SANTA FE – Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham on Wednesday signed Senate Bill 1 and Senate Bill 3 into law, a pair of economic measures that earned broad bipartisan support in the Legislature and will deliver additional stimulus and relief for businesses and individuals across New Mexico.

In addition to legislation the governor has already signed into law that will provide for $200 million in small business grants, the economic relief measures signed Wednesday will deliver a $600 personal income tax rebate to hundreds of thousands of front-line and low-wage workers, provide for a four-month tax holiday for food and beverage businesses hit especially hard by the economic effects of the pandemic, and make up to $500 million available to New Mexico small businesses seeking loans at a discounted borrowing rate.

“Dollar for dollar, I would put New Mexico’s direct stimulus efforts up against any other state in the country,” said Gov. Lujan Grisham. “We have provided hundreds of millions in unemployment support; small business grants, loans, tax holidays; and now direct rebates for the front-line workers who have continued to show up to support themselves and their families, and who deserve all the support that their government can provide. This pandemic has been devastating for everyone, but the pain has been spread unequally. My hope is these economic relief efforts reach those who need them most, and my commitment is New Mexico will continue to step up and support those who need it now and in the future as we build out a successful and sustainable recovery.”

“Small businesses have fought long and hard to keep their doors open and people employed throughout this pandemic,” said Rob Black, president and CEO of the New Mexico Chamber of Commerce. “Paired with the recently enacted $200 million in LEDA grants of HB 11, these measures provide a crucial suite of tools for economic recovery.”

Senate Bill 1 grants a personal income tax rebate of $600 to families and individuals claiming the Working Families Tax Credit – individuals who earn $31,200 or less; and heads of household, surviving spouses or those married filing jointly who earn up to $39,000. Roughly 200,000 New Mexicans claimed the Working Families Tax Credit in 2019, according to the Taxation and Revenue Department.

Taxpayers who believe they are eligible for the Working Families Tax Credit and the new income tax rebate are urged to file their 2020 Personal Income Tax returns as early as possible. The state Taxation and Revenue Department urges all taxpayers to file electronically, which expedites processing and puts refunds and rebates into taxpayers’ hands more quickly.

“We know many New Mexicans have been hit hard this past year, so we will get this money out to taxpayers as quickly as possible,” said Taxation and Revenue Secretary Stephanie Schardin Clarke.

Senate Bill 1 also provides for a four-month gross receipts tax holiday for food and beverage establishments, including restaurants, bars, food trucks, small breweries, wineries and craft distilleries, which have been financially impacted by the pandemic. The Taxation and Revenue Department will soon issue instructions to businesses on how to claim this credit. The bill holds local governments harmless by creating a distribution equal to the amount of revenues that would have otherwise been due.

Senate Bill 1 was sponsored by Senate Majority Leader Peter Wirth, Sen. Siah Correa Hemphill, Sen. Jacob Candelaria and Rep. Javier Martinez. It was approved by the Senate unanimously and by the House of Representatives 66-1.

Senate Bill 3 will allow more businesses to tap into what is now a $500 million pool of loan money at a discounted borrowing rate. The bill extends the Small Business Recovery Loan Fund created by the Legislature last year and makes funds available from the Severance Tax Permanent Fund.  The new bill substantially eases eligibility standards so more businesses can connect with the financial assistance they need. Under the previous program approved by legislators in special session last year, 890 businesses received $40.5 million in loans.

The New Mexico Finance Authority will manage the SB3 loan fund and an announcement will be made when the application is available.

New Mexico Finance Authority CEO Marquita Russel said the loan requirements for revenue losses and documentation have been eased, and the changes in SB3 will allow more of the 160,000 small businesses in the state access to the low-interest lending.

“The Small Business Recovery Loan Fund has already supported more than 5,000 jobs in the state. It has been a lifeline for many small businesses and now many more will be able to participate,” Russel said.

Senate Bill 3 was sponsored by Rep. Marian Matthews and Sen. Jacob Candelaria. It was approved by the Senate 35-3 and by the House of Representatives 51-17.

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WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Drug Enforcement Administration is warning the public of a widespread fraud scheme in which telephone scammers impersonate DEA agents in an attempt to extort money or steal personal identifiable information. A new public service announcement aims to raise awareness that DEA will never phone demanding money or asking for personal information.

There are variations in the false narrative, among them, that the target’s name was used to rent a vehicle which was stopped at the border and contained a large quantity of drugs. The caller then has the target verify their social security number or tells the target their bank account has been compromised. In some cases, the caller threatens the target with arrest for the fictional drug seizure and instructs the person, over the phone, to send money via gift card or wire transfer to pay a “fine” or to assist with the investigation or with resetting the bank account. A portion of an actual scam call was captured by DEA and can be heard here.

