New Mexico senator seeks $60M to send masks and COVID-19 test kits to residents

Ahead of New Mexico's 30-day legislative session, state Sen. Jeff Steinborn has filed two bills which would fund distribution of KN95 masks and COVID-19 home tests to New Mexican residents.

The Las Cruces Democrat, who sits on the Senate Finance Committee, says that New Mexico has more than $500 million in federal pandemic relief dollars to spend and proposes allocating $60 million to provide each New Mexican with four masks and two test kits.

Legislators have been able to "pre-file" bills for the legislative session since Jan. 3. This year's 30-day session opens at noon on Jan. 18 and concludes Feb. 17.

On Wednesday, Steinborn told the Las Cruces Sun-News one or both of the initiatives could be paid for from unused American Rescue Plan Act money.

Should you be wearing an N95 mask? What to know and where to buy them online

The appropriations would be paid to the New Mexico Department of Health and any funds not used by the end of the 2024 fiscal year would revert to the state's general fund. In one bill, $50 million would be allocated for test kits and in the other bill $10 million is sought for KN95 "or equivalently effective masks."

Steinborn said he drafted the bill pertaining to masks last year. At the time, he said, home test kits were not widely available, but since then have become "an important tool, so it’s an element that I added to what I was working on previously." For now, they stand as separate bills but could be combined in a legislative committee.

Details on how the products would be distributed are not included in the legislation, and would presumably be left to the health department. Steinborn said he had discussed his proposal with health department representatives.

The senator said conversations with the health department about the logistics initially considered mailing masks to households but had also discussed the possibility of distribution centers such public libraries.

Wearing face coverings in public has been a prominent and sometimes contentious layer in the state's public health strategy.

Epidemiologists have determined that the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus which causes COVID-19 disease spreads via aerosol droplets, which can be spread by people who carry the virus but are not symptomatic, and that widespread mask use slows community spread.

KN95 masks are respirator masks offering superior protection against transmission compared to cloth face coverings and surgical masks. They are different than N95 masks, though both are rated at 95 percent filtration efficiency.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention notes that KN95 masks are not certified by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), though they do meet international standards and offer similar protection.

The agency also warns on its website that while KN95 masks are more widely available, about 60 percent of the KN95 supply in the United States is counterfeit and does not meet NIOSH standards.

Steinborn said greater ease of use might make KN95s "more user-friendly" and easier to procure on the scale required to cover the state, but noted the language also authorized purchases of masks with equivalent protection, such as N95s.

On the other hand, KN95 masks have been seen as a more comfortable alternative to N95 masks, which are available from many retail stores as well as the online merchant Project N95, which vets brands and vendors of respirators, other personal protective equipment and test kits.

Algernon D'Ammassa can be reached at 575-541-5451, adammassa@lcsun-news.com or @AlgernonWrites on Twitter.

This article originally appeared on Las Cruces Sun-News: New Mexico senator's bill would give residents masks, COVID home tests