East New Mexico News

Sen. Stuart Ingle (R-Portales) released a letter for New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham advocating for the opening of businesses in the state. 

The letter, signed by other state senators under the name Senate GOP United, was posted in the Albuquerque Journal and brought attention to the fact the state needed to join its neighbors in reopening the economy. 

The group requests a bipartisan effort to develop a plan to reopen the economy while taking steps to protect public health. 

“This is a conversation that we must have now, as time is of the essence,” Ingle wrote. 

Ingle wrote there is a balance between meeting the economic needs of the state and ongoing mitigation of COVID-19. He wrote using a science-based plan, it can be done and in some cases, is already being done. 

Ingle pointed out some business models have already changed to comply with social distancing standards and small businesses are as capable of implementing policies for masks and gloves in addition to performing regular sanitizing procedures and monitoring crowd size as the larger retailers. 

In his letter in the Journal, Ingle relied on stats from the U.S. Office of Small Business Administration to point out there are 154,255 small businesses in the state. That is 99% of businesses in the state responsible for employing 340,000 people. Because of the coronavirus pandemic, it is a vital part of the economy that has been shut down and suffered. 

With the crushing blow oil has suffered over the past two months, the state is more reliant on revenue sales tax revenue from the small businesses. 

Ingle wrote the call to reopen the economy is not all-inclusive, making exception for those counties that have been harder hit the coronavirus. He named nine counties with three or less positive cases and said 15 counties are on the road to recovery.

“You say if we open too soon our health care system will be overwhelmed,” Ingle wrote in the Journal. “Well, yes, hospitals are among the hardest hit — especially rural hospitals — but not due to COVID-19. The ban on nonessential procedures has caused a 40 to 60% decline in revenue, plus thousands of employees furloughed.”

Ingle warned should the status quo remain, the state is in danger of a wave of acute and chronic illness resulting in more deaths. But with a committed plan focused on science and health, the state has the opportunity to reopen its hospitals, businesses and recreational facilities.