Senate approves bill creating new state fund for emergency disaster loans
Such a natural disaster loan program would be made permanent in state law with a recurring balance of $150 million, under a bill approved Friday by the state Senate via a 37-0 vote.
"For the last two or three years, we've been reactive to fires in New Mexico," Sen. George Muñoz, D-Gallup, the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, said during Friday's debate.
"This is really a proactive response to how we set ourselves up for the future," he added.
The issuance of state loans for disaster relief efforts is intended to jumpstart recovery efforts of roads, bridges, culverts and other public infrastructure while the state waits — sometimes for extended periods of time — for federal emergency funds to be distributed. The loans are then paid back to the state.
Lawmakers last summer approved up to $70 million in zero-interest loans to fund repair work in the Ruidoso area, following a devastating fire and subsequent flooding.
A year earlier, legislators approved $100 million to expedite recovery efforts in the burn scar of the Calf Canyon/Hermits Peak Fire — the largest in state history.
Nearly all of the $100 million in loans authorized for repair projects connected to that northern New Mexico fire were ultimately issued, though it took the state Department of Finance and Administration more than a year to finish distributing the money.
In large part, that's because qualifying projects must first receive approval from the Federal Emergency Management Agency before the state can issue a loan, a process that can take longer than many local officials would prefer.
Under the bill that now advances to the House of Representatives, Senate Bill 31, the new fund would be created to provide zero-interest loans following federally declared natural disasters.
The fund would get money from a separate reserve account in the state treasury over the next three years, with the aim of keeping a $150 million balance available.
The two state agencies that would be tasked with implementing the fund — the state Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management and the Department of Finance and Administration — both indicated Friday they support the legislation.
The state currently has about $2 billion worth of eligible projects from previous natural disasters, said DHSEM spokeswoman Danielle Silva.
"We can't stop disasters from happening, but we can and should do as much as possible to prepare for them," Silva told the Journal.
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