Note: This is the introduction for a series of fact sheets looking at how federal COVID-19 relief impacts New Mexico on a variety of issues. Links to the various fact sheets are at the end of this introduction.
Nothing proves the idea that we are all in this together more clearly than a virulent pandemic. Each person’s survival is dependent not just on their own actions and resources, but on the actions and resources of us all. Modern America had never been faced with the stark, hard, and absolute truth in that mantra until the public health and economic crises of COVID-19 loomed so largely over our lives. Our communities, our state and our country have not faced such significant challenges in a century. Never before has this generation seen lawmakers race so quickly to formulate such critical policies. And the systemic inequities, inadequacies, and years of disinvestment in our communities of color have never seemed to be laid so starkly, so painfully bare. But at the same time – and perhaps ironically, as most of us are diligently self-isolating for the health of our families and communities – never before have we felt so connected to each other and to each other’s health and well-being. As New Mexico moves through these uncharted waters, we must hold onto that feeling of connection and to the understanding that in order for our state to survive, we have to save everyone in it, regardless of where they were born, the color of their skin, or the level of their income.
Governments at all levels have raced to pass public policies to mitigate some of the health and economic harm that has come – and is still to come – with COVID-19. Federal relief packages especially – including the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (Families First) and the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act – will bring significant resources to our communities. But it is important that we consider who is left out and what else needs to be done to ensure that families, children, and workers across New Mexico can survive and thrive beyond this unprecedented crisis.
The following fact sheets offer a snapshot of how New Mexicans are faring, how federal relief will help our state, what groups of New Mexicans that relief is likely to fail to help, and what is still left to be done. As Congress passes subsequent relief packages (the fourth relief package is expected to be passed in May) we will update these fact sheets. We believe this information will be invaluable to our state lawmakers when they adjourn in a special session later this summer in order to address expected holes in our state budget, as well as other needs that have arisen.
Link to the first fact sheet, on stimulus checks, here
Link to the second fact sheet, on food assistance, here
Link to the third fact sheet, on small business provisions, here
Link to the fourth fact sheet, on fiscal relief for tribes, states, and cities, here
Link to the fifth fact sheet, on unemployment insurance, here
Link to the sixth fact sheet, on education, here
Link to the seventh fact sheet, on housing assistance, here
Link to our eighth fact sheet, on health care, here
Link to our ninth fact sheet, on the not-yet-enacted HEROES Act, here
Find all of our COVID-19-specific work, plus information and resources here