/20