New Mexico lawmakers approve $330M virus relief bill, including $1,200 payments to unemployed

SANTA FE, New Mexico — The New Mexico Legislature has approved a $330 million coronavirus economic relief package that will send checks directly to out-of-work residents next month, provide grants to small businesses and increase funding for food banks and Covid-19 testing.

Passage came by a wide margin Tuesday night as lawmakers rushed to wrap up a one-day session that was called by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham.

The largest appropriation of $194 million will go directly to unemployed workers in the form of a one-time $1,200 check next month. An additional $5 million will be distributed to residents who missed a federal stimulus check of the same amount, including dependents and immigrants in the country without legal permission.

Lawmakers say that $319 million of the relief spending is unspent money from the federal virus relief passed by Congress and signed by President Donald Trump in March. The money was required to be returned if it wasn’t spent by the end of the year.

An additional $10 million was allocated to coronavirus testing and contact tracing. That money will come from the general fund because it has to be spent well into 2021.