At a special Board meeting this Monday, the Greater Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce approved an agenda for the upcoming special session that would help small businesses financially recover and tackle the budgetary crisis resulting from a sharp decline in revenues — the fallout from both the COVID-19 pandemic and major disruptions to oil and gas markets.
“This agenda prioritizes helping New Mexico small businesses re-open and slowing the growth of government spending without having to resort to tax increases that could slow our state’s recovery,” said President & CEO Terri Cole. “We can get New Mexico’s economy back on track – and repair our state’s finances – if we keep our eye on these critical goals.”
The Chamber’s agenda calls for the legislature to leverage a portion of the more than $1 billion in federal aid appropriated to New Mexico to provide assistance to small businesses through a combination of grants, state income tax waivers, and liability protections — a key step toward reducing unemployment and shoring up businesses struggling through no fault of their own.
The Chamber also suggests using currently robust reserves, targeted rollbacks of unimplemented pay increases and stagnant capital outlay projects, agency spending reductions, and funds budgeted for certain non-recurring expenditures to cover the shortfalls in the 2020 and 2021 budgets.
See below for a summary of the Chamber’s legislative agenda for the 2020 special legislative session, or click here for the full document:
