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Copyright © 2020 Albuquerque Journal
With oil prices plunging to their lowest level in 22 years, state legislators are projecting an imminent budget crisis that’s likely to force the New Mexico Legislature into special session.
Sen. John Arthur Smith, chairman of the Legislative Finance Committee, said the state could be facing a $1 billion loss in oil- and gas-related revenue if the crisis continues through this year and into 2021.
In a Thursday letter to legislative leaders, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham indicated a special session is inevitable but said state officials need to have updated revenue estimates and a better understanding of federal emergency assistance before such a session is called.
She said the special session would likely focus on adjusting proposed spending levels for the budget year that starts in July, addressing public health needs and crafting an economic relief package for workers, businesses and New Mexico communities.
The Democratic governor also said her staff was looking at ways to possibly call a special session without all 112 legislators being present in the state Capitol, as the state has barred public gatherings of 10 people or more in an effort to slow the spread of the coronavirus.
“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,” Lujan Grisham said in her letter.
The problem is that no one knows how long the economic shutdown from coronavirus will last, nor how long the price war between Russia and the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries will continue. Those two events together pushed the price of U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate to $20.06 a barrel Wednesday afternoon, its lowest level since 1998.”