March 19, 2020

The Honorable Brian Egolf The Honorable Mary Kay Papen

Speaker of the House of Representatives Senate President Pro-Tempore
New Mexico House of Representatives New Mexico State Senate
490 Old Santa Fe Trail, Suite 104 490 Old Santa Fe Trail, Suite 105
Santa Fe, New Mexico, 87501 Santa Fe, New Mexico, 87501

The Honorable Jim Townsend The Honorable Stuart Ingle

House Minority Leader Senate Minority Leader
New Mexico House of Representatives New Mexico State Senate
490 Old Santa Fe Trail, Suite 125 490 Old Santa Fe Trail, Suite 125
Santa Fe, New Mexico, 87501 Santa Fe, New Mexico, 87501

Honorable Legislative Leaders:

I appreciate the support that our administration has received from legislative leadership
in recent days, including statements of support for a special session of the New Mexico
Legislature. My entire administration recognizes that we are in the midst of an
unprecedent and critical public health crisis. As you would expect, our attention is
focused, first and foremost, on addressing the public health aspects of the emergency.
We are in daily communication with hospitals and other providers as we help them
prepare for the anticipated surge of patients into their facilities. At the same time, we
are attentive to the reality of declining revenues, immediate fiscal impacts, the medium-
to-long-term economic impacts that will arise from this crisis – in clear terms the very
real and everyday stresses it has on our businesses, their workers and governments
responsibility to meet required public services.
To prepare for a special session, I believe that we must first understand the long-term
effects and needs arising from this emergency, have updated and reliable revenue
projections, and have a clear picture of the full spectrum of assistance that the federal
government will be providing to states. All of this information will be clarified in the
coming weeks. This information will be essential in order to develop the action steps
that are necessary for us to undertake, not only to adjust the state budget for FY21, but
also to address the ongoing public health needs and to provide economic relief for our
families, businesses, and local communities.
Finally, when we do have a special session, we must identify ways that we can convene
the legislature in a manner that does not necessitate the simultaneous, in person
participation of every member. Over the past days, my office has been in communication
with legislative leadership and staff about the type of tools that might be available to
make such a modification possible, and the legalities of these steps.
I look forward to working with each of you as this situation evolves to ensure that we
have what we need to keep the state on firm financial footing and able to appropriately
respond to the rapidly evolving public health emergency.

Respectfully,

Michelle Lujan Grisham

Governor