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.
A shakeup in a major Senate committee has Sen. Richard Martinez, D-Española, replacing Sen. Cisco McSorley, D-Albuquerque, as head of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Martinez is more conservative than McSorley, especially on social issues.
For four years Gov. Bill Richardson and state lawmakers have wrestled over how to set up a state ethics commission, who would sit on it and who would appoint them. That an agreement has proved elusive is an understatement; the concept has proved deeply unpopular at the Capitol.
Democrat Diane Denish says she’ll appoint an independent ethics commission “on day one.” But Republican Susana Martinez says an ethics commission would amount to nothing more than window dressing.
The New Mexico Corrections Department has not fined two private prison operators for years despite repeated contract violations, costing the state potentially millions of dollars in uncollected penalties, state officials have told The Independent. That has put New Mexico Corrections Secretary Joe Williams on a collision course with state lawmakers. Some legislators say the issue of uncollected penalties is finally coming to a head as New Mexico faces economic difficulties.
Is it a coincidence that the NM GOP on Wednesday forwarded to reporters a story about how Republican gubernatorial candidate Martinez carries a .45—the same day that Martinez campaign strategists were struggling to brush off the news that a Martinez employee forwarded a joke in which a “New Mexican girl” shoots an Arab and a Mexican with her .45?
A Party spokeswoman says emphatically “yes,” but till, the coincidence made some cringe.
“The question is: Are they meaning to say that she just carries a .45— or are they really meaning to say, on this day, with this news, she also would throw a glass up in the air?” state Sen. Cisco McSorley, D-Albuquerque, said.
A recent story aired on National Public Radio about New Mexico’s innovative medical marijuana program again looked at the state’s program being one of the strictest in the country.
NPR held New Mexico up as the anti-California, telling its listeners…
Late Tuesday the Senate passed a bill that would generate $240 million by increasing the state’s gross receipts tax by a 1/8 of a penny, closing a state income tax deduction used by people who itemize and requiring the state’s compensating tax to be paid on goods purchased from out-of-state sellers without a physical presence in New Mexico.
Senate Majority Leader Michael Sanchez cut short a Sunday hearing on a resolution that would expand webcasting from the Senate floor, but Sanchez says the resolution isn’t dead, regardless of what others claim.
“It could come back up before…
Stock up on white flour tortillas and red chile pods now. The New Mexico Senate voted late Saturday night to extend the state’s gross receipts tax on a wide variety of foods after a wide-ranging debate that included attempts to raise taxes from the state’s wealthiest residents and out-of-state corporations.
Brought forward by Sen. Bernadette Sanchez, D-Albuquerque, the food tax passed on a vote of 23 to 19. The measure exempts foods offered through the state’s nutrition program for women, infants and children, known as the WIC program, plus fresh or frozen meats, poultry and chicken. But it also taxes many foods considered staples, like white flour tortillas, white bread and red chile pods.
“It helps prevent additional cuts to Medicaid, to courts, to seniors…and hopefully it’ll eventually have a health benefit by reducing obesity and diabetes,” Sanchez said.
But Sen. Cisco McSorley said consumers wouldn’t know which products would be taxed and which wouldn’t be, and, he said, a wide variety of foods would not be exempt.
“For the last five years, this state has enjoyed a tax free Thanksgiving,” McSorley said, “and that’s something to be thankful for. But if you look at a butterball turkey, spices and preservatives are built into it, so would it be taxed?”
Sanchez replied that the intent was to exempt meats, poultry and fish with limited amounts of added ingredients, and that the Tax and Revenue Department was working out the details.
Two amendments specifically concerning the food tax bill were offered. Sen. George Munoz, D-Gallup, proposed exempting red chile pods and powder. Sen. Eric Griego, D-Albuquerque, meanwhile, suggested taxing all food, while offering a food rebate for low-income families. His proposal would reduce the complexity of the tax, he said, while making it more progressive by offering an outright tax rebate to the poor. Both amendments failed.
McSorley explained in voting no on Griego’s amendment that he had promised his constituents he would never vote for a food tax. Another progressive senator defended Sanchez’s legislation.
“I came into this session thinking I’d never vote for a food tax, but I realized this could be the biggest boon to health in NM,” said Sen. Dede Feldman, D-Albuquerque. “This is a tax on salt, sugar, white flour and processed foods. …[when] over 60 percent of New Mexicans are overweight or obese. Mothers will be cooking more and cooking from scratch. That is a good thing.”
The food tax legislation received vigorous opposition in the lead up to the final floor debate by the Catholic Church in a particular. Billed a “tortilla tax,” the legislation was blasted for taxing white tortillas, which are a staple food in New Mexico.
“WIC is designed to provide supplemental funding for food with an extensive education to accompany it,” Allen Sanchez, a lobbyist for the New Mexico Conference of Catholic Bishops, said immediately after the legislation was adopted.
