Curtis Wynne/New-Sun Hailing from districts in Lea County, two representatives and one state senator voted against the bill that will provide payments totaling $500 for individual New Mexican adults or $1,000 per New Mexican households. In a decisive 35-1 Senate vote, with Sen. David Gallegos, R-Eunice, the sole dissenter, the Democratic-sponsored bill went to to Democrat Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, …

No constituents roaming the hall looking for their senators. No lobbyists hanging around the representative’s office. No crowded committee rooms. It won’t look like any previous normal session of the New Mexico Legislature this year. That’s because the 60-day session that starts at noon Tuesday won’t be anywhere near normal — for two reasons, not one. Both the COVID-19 pandemic …

Twenty counties in New Mexico have had less than a dozen total confirmed coronavirus cases each, many of those counties in southeastern New Mexico. Meanwhile, four counties have had more than 300 cases each. Local legislators deem the state’s administration unfairly paints the whole state with the same brush when shutting down all “non-essential” businesses. Elected legislators representing southeastern New …