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VOL 7 | ISSUE 303 | JANUARY 15, 2021
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JAM-PACKED 60-DAY SESSION AIMED AT ROARING BACK TO LIFE Staff Reports
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City Council approves funds to clean up homeless camps By Kevin Opsahl Sun Correspondent
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allup wants to clean up it s t r a n sient camps, which will require the city to spend more than it usually would, given that contractors must wear personal protective equipment to shield themselves from coronavirus. With that in mind, member s of t he cit y cou nci l
unanimously approved $75,000 on Jan. 12 for the planning and development department’s clean and lien program to help it get through the next budget cycle, which ends mid-year. “It’s very costly, but it is necessary. It is a life, health and safety issue that we need to stay on top of as best we can,” C.B. Strain, planning and development director for the City of Gallup, said. “If we don’t, it will get a lot worse.”
The new funding for the clean and lien program came just months after the council had approved the same a mou nt back i n Aug u st . Between then and now, the planning and development department spent $48,000 just to clean up transient camps — 24 in all — and another
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A N TA F E – G ov. Michelle Lu jan Grisham’s agenda for the first session of the 55th New Mexico Legislature a n nou nced on Ja n. 13, i nclude s t he E xecut ive Budget Recommendation for Fiscal Year 2022, and positioning for a swift and robust recovery from the pandemic to provide for sustainable progress and continued forward momentum in public education, economic development and public health and safety beyond the COVID-19 crisis. “New Mexico will recover from this challenging year,” Lujan Grisham said. “The question is what kind of future we want to make for ourselves after we put these crises behind us. We still have the power to decide what we will become. And the time to decide is this session, this year. “We can choose to return to the same-old, or we can set ourselves up to roar back to life after the pandemic, ready to break new ground and thrive. I look forward to working closely with the Legislature in the coming weeks to achieve our shared vision of a prosperous, healthy and happy New Mexico,” she concluded. The governor’s priorities for the session include helping New Mexico small businesses, supporting New Mex ico con su mer s a nd
boosting the state’s economy. P A N D E M I C REL IEF FOR SM A L L BUSINESSES: • Modifying the Small Business Recovery Act of 2020 to ensure state funding is accessible to more New Mexico small businesses. The act, approved by the Legislature in the summer 2020 special session, originally allocated $400 million in funds from the New Mexico State Severance Tax Fund to provide loans to New Mexico businesses and nonprofits that experienced fi nancial hardship due to the COVID-19 pandemic, though not all of those funds were expended. This would supplement the $100 million in small business grants allocated in the second 2020 special session. • Providing flexibility and opportunity to restaurants and eateries by allowing alcohol delivery and reforming the state’s liquor licensure program. E X P A N D E D OPPORTU NITIES FOR MOR E N E W M E X IC O BUSI N E SS - OW N ER S AND KEEPING LOCAL DOLLARS LOCAL: • Reforming the state procurement code to include preference for Native-owned businesses, minority-owned businesses, women-owned businesses and promoting
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