The Small Business Recovery Act of 2020 was passed during the special session and signed into law by Governor Lujan Grisham. As a result of the Act: (i) a loan pool of up to $400 million has been established to provide low-interest loans to New Mexico businesses and nonprofits (501(c)(3) or 501(c)(6)) facing financial hardship due to coronavirus-related public health orders, and (ii) the employer contribution rates to the unemployment compensation trust fund were stabilized by substituting historic unemployment data for current year pandemic-driven data. New Mexico businesses interested in applying for a recovery loan can do so by going to nmfinance.com beginning on August 5, and should have 2019 tax returns (or Form 990, if a nonprofit), and 2019 and 2020 revenue information available when applying. New Mexico businesses and nonprofits that are eligible to apply (i) must have closed or reduced operations pursuant to the March 23, 2020 public health order, (ii) must have annual gross revenue of $5 million or less in 2019, and (iii) must have experienced a decline of 30% or more in revenue during the months of April and May of 2020, as compared to April and May of 2019.
The Act authorizes the New Mexico Finance Authority (“NMFA”) to employ loan servicers to assist with processing applications. Loan servicers will receive inquiries from and work with prospective borrowers to confirm the completeness and accuracy of applications. Lenders interested in acting as loan servicers must be listed as such on the NMFA website. Loan servicers must have at least one employee trained on the application process by NMFA and will be paid for each application reviewed, regardless of approval. Loan servicers may enroll by filling out a loan servicer enrollment form.