Unlike previous pandemic relief bills, the federal American Rescue Plan adopted earlier this month includes direct payments for small cities. While Republicans have criticized the plan for its generous spending and voted unanimously against it, Santa Fe and other municipalities that missed out on earlier direct relief funding have a lot to gain.
Congress decided the City of Santa Fe will receive over $15 million and surrounding communities will receive $29 million, US Sen. Ben Ray Luján, D-NM, said at a virtual press conference Wednesday.
"There was a lot of frustration by many of us when the CARES act did not provide direct funding for populations less than 500,000. That changed," said Luján.
The measure also includes $22 million for local schools, said US Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández, D-NM, who joined Luján and Mayor Alan Webber to talk about how the plan will help the City Different.
In Santa Fe, where nearly half of renters were paying more than 30% of their income on rent before the pandemic started, the rental relief provisions of the American Rescue Plan will be of particular help. They include emergency rental vouchers and mortgage assistance, said Luján, adding that nationally one in five renters and one in ten homeowners are behind on rental or mortgage payments.
The plan includes a child tax credit of $3,000 per child over the age of 6 and $3,600 per younger child. It provides increased funding for childcare, mental healthcare for youth, women's shelters such as the Esperanza shelter in Santa Fe, said Leger Fernández, adding that there has been a sharp increase in abuse and domestic violence in the last year.
All in all, the plan will go a long way to help children in New Mexico, which consistently ranks among the states with the highest child poverty rates in the nation. According to Leger Fernández, it has the potential to take 50% of children currently in poverty in New Mexico out of poverty.
The plan will also do a lot for small businesses and includes a specific relief program for restaurants, the delegation said.
A restaurant revitalization fund, which will be rolled out by the Small Business Administration in coming weeks, is designed to keep small local businesses open, said Luján. It will set aside $1 billion nationally for restaurants with gross receipts under $500,000. In the first few weeks, it will also prioritize awarding grants to restaurants owned by women, veterans and other socially and economically disadvantaged individuals.
"So many of the small businesses and restaurants that we go eat our delicious enchiladas… they're the ones that are earning less than $500,000. This plan is for you," said Leger Fernández.
There's money available for grants for other small businesses as well. The bill will expand the Paycheck Protection Program with several key differences—instead of PPP loans, businesses will now get PPP grants, and they won't just cover employee salaries but will be applicable to other costs and expenses. Some of the debt from loans issued during the last round of the program will be forgiven.
In addition, the American Rescue Plan will pay for a community navigator pilot program that will pay for local nonprofits and governments to hire navigators to help business owners understand what they are eligible for and what they need to do to receive aid.
Leger Fernández will host a virtual a workshop for small businesses to learn how to navigate the programs to apply on April 5. Interested parties can sign up through her website.
