NOTES FROM THE ROUNDHOUSE
by Anna Crook
The Forty Fifth Legislative Session came to a close shortly after noon on March 17th. As has been the custom in the past, there were some excellent pieces of legislation passed by both the Senate and the House of Representatives. But, I must admit there was legislation passed by both Houses that , in my opinion, will not serve the best interest of the citizens of New Mexico.
Education was at the top of the list of issues to be addressed during this session. Some of those individuals who spent many hours working on Education Reform did not feel the final package of education reform was all they had hoped for. One hundred eighty million dollars of new money was added to education. There was not as much accountability in the package as was requested. Merit pay was also excluded. Some of the remarks were that we were pumping more money into education without insisting on more accountability.
Business as usual.
An across-the-board Tax Cut for all New Mexicans was the buzz word from the beginning of the session. Numerous bills were presented for a tax cut; some in the form of a tax credit, others for tax rebates.
The Govenor's tax cut bill was lowered from a $75 million dollar tax cut to a little over $72 million. With a surplus of over $500 million, it was felt that a $72 million dollar tax cut was certainly not unreasonable to return to those individuals who paid it. His proposed bill, an across-the-board tax cut for all New Mexicans, also removed approximately 65,000 low-income tax payers from the tax rolls.
After much surgery and many amendments, the final tax cut bill retained little that resembled the original tax cut bill ask for by the Govenor.
A $10 million dollar request for LICTR (Low Income Tax Rebate) in the bill was opposed on the floor; some compared to going to Walmart and asking for a refund when you had not made a purchase. It was said that under the proposal, those individuals who have not paid income tax would receive a large refund.
The counter-argument was that these people pay gross receipts tax. Well, I am here to tell you these other people not only pay gross receipts tax, but they pay State Taxes as well.
Also in this bill was a proposal that the job mentorship program would be upgraded from a pilot program into a fully-implemented program. There was also a break for physicians in tri-care, but there was nothing much in the bill for middle-income people.
After negotiations with the Senate Pro Tem and the Speaker, I was told that the Senate was willing to make some concessions for a much more palatable tax cut bill. The Govenor was willing to make his tax cut over a two year period. The Speaker, as I understand, said no deal.
As a result, a very generous capital outlay bill (with which I think most all communities would have been well pleased) was threatened. It is my understanding the Govenor let it be known that the people of New Mexico either get a tax cut or the capital outlay will go down in flames.
I see this as a no-win situation.
It could have been easily worked out so that all the people of New Mexico could benefit by reaping some of the returns of their tax dollars. Also, the communities and State would greatly benefit from the capital outlay funds.
In my opinion, New Mexico's low income residents are helped by unnumbered programs that are already in place and others that stand to go into place.
I feel this was a time to help those who pay the bills. Give the tax cut that was requested, the capital outlay bill will be signed, and everyone wins. A WIN-WIN FOR EVERYONE !!!!!!!
Many other issues were addressed that are awaiting arrival at the govenor's desk to get a signature or meet the deadly veto pen.
Until next month!
Anna Crook is a New Mexico State Representative, representing District 64. She is a member of the Taxation and Revenue and Transportation committees. She is also an Interim Member of the following committees: NM Finance Authority Oversight Committee, Revenue Stabilization & Tax Policy Committee, and the Water & Natural Resources Committee.
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