A legislative statement acknowledging the more than 9,000 New Mexicans who have died from COVID and supporting a planned memorial for them is unlikely to reach the governor’s desk this year.
And when COVID survivors are trying to advocate for a memorial, they continue to be subjected to harmful misinformation from public figures, said Janeth Nuñez del Prado, leader of the New Mexico chapter of Marked by COVID, the largest network of COVID survivors in the country.
Senate Joint Memorial 1 got its first hearings in the Roundhouse during the last week of the 2023 session. It passed the Senate Rules committee on March 13, and the Senate Health and Public Affairs Committee on Wednesday night.
The session ends at noon on Saturday.
The Legislature’s support is really critical, Eleanor Bravo, a member of Marked by COVID and chair of the advisory board for New Energy Economy, told the Senate Rules Committee.
“We are continuing to work with many different factions of our society here in New Mexico, so everyone can have input into the content of the memorial,” Bravo said.
People can enter photos and short bios of their loved ones to be included in the COVID memorial project at this link.
The Las Cruces City Council on March 6 became the fifth local government to formally express support for the COVID memorial project. They joined the Village of Corrales, the Sandoval County Commission, the Albuquerque City Council, and the Bernalillo County Commission.
“I was pleased that the...
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