Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed the only legislation passed in the special session that lasted just hours earlier this month.
HB 1 contained $100 million for South Fork and Salt Fire recovery efforts, funds outpatient treatment programs and funding for the special session itself.
The focus, meanwhile, remains on a slate of public safety bills that Democrats said should be discussed during the next regular session in January and not during a special session. Legislators opted to not discuss the legislation during the special session.
“The legislature’s failure to prioritize public safety for New Mexicans during the special session is deeply disappointing,” Lujan Grisham said in a press release Tuesday. “However, I am relieved that we managed to secure aid for critical recovery efforts in communities damaged by fire and flooding.”
Related: Legislators pass disaster assistance funding, end special session quickly
The $100 million in fire and flood recovery funding allocates $10 million to the Mescalero Apache Tribal government for damages and losses; $10 million for Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department for damages from fires, flooding and debris flow and mitigation efforts in affected areas; $10 million for the Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management to help residents apply for Federal Emergency Management Agency assistance and insurance claims and $70 million for no-interest reimbursable loans to local government to start public infrastructure project funding for projects already approved for federal public assistance.
Lujan Grisham made some line-item vetoes that remove the state Finance Board’s role in the $70 million loan program and assigns the role to the Department of Finance and Administration’s Local Government Division. She said DFA has “successfully managed similar loan programs and is better positioned to expeditiously administer such a large loan program.”
People affected by the South Fork and Salt fires and flooding can apply for FEMA assistance by:
- Applying online at ?www.DisasterAssistance.gov
- Visiting Disaster Resource and Recovery Center Monday through Saturday from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., at the following locations:
- Angus Church of the Nazarene, 103 Bonita Park Rd., Angus, N.M.
- Horton Complex, 237 Service Road, Ruidoso, N.M.
- Mescalero Apache School, 249 White Mountain Dr., Mescalero, N.M.
- San Juan County Fire and Rescue, Aztec Fire Station, 209 S. Oliver, Aztec, N.M.
- Senior Citizens Center, 214 County Road 142, Medanales, N.M.
- Call the FEMA application phone number at 1-800-621-3362 (TTY: 800-462-7585). Calls are accepted every day from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. Mountain time. Help is available in most languages. If you use a relay service, such as video relay (VRS), captioned telephone or other service, give FEMA the number for that service.