Employing more sophisticated tactics, Schemers have spoofed legitimate DEA phone numbers to convince their target that the call is legitimate, or texted photos of what appears to be a legitimate law enforcement credential with a photo. The reported scam tactics continually change but often share many of the same characteristics. Callers use fake names and badge numbers as well as names of well-known DEA officials or police officers in local departments. Additionally, they may:

• use an urgent and aggressive tone, refusing to speak to or leave a message with anyone other than their targeted victim;
• threaten arrest, prosecution, imprisonment, and, in the case of medical practitioners and pharmacists, revocation of their DEA registration;
• demand thousands of dollars via wire transfer or in the form of untraceable gift card numbers the victim is told to provide over the phone;
• ask for personal information, such as social security number or date of birth;
• reference National Provider Identifier numbers and/or state license numbers when calling a medical practitioner. They also may claim that patients are making accusations against that practitioner.

DEA personnel will never contact members of the public or medical practitioners by telephone to demand money or any other form of payment, will never request personal or sensitive information over the phone, and will only notify people of a legitimate investigation or legal action in person or by official letter. In fact, no legitimate federal law enforcement officer will demand cash or gift cards from a member of the public. You should only give money, gift cards, personally identifiable information, including bank account information, to someone you know.

The best deterrence against these bad actors is awareness and caution. Anyone receiving a call from a person claiming to be with DEA should report the incident to the FBI at www.ic3.gov. The Federal Trade Commission provides recovery steps, shares information with more than 3,000 law enforcement agencies and takes reports at reportfraud.ftc.gov. For any victims who have given personally identifiable information like a social security number to the caller, can learn how to protect against identity theft at www.identitytheft.gov.

Reporting these scam calls will help federal authorities find, arrest, and stop the criminals engaged in this fraud. Impersonating a federal agent is a violation of federal law, punishable by up to three years in prison; aggravated identity theft carries a mandatory minimum sentence of two years in prison plus fines and restitution.

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Free Senior Tax service is now  available at the Ruidoso Community Center by appointment only.

Interested parties can call Mike Shafer at 257-4565.

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As of February 26, 2021:

*Includes testing by IHS & NMDOH

**New cases: 1 (since 2-23-21) (average of 0.33 new cases/day)

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SANTA FE – Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham on Friday signed House Bill 11 into law, delivering $200 million in grants to support New Mexico businesses to ease the hiring or rehiring of employees.

“New Mexico will continue to get meaningful financial assistance out the door to businesses all across the state,” said Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham. “Our economy will bounce back. And businesses will get back on their feet.”

“We are grateful to Governor Lujan Grisham for her support on House Bill 11, and for all of her leadership throughout this challenging year,” said Speaker of the House Brian Egolf. “We convened the 2021 session knowing that getting economic relief into local economies was the most critical action that we would take as lawmakers. Now we are continuing our work on subsequent bills. Help is on the way.”

“I’m encouraged knowing that this funding is out the door. New Mexico’s small businesses have been shaken by the pandemic and they need our support,” said Rep. Christine Chandler of Los Alamos. “Direct funding to help pay for rent, equipment, and other operating costs will help businesses in my district and across the state keep their doors open and payroll going.”

The applications and payments for the grants provided for in House Bill 11 – sponsored by Speaker Egolf and Rep. Chandler – will be managed by the New Mexico Finance Authority at nmfinance.com. A formal announcement will be made when the application portal is open for HB 11 grants.

Each business may qualify for up to $100,000 to be distributed in four quarterly payments.

Among the guidelines:

• Businesses must be operating in New Mexico with fewer than 75 employees per location;
• Businesses must demonstrate a loss of revenue for at least one quarter between 2019 and 2020;
• Funding must be used for reimbursement of rent, mortgage or lease obligations;
• The grant must be accompanied by job creation for each quarter prior to one of the quarterly payments; and
• The grants will be paid out in quarterly installments.

Funding is allocated through the Economic Development Department’s LEDA job-creation fund, requiring business owners who accept assistance to rehire workers or hire new employees. Benchmarks for the hiring will be agreed to in advance and monitored by the EDD as is required for all other LEDA investments. Businesses can use the funding to make current or back payments for rent, lease and mortgages.

“Thousands of New Mexico businesses will be able to receive assistance through this grant program so they can hire or rehire employees,” said Economic Development Cabinet Secretary Alicia J. Keyes. “Building this new capacity to create jobs is a cornerstone of the state’s recovery plan.”

There will be two primary application periods – the first before June 30, 2021 and the second by December 31, 2021; a later application deadline will be set up for any businesses that are not yet eligible to open and apply by these deadlines, and funding will be set aside for these businesses.

HB 11 also amends certain definitions in the Local Economic Development Act, such as language restricting the kind of businesses eligible for the grant relief, opening the grants to restaurants, hospitality and retailers.

A second section of the original legislation, which would make New Mexico more competitive by changing how LEDA can be utilized for large job-producing developments, will now be part of Senate Bill 5, an economic reform bill sponsored by Sen. George Munoz.

