“Some of those tax policy changes clearly did not accomplish what they were intended to accomplish,” said James Jimenez, director of the liberal advocacy group New Mexico Voices for Children.
First, we recommend that the new governor work to make our tax system fairer and more stable. Thanks to 15 years of failed trickle-down tax cuts, New Mexico is now much too dependent on revenue from oil and natural gas extraction to fund our state services like education and public safety. But the amount of revenue we collect from oil production is based on prices that are set at the global level, so we’re stuck in a boom-or-bust cycle.
James Jimenez, executive director of New Mexico Voices for Children, said state policymakers could address the inequity by embracing a more progressive tax system. "It's really a much fairer way of allocating tax responsibility to support the kinds of things that we need - good, strong schools and higher education, great infrastructure," he said. "Those are really the fundamental things that we need to figure out how to pay for in a fair way."
Amber Wallin, the Deputy Director of New Mexico Voices for Children, pointed to the recent tax cut that became law as a driving force for the desire to cut federal spending from social welfare programs. “We just had a $1.4 trillion tax cut that mainly goes to wealthy individuals, the most well-connected, the biggest corporations,” she said. “But at the same time we’re cutting crucial benefits for the kids and families who need them the most. It’s just unacceptable.”
Bill Jordan, of New Mexico Voices for Children, said the additional tax would hurt those who could least afford it. “Adding a 7 or 8 percent tax is not a solution for obesity,” he said. “New Mexico also has a problem with childhood hunger. Adding a $100 million tax a year is not a solution to hunger.”
We seem to finally have crawled out of the revenue ravine, and some legislators want to place us back on the edge of that same fiscal precipice? Sounds suicidal.
We all want a prosperous state, but prosperity requires investments. You can’t grow a garden without good soil, sunlight, water, and some hard work. Same with a state—you can’t have prosperity without resources, infrastructure, and a skilled workforce. But instead of following an investment strategy to prosperity, New Mexico has tried to cut its way to prosperity.
“These two programs are not only critical for the well-being of New Mexico’s children and hardworking families, but they are also important to the state’s economy,” said James Jimenez, executive director of New Mexico Voices for Children, a liberal advocacy group.
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. -- President Donald Trump calls it a once-in-a-generation opportunity, but the Republican tax plan passed by the Senate on Saturday could force lawmakers to rewrite the tax code again, repeatedly for years to come. Some key components of the plan have expiration dates, forcing a future Congress to decide whether to renew them or not. Tax cuts for individuals and families would vanish after eight years.
SANTA FE — Operators of community health centers in New Mexico watched warily on Wednesday as congressional committees in Washington wrestled with proposals to extend crucial funding for clinics that are a mainstay of rural health care in the state. Federal funding expired at the end of September for federally qualified health centers, along with a popular health insurance program for children from low-income families.