“Without education the working poor will not be able to navigate the grocery story knowing what is taxed and is not taxed. This bill deliberately targets the poor and the Catholic bishops of New Mexico find this bill to be in direct contradiction to the Gospel values.”
Other tax measures
The food tax passed despite multiple amendments offered by several lawmakers who hoped to raise revenues in a variety of other ways.
“This is about asking the richest people to step up to the plate,” Sen. Eric Griego said of an unsuccessful amendment that would have raised the top income tax rate in the state.
Another amendment offered by Griego reduced the capital gains exemption from 50 to 25 percent.
“There are 15 to 20 proposals that have been circulated to help us raise the revenue we need,” Griego said to explain why he offered the two amendments on the food tax bill. “This is the only vehicle we have to have a balanced conversation, because most haven’t seen the light of day.”
“Otherwise,” he said, “we’re just balancing the budget on the backs of teachers, …instead of asking the rich and wealthy to pay their fair share.”
Sen. Peter Wirth, D-Santa Fe, proposed an amendment that would have mandated that multi-state corporations use a mechanism called “combined reporting,” which would ensure they pay corporate income tax to New Mexico. Wirth has proposed the bill for five years in a row, but in years past was routinely told that while the idea was a good one, the state didn’t need the money. Now it does, he said, which was why he thought it was important to ensure a floor debate.
“I was told for years that it’s a good deal, but we don’t need the money,” Wirth said. “Now, we need the money. It’s about fairness. It doesn’t apply a new tax rate, it simply makes these multi-state corporations pay their fair share.”
Ultimately, neither Wirth’s or Griego’s two amendments were adopted.
Votes for and against the food tax, SB 10:
For: Campos, Cisneros, Eichenberg, Feldman, Fischmann, Phil Griego, Ingle, Jennings, Kernan, Leavell, Martinez, Morales, Munoz, Ortiz y Pino, Papen, Pinto, B. Sanchez, M. Sanchez, Sapien, Smith, Ulibarri, Beffert, Harden.
Against: Adair, Asbill, Boitano, Cravens, Duran, Garcia, Eric Griego, Keller, Lopez, Lovejoy, McSorley, Payne, Rue, Ryan, Sharer, Wirth, Nava, Neville, Rodriguez
Gov. Bill Richardson will lose control of the State Investment Council while the State Investment Officer no longer could hire and fire fund managers under legislation that cleared the Senate on Friday evening. Senators voted unanimously after a short debate to dramatically re-structure how the Council (SIC) is governed.
Despite moving testimony from Dan Koffman, the father of the only survivor of a June car accident in which a drunk diver killed four Santa Fe teenagers, the Senate Judiciary Committee on Monday tabled one of Sen.
State senators weren’t agreed Friday about how to reform a state agency at the center of an investment scandal. But one thing’s for sure: they’re spoiling for a fight with Gov. Bill Richardson over who should control the State Investment Council. Three reform bills are being combined into one that could be heard on Monday in the Senate Rules Committee.
Governor Bill Richardson has put his influence behind domestic partnership efforts for years. Now, in Richardson’s final session as governor, there is a final effort to push a domestic partnership bill past the finish line. And the effort starts with…
Approximately 100 people turned up at the New Mexico state capital Monday to support domestic partnership bill (SB 183) expected to be heard in the Senate this week.
Thursday on the live blog, Governor Bill Richardson spoke to the press, Senator Stuart Ingle caused an unusual stir on the opening bill of the session and a man suing the state over corrupt state investment practices appeared…
LAS CRUCES — Lawmakers who are crafting legislation that would create an independent state ethics commission decided Wednesday evening to propose that such a body have 11 members with subpoena power. Other key questions—the most significant being what degree of disciplinary authority such a commission would have—remain unresolved.
The state Senate is expected to take up domestic-partnership legislation this week, possibly as early as Wednesday morning most likely Thursday morning. Join the New Mexico Independent and The Santa Fe Reporter as we co-host a live…
Two New Mexico Senate committees will meet together this afternoon to discuss whether to grant domestic partner benefits in New Mexico and consider an alternative plan from a GOP lawmaker.
The good news for those who want to…
When the Legislature convenes today, senators will decide whether to sustain a bipartisan coalition that has been the only check on the governor’s power — or take a new direction under leadership that many believe will be friendlier to Bill Richardson and his agenda.
With a new crop of fresh faces coming to the Roundhouse, 2009 may be the year that New Mexico finally recognizes domestic partnerships. According to Whitney Potter of the American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico, “This legislation would provide basic protections — it’s fundamentally about equality and fairness under the law.”
With New Mexico Attorney General Gary King refusing to explain why he believes two nonprofits’ activities have crossed the line between issue advocacy and political campaigning, a lawmaker is trying to compel an official opinion from King. But almost three months since the request was made, King’s office hasn’t responded.
