WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Senators Tom Udall, D-N.M., and Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., and U.S. Representatives Ben Ray Lujan, D-N.M., Deb Haaland, D-N.M., and Xochitl Torres-Small, D-N.M., are calling on Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator Peter Gaynor to waive all cost-sharing requirements for assistance under President Trump’s Major Disaster Declaration for the State of New Mexico, 4529-DR, for the state’s response to the novel coronavirus pandemic.
“As detailed in Governor Lujan Grisham’s letter, the State of New Mexico has diverted significant resources and funding, including tens of millions of dollars of emergency funding, to mobilize a rapid and comprehensive response to the COVID-19 public health crises. As of May, the state estimated that it had expended approximately $90 million in response and relief efforts,” the delegation wrote in their letter.
“The COVID-19 pandemic is having a severe and disproportionate impact on Indian Country. Tribal nations are taking on enormous and unprecedented costs to protect the health and safety of their communities. Closure of tribally-owned business entities to curb the spread of this virus has reduced tribal revenues substantially, preventing Tribes from assuming a non-federal cost-share. We therefore urge FEMA to waive this requirement so that limited Tribal resources can be fully dedicated to protecting Tribal communities’ health and wellbeing and adopting measures to combat this deadly virus,” the letter continued.
Recently, the New Mexico delegation introduced the bipartisan Tribal COVID-19 Disaster Assistance Cost Share Relief Act, legislation to eliminate the non-federal cost share for emergency protective measures undertaken by Tribal governments in response to COVID-19.
The New Mexico delegation also sent a letter to Trump and Gaynor in which they requested a waiver of the FEMA cost-share requirement for Tribes to alleviate the financial strain of the COVID-19 pandemic, saying, “Recovering from this pandemic will require a full and coordinated approach and increasing the federal cost-share to 100 percent for the State of New Mexico and all Tribes in the state, will help ensure the essential resources to save lives and to protect the public health and safety of our local communities. Accordingly, we urge you to waive all cost-share requirements for emergency work and direct federal assistance for New Mexico’s COVID-19 response and relief efforts.”
