Santa Fe New Mexican

◆ Governor’s State of the State will be presented late and virtually.

- By Robert Nott rnott@sfnewmexic­an.com

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham is scheduled to deliver her State of the State address online Tuesday from her office in the Capitol, a week after COVID-19 concerns and tightened security surroundin­g the Roundhouse forced a postponeme­nt.

The address will be devoid of the usual pomp and circumstan­ce that usually accompanie­s it when it is typically delivered on the first day of the legislativ­e session. In normal times, the governor’s speech is attended by political leaders, legislator­s, friends and others.

Governor’s Office spokeswoma­n Nora Meyers Sackett said the address will touch on “the initiative­s and policies the governor supports for a better future for New Mexico.”

It’s expected the governor will outline her thoughts on key issues during the session, including drawing money from the Land Grant Permanent Fund for early childhood education programmin­g, legalizing the use of recreation­al

cannabis and repealing a decades-old law making it a crime to perform an abortion.

It’s also likely the governor will use the event to talk about relief bills for those hit hardest by the pandemic.

On Monday, the Governor’s Office announced a proposed legislativ­e initiative to utilize unused funds put aside by the State Investment Council and the New Mexico Finance Authority for the Small Business Recovery Loan Fund.

House Bill 11, introduced by Rep. Christine Chandler, D-Los Alamos, would convert that money into grants to help businesses dealing with lost revenue. The money would be tied to specific hiring benchmarks — each new full-time employee would qualify the business for $5,000, up to a cap of $100,000.

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