New Mexico’s school children are not getting their fair share of oil and gas revenues. That’s because the rental and royalty rates for drilling on federal lands are beyond outdated; some have not been revised in nearly a century.
Officials with Kids Count, nonprofit that advocates for children, said the governor’s $100,000 donation to the newly-created New Mexico Hunger Action Fund is a step in the right direction. “But we also know we need to think bigger,” said Amber Wallin, director of Kids Count. “In order to really address childhood hunger in New Mexico, we need to think about wages, we need to think about tax policy in New Mexico, we need to make sure our low-income working families in New Mexico are prioritized."
Improving the Working Families Tax Credit would put more money back into the hands of New Mexico’s hard-working families – and the businesses where they will spend it.
Presentation Fairer tax policies can help to lift our children and families out of poverty and improve child well-being across New Mexico as shown in this presentation to the Legislature's interim tax committee.
Between 2008 and 2018 New Mexico cut state support by $4,030 per student (when adjusted for inflation) – the third deepest cuts per-student of state support in the nation. That’s according to a report released today by the Washington, D.C.-based Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.
“Tax policy is an important way we express our values as a state and raise the revenue to meet our goals,” Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham said in the press release. “These committees will study reform measures thoroughly and help us make sure we get it right.”
“Our state lawmakers made great strides in putting working families first this year – especially families with children,” said James Jimenez, executive director of New Mexico Voices for Children, a nonprofit group that supported the tax package and commissioned the report. “These tax changes will really help our working families as well as help make our tax code fairer and more stable.”
Bill Jordan, government relations officer with New Mexico Voices for Children, said currently those with the largest incomes in the state pay the smallest share of their incomes in state and local taxes, while those with the lowest incomes pay the highest share. He said 385,000 children will benefit when the revamped tax code returns $64 million to working families.
Most New Mexico families with children – 70% – will get a break on their state personal income taxes when they file their 2019 tax returns, thanks to legislation enacted in April by the state Legislature and Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham. That’s according to an analysis by the Washington, DC-based Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP), released today in coordination with New Mexico Voices for Children.
Fact sheet Most New Mexico families with children will see a state income tax cut thanks to legislation enacted in April. The legislation also helps make our state tax system more fair and will provide a reliable stream of revenue for our schools, hospitals, and more.