On Thursday afternoon Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham Announced that she would be calling a special session of the State Legislature to address New Mexico’s dire need for financial assistance for businesses and individuals. This announcement comes as New Mexico had it’s highest recorded infection rate of 3,675 in just one day – a 25% increase from the previous day. New Mexico is now averaging 1,907 cases per day, the highest number since the onset of the pandemic. 

The special legislative session is set for Tuesday November 24 and is expected to last only a day, if legislators can agree on legislative solutions for the current rising infection rate and shutdown of businesses. Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham has said she wants to see $300 million of the remaining unspent CARES act funding used to provide business grants and additional unemployment benefits. She stated on Thursday that she wants “money going out the door” to New Mexicans shortly after the Thanksgiving holiday. 

Additionally the Governor announced that the old Lovelace hospital facility on Gibson will be opened to help with the overflow of Covid patients. Keen observers and critics alike have closely watched the money used to renovate and potentially reopen the facility. In the first days of the pandemic the facility had millions in funding dumped into it so as to handle a crush of Covid cases that never materialized.  The old Lovelace facility will not, as of yet, be a fully functioning hospital according to New Mexico Health and Human Services Secretary Dr. David Scrase. Instead the Lovelace building will serve as a transitional location for patients to ease from hospital to home care. Read more HERE.