I am writing today to announce the closure of the New Mexico Independent. After three and a half years of operation in New Mexico, the board of the American Independent News Network, has decided to shift publication of its news…
While environmental activists played their part yesterday during demonstrations at the capitol building, going so far as to dress up as solar panels and to sing the tune of “You Are My Sunshine,” their counterparts, the anti-cap-and-trade contingency who has…
Roughly one quarter of University of New Mexico students are unimpressed with the state’s flagship public school, according to a survey that questioned college students about their higher education experiences.
Fred Nathan of Think New Mexico, the think tank that championed eliminating the gross receipts tax on food several years ago, and has campaigned hard against reinstating the tax this year, told The Independent today that the group would be willing to compromise and support a tax on soda and candy.
Gov. Richardson has said he opposes reinstating the food tax, but has also indicated he would consider taxing junk food.
Nathan reiterated his opposition to taxing food in general, because it disproportionately affects the poor, but said that given the state’s financial stress, Think New Mexico is willing to give a little ground.
“Very few people are likely to concede any ground and we need to be practical and work together,” Nathan told The Independent, indicating his group would support the soda/candy tax as an alternative to taxing fruits, vegetables and baby food.
Meanwhile, Sen. Dede Feldman, D-Albuquerque, has introduced Senate Bill 31. Simply put, the bill would put sugar-sweetened soft drinks on the tax table in New Mexico. Senator Feldman conducted a survey of her constituents, in Albuquerque’s North Valley, and 86 percent of the respondents opposed reinstating the tax on food. But in the same group, over 81 percent supported a tax on soft drinks.
How much money such a tax would bring in is unclear, but it could be millions. If Sen. Feldman’s bill becomes a reality that money collected would go to the state’s Medicaid fund, where it would be matched by the federal government.
