Tobacco taxes support a healthy future for New Mexico
Fact Sheet Smoking kills more people than alcohol, AIDS, car crashes, illegal drugs, murders, and suicides combined. One evidence-based way to help youth and those earning low incomes to stop or reduce smoking is to increase tobacco taxes. It also raises some of the funding needed to cover the public health care costs. (State-level data on smoking, death rates, etc.)
Dow opposition can’t stop early childhood legislation
Southern NM Journalism Collaborative--Bill Jordan of the nonprofit New Mexico Voices for Children pointed to annual child wellbeing rankings in which New Mexico regularly finishes last or near last in the nation. “One of the things we know from the data is our kids are behind before they ever get to school,” he said. “We urge you to invest in our own kids over Wall Street.”
Getting off the revenue roller coaster
Fact Sheet By increasing the personal income tax for just the highest-income earners – those who have been relatively unharmed by the pandemic and are in the best position to afford it – we can take an important first step in generating the stable revenue necessary to invest in the programs and services (like education, health care, and modern infrastructure) that promote shared prosperity and well-being for all New Mexicans.
Bill to help restaurants and workers advances in New Mexico Legislature
Las Cruces Sun-News--Bill Jordan of New Mexico Voices for Children, said the earned income tax credit has proven to be one of the most effective measures in fighting poverty. “Building on this credit is a targeted and effective way to help low-income families and families of color who have been hit especially hard during this pandemic,” he said.
Biden Administration should update antiquated oil and gas leasing and bonding rules
Carlsbad Current Argus--While the extraction of oil and natural gas in New Mexico is mostly done on public lands, the state has less authority over the process than you might think. And while the industry puts a lot of money into our public schools, it could put a lot more money in if the state made the rules. Unfortunately, because much of the public land where drilling takes place here is actually federal land, we must rely on the federal government to set the rules.
Breaking our bondage to outdated bonding rates, GIF-splained
While the oil and gas industry has brought a lot of money into New Mexico, it can also end up costing us money - lots of money. When wells no longer produce, they are abandoned. Responsible companies cap these old wells and clean up the surrounding area. But not all old wells are capped and cleaned - especially when the company has gone bankrupt. This gif-splainer lays out the problem and the solution.