By Nicole Maxwell
The last few years have been marked by wildfires, floods and extreme weather in New Mexico. These disasters left people without jobs.
House Bill 249 aims to help those in similar situations by waiving a one-week waiting period for unemployment insurance in the event of a declared disaster or emergency. The full House passed the bill Tuesday afternoon on a 64-3 vote.
“[HB 249] allows the Workforce Solutions Secretary to waive the one week waiting requirement to receive standard unemployment benefits during a state of emergency,” bill sponsor Rep. Joseph Sanchez, D-Alcalde, said.
Under current law, unemployment insurance benefits begin one week after the person’s application for benefits.
The only legislator to speak against the bill during debate was Rep. Randall Pettigrew, R-Lovington, who worried it was not doing enough for those affected by natural disasters.
“That’s where I guess I get the concern because we get to a point where all we’re doing is removing a week of unemployment or getting it a week early, but we may be several weeks into a disaster before the emergency is declared,” Pettigrew said.
Sanchez said the bill would still help those in need after states of emergency.
“This is just to help the situation, what we can control. So this is cutting a week off that waiting period, potentially,” Sanchez said.