New Mexico legislature approves payments to offset inflation

By MORGAN LEE
Associated Press

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham has signed legislation to provide payments of $500 to individual adults or $1,000 to households to offset increased prices for fuel and other consumer goods. Signed Friday, the bill provides two installments in June and August. The payments will arrive on top separate tax rebates in July that exclude upper-income residents. Income limits don’t apply to the newly approved payments, which will cost the state about $700 million. The New Mexico state government is experiencing a financial windfall linked to record-setting oil production in the Permian Basin. Lujan Grisham said the rebates are meaningful to families but won’t necessarily be repeated in future years.