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Information provided by VAW Case Manager, Hazel Spottedbird

In observance of Valentine’s Day our program sponsored a Fun Walk on February 13, 2021. One of our goals is to bring our community together to address topics on domestic violence throughout the year. Of course 2020 was not a good year as we had to deal with the pandemic. So it is in our plans, for 2021, to have more outdoor events and possibly a Conference.

Our event, which was the “Valentine’s Day Fun Walk” was a success. We had over forty participants. A t-shirt was given as an incentive, and prizes were also given via a drawing.

The VAW staff did a wonderful job in preparing for this event! Notices for this event were posted throughout the community weeks in advance… from there we started receiving phone calls for sign up. Our team worked on signs which were set up along the walking path. Awesome work!

Parents with their children and grandparents with their grandchildren were in attendance. We had couples join us. We also had Councilwoman Marilee Garcia participating. Thank you for supporting our cause! All in all it was a wonderful morning to come together with the community. The weather couldn’t have been any better!

February is recognized as “Teen Dating Awareness Month”. As parents, and grandparents, we always look out for what we feel is best for our children/grandchildren. Some look at this as being traditional in our home(s). Control is not always the answer for teenagers, so we must do our part to educate them on what a relationship should be like, and could be, if they are made aware of improper distractions. Information related to this topic was made available for the participants during the Walk.

Again, as part of our event we had twenty-two prizes to give out. The following is a list of the winners:

A few pictures were taken which we want to share with you.

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“Thank you” to EVERYONE who took the time, on a Saturday, to join us and participate in the Walk.

Look out for more event announcements to come!

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Congratulations, students!

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Only 4 counties at highest-risk Red Level, down from 14 two weeks past

SANTA FE – The New Mexico Department of Health on Wednesday announced the updated statewide COVID-19 map for the two-week period beginning Feb. 24, with 19 New Mexico counties at the Yellow Level and six at the Green Level, at which there are fewer restrictions on commercial and day-to-day activities amid decreased virus risk.

Four counties reached the Turquoise Level, the newly designated least-restrictive level, and four counties were at the Red Level, signifying very high risk.

Every county in the state now reports a positivity rate below 10 percent, close to the threshold for moving to a less restrictive level.

The state’s county-by-county system uses key health metrics – the per-capita daily incidence of new COVID-19 cases and average COVID-19 test positivity within county borders – to determine the level of public health risk and requirement for each county. A county that meets one criterion may operate at the Yellow Level; a county that meets both may operate at the Green Level. A county that has met both for two consecutive biweekly map updates may operate at the Turquoise Level.

Counties that met one of the health metric thresholds and may operate at the Yellow Level beginning Feb. 24 are: Bernalillo, Chaves, Cibola, Colfax, Curry, Grant, Guadalupe, Hidalgo, Lea, Lincoln, Luna, Rio Arriba, Roosevelt, San Juan, San Miguel, Sandoval, Santa Fe, Socorro and Valencia.

Counties that met both of the health metric thresholds and may operate at the Green Level beginning Feb. 24 are: De Baca, Los Alamos, Mora, Quay, Taos and Torrance.

Counties that met both of the health metric thresholds for two consecutive biweekly map updates and may operate at the Turquoise Level beginning Feb. 24 are: Catron, Harding, Sierra and Union.

Counties that met neither of the health metric thresholds and must operate at the Red Level are: Doña Ana, Eddy, McKinley and Otero.

Doña Ana had reached the Yellow Level with a positivity rate of 4.33 percent as of Feb. 10 but regressed, with a positivity rate of 6.77 percent as of Feb. 24; in accordance with the operative public health order, a county that moves to a more restrictive level must begin operating at the more restrictive level within 2 days.

The counties of Colfax (9.6), Curry (9.7), Hidalgo (8.4), Lea (9.6), Roosevelt (9) and Santa Fe (8.3) are each near the threshold for new per-capita cases of fewer than 8 per 100,000, which, when reached, in conjunction with keeping their positivity rates below 5 percent, will permit them to operate at the Green Level.

Thirty of 33 counties saw their new per-capita daily case rate improve over the two-week period, and all but six counties saw their positivity rates improve over the two-week period.

The color-coded tier system – Red Level, Yellow Level and Green Level – enables counties to shed restrictions and provide local communities the flexibility to operate more day-to-day activities as soon as public health data show the virus is retreating within their borders.

The public health order, the red-to-green framework and frequently asked questions are all available at cv.nmhealth.org/redtogreen, where New Mexicans can also view the test positivity rate and new case incidence for each county.

The categories and definitions for each risk level are available below and available at cv.nmhealth.org/redtogreen.

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As of February 23, 2021:

*Includes testing by IHS & NMDOH

**New cases: 0 (since 2-22-21)

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