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Unemployment Benefits
Employees may qualify for unemployment benefits if they:
• are laid off due to the impact of COVID-19
• are required to self-quarantine as a precaution against the spread of COVID-19 or have an immediate family member who is quarantined due to COVID-19; or
• have their hours reduced as a result of COVID-19
• Voluntary resignation from employment due to lack of child care is a disqualifying event for receipt of unemployment benefits, even where the lack of childcare is due to the impact of COVID-19
• Voluntary separation from employment for fear of contracting COVID-19 is a disqualifying event
• Benefits are available to employees regardless of full-time or part-time status if the event the employee’s hours are reduced due to lack of business related to COVID-19 as long as the employee’s earnings are under the weekly benefit amount
• waived the work search requirement for four weeks (employers will be automatically charged for four weeks of unemployment benefit payment upon approval of a claimant’s request for benefits)
- no waiver of one-week waiting period before benefits are provided
Renewal Extension of March 11, 2020 Order
April 6, 2020
•Renews the statewide public health emergency proclaimed on March 11, 2020 and extends the public health emergency through April 30,2020
Healthcare Staffing
April 2, 2020 Order
• Permits the New Mexico Department of Health (NMDOH) to allow Canadian nursing professionals who are licensed and in good standing to work in any New Mexico healthcare facility during the Pendency of the COVID-19 pandemic
• Delegates determination of assessing the qualifications of Canadian nursing professionals to NMDOH
•Authorization of the Canadian nursing professionals or registered nurse must be in writing and is valid for six months from the date of issue
•Canadian nursing professionals who receive written authorization from NMDOH shall be immune from civil or criminal liability for practicing without a license during the period of authorization
Aging and Long-Term Services Department
April 2, 2020
• Authorizes emergency funds for the Aging and Long-term Services Department to assist in relief efforts during the state wide public health emergency due to COVID-19
Additional Emergency Funds for Homeland Security and Emergency Management
April 2, 2020 Order
• Authorizes additional emergency funds for the Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management to assist in and coordinate relief efforts during the statewide public health emergency due to COVID-19
Transportation and Trucking
March 31, 2020 Order
• Directs the New Mexico Department of Transportation (NMDOT) to create a streamlined process for Emergency Expedited Special Permits (EESP) that would allow overweight vehicles and loads that can be easily dismantled or divided to travel in New Mexico between March 31, 2020 and July 1, 2020
• In Order to be eligible for an EESP an applicant must: (1) provide NMDOT with information regarding weight, manifest, destination and route; and (2) deliver primarily relief supplies
• Relief supplies include food, beverages, medicine, medical supplies, clothing, building materials for temporary structures or shelters, and any other materials NMDOT determines are primarily for disaster relief
•No fees for EESP’s
Temporary Waiver of Motor Vehicle Fees and Penalties
March 30, 2020 Order
• Directs Secretary of the Taxation and Revenue Department (TRD) to instruct the Motor Vehicle Division (MVD) to waive collection of all late fees and other penalities triggered by failure of an applicant to timely submit an application or other required documentation for registration, license, permit, or other privilege under the Motor Vehicle Code
• Applies to those applicants who could have submitted their documentation without penalty as of March 11, 2020 until a reasonable period of time after the reopening of MVD offices
• Directs the Secretary of TRD to provide public notice of the waiver and its duration
• Directs the Department of Public Safety not to issue citations for expired registrations, licenses, permits or other privileges under the Motor Vehicle Code
• Motor Vehicle Code license, registration, and permitting requirements remain in effect
Notarial Acts
March 30, 2020 Order
- Directs the Notary Compliance and Enforcement Unit (NCEU) to not recommend any form of discipline for any notary who performs a notarial act through audio-video technology provided that the following conditions are met:
(1) the technology used provides for direct interaction between the person seeking the notary’s services, the notary, and any required witnesses, and each party must affirmatively state that he or she is located in New Mexico during the video conference;
(2) If the person seeking the notary’s services or any witnesses are not personally know to the notary, each person who is not personally known must present satisfactory evidence of identity (valid state-issued photo identification) during the video conference; and
(3) Person seeking the notary’s services must transmit by fax or electronic means a legible copy of the signed document directly to any required witnesses and then to the notary on the same day it was signed; and
(4) Once the notary has received a legible copy of the document with all necessary signatures, the notary may notarize the document and transmit notorized document back to the person seeking the notary’s services
•The requirements above apply only to all notarial acts performed between March 30, 2020 and June 20, 2020
Restriction on Airport Travel
March 27, 2020 Executive Order
• Requires people traveling to New Mexico through an airport to self-isolate or self-quarantine for the shorter of either a) 14 days after entry or b) duration of stay in NM
Use of Additional Emergency Funds
March 27, 2020 Order
•Authorizes additional emergency funds for the Department of Health to purchase personal protective equipment, testing supplies, and other necessary materials to address the COVID-19 Epidemic
Temporary Restriction on Non-essential Health Care Services
March 24, 2020 Public Health Order
• Prohibits non-essential health care services, procedures, and surgeries
• Non-essential means procedures which can be delayed for 3 months without undue risk
• Does not apply to emergency medical care, surgery that if not performed would result in a serious condition of worsening, and family planning services
• Requires health care providers to provide NMDH with policy addressing compliance
Temporary Regulation of the Sale and Distribution of PPE
March 24, 2020 Public Health Order
• Restricts health care providers and medical suppliers with an inventory of PPE from reducing its inventory via selling, distributing, etc. without prior approval from NWHD
• Doesn’t apply to use of PPE or over-the-counter sales to individuals
• Requires each provider and supplier to report inventory of PPE to NMHD
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New Mexico Department of Health (NMDOH) Order
April 11, 2020
• Suspends operations of all businesses and nonprofit entities except for those deemed essential, and further restricts mass gatherings
- A “mass gathering” is defined as 5 or more people within 6 feet of one another who are not public employees or officials or who are not at their place of residence
The following changes have been made to the definition of “essential business”:
•Expands veterinary and livestock operations to include services necessary to avoid an emergency vaccinations
• Drops “beverage stores” from the definition of grocery and food stores
• Adds “transportation network companies” to the infrastructure definition
• Adds “bike repair facilities” and related retail
• Adds automobile dealerships provided that they conduct sales virtually
• Adds operations of “any federal entity”
• Expands the definition of logistics to include deliveries to essential businesses and the government but adds that such businesses cannot provide curbside pickup services to the general public for online or telephonic orders
Other Changes as a result of the April 11 NMDOH Order:
• Retail space may only permit 20% occupancy by customers
• Hotels, motels, and other places of lodging shall operate at 25% capacity. Health care workers, individuals using places of lodging for a temporary or extended stay, or individuals using places of lodging for purposes of a quarantine isolation period do not count towards the 25% occupancy limit
• Short-term vacation rentals are not permitted to operate except to house out of state health care workers
• The directive to reduce in-person workforces at call centers by 100% also applies to essential businesses
• Safe storage facilities are directed to reduce operations to the minimum number of employees, including a 100% reduction in permanent on-site workforce whenever possible
• This order does not apply to animal welfare entities such as shelters and zoos but those operations must be performed with the minimum number of employees and with strict adherence to social distancing protocols
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