Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham and her administration have announced the recipients for the $100 million New Mexico received as part of the federal CARES Act relief funding. Finance agency spokesman Henry Valdez said county and municipal governments are being notified of award amounts to meet an Aug. 31 deadline. Concerns about favoritism were raised by many state and local officials prior to the announcement because of application questions regarding enforcement of the Governor’s public health order. Those fears seem to have been assuaged for the time being, as the Governor’s press release on the matter cited that “Every applicant received funding. No one gets left behind.”
Albuquerque and surrounding Bernalillo County were the only local governments to receive direct federal relief as part of the CARES act, and thus were ineligible to apply for a portion of this funding. Demand for the federal relief funds was high, as cities and counties submitted applications seeking a combined $191 million in federal aid for virus-related expense reimbursements – or nearly double the amount available. While every applicant government entity was able to receive a portion of the aid, none received the full requested amount. For a complete listing of the applicants and the amount received, read more HERE.