From GEM member New Mexico Business Coalition... A Call To Action:
HB 148 Unemployment Contribution Rate Change increases Unemployment Insurance (UI) taxes by over 200% and will cost New Mexican’s jobs. This bill would penalize businesses for job layoffs they had no control over. The impact? At a time when many employers have had reduced or no income, they will be forced to reduce or eliminate more jobs. Employees and employers MUST be held harmless for the unemployment costs caused by government imposed layoffs.
Please take less than a minute (click link below) and send an email to Appropriations Committee members and your state representative to let them know HB 148 is bad for NM and will cost jobs. (Link to email Appropriations Committee members)
Legislative Session
February 18 marks halfway point, at noon is the cutoff for new bills to be introduced – officially, anyway. The caveat to that there are numerous ‘Dummy’ bills that have already been introduced. These are blank bills assigned to leadership that can be shared, used and substituted at any time. That means, we continue to see ‘surprise’ legislation come up over the next weeks. The session ends on March 20, 2021.
But for now, let’s celebrate some victories!
SB 86, A bill that would prohibit the use of freshwater in oil and gas drilling (effectively killing the ability of producers to continue operations), was tabled in Senate Judiciary on Monday.
SB 191 would be an organized first step towards addressing homelessness, addiction and mental illness for the state. The bill unanimously passed Senate Health and Public Affairs on Monday
SB 74, A bill to limit the Governor’s authority to issue public health emergencies, passed with bipartisan support out of Senate Judiciary on Monday. It now goes to the Senate floor for a vote before going to the House.
Here’s where we’ve got to push harder: HB 268 would be highly detrimental to businesses who are trying to keep their doors open. Why? Because it would allow essential workers who contract Covid-19, regardless of where they got infected, to file Workers’ Compensation (WC) claims. This is not a workplace injury and will drive WC costs up, jeopardizing employers and job opportunities for workers trying to provide for their families.
