Contacting a legislator:  Find legislators' email addresses, phone numbers and mailing addresses by going to NM State Legislative Directory or the Legislature's Web Site.  Note that legislator's home addresses might be listed as their "District Office".  During legislative sessions, letters to legislators should be addressed to the State Capitol, Santa Fe, NM 87501.  Also during sessions, you can reach any legislator by calling the Legislative Switchboard at 986-4300 or you can call their office using the telephone number that can be found using the links above. You can reach the governor's office by calling 476-2200 or sending a message at Gov. Richardson.  You can search for legislation by going to the Legislature's Bill Finder.

Affordable Housing & Homelessness: SB144 (Sen. Nancy Rodriguez) expands state housing credits to more areas of the state  without expending any additional general funds.  SB144 has been signed into law by the Governor. HM7 (Rep. Bill O'Neill) creates a study group to look at child homelessness in NM.  HM7 passed the House and was signed by the Speaker of the House and will be implemented during the interim by the Children, Youth & Families Department.

Family-Sustaining Income:   Lutheran Advocacy Ministry-NM advocated that funding for programs that help low-income families not be cut and monitored the funding of those programs as the state budget was developed.  Those programs include General Assistance, Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF), child care assistance, and programs for homeless people. The state budget as signed by the Governor maintains funding for General Assistance, TANF and homeless programs.  Child care assistance was cut about $2 million  and the Children, Youth & Families Department has already started a waiting list for child care assistance that prioritizes families at or below 100% of the federal poverty level.  The earmark for early childhood programs in the bill increasing the cigarette tax was vetoed.  (See "Tax Policy" below)

Health Care:   We also advocated that no cuts in eligibility and benefits be made to the Medicaid program.  Federal stimulus funding is helping to prevent further cuts which thus far have included curtailing of outreach and cuts to providers.  Over 500,000 low-income New Mexicans receive health care through this important program. The state budget as signed by the Governor provides enough funding so that no further cuts to Medicaid are needed.  

Hunger:   Enrollment in the SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly Food Stamps) has increased by over 30% in the past year.  This program is federally-funded and administered by the NM Human Services Department.  HSD has recently made several rules changes that benefit recipients of SNAP.  New Mexico has a state program that provides supplemental SNAP benefits for seniors who are eligible for minimal assistance under federal rules.  The funding for this program was not reduced.

Tax Policy:   New Mexico faces a revenue shortfall of about $600 million for the next fiscal year which begins July 1. Lutheran Advocacy Ministry-NM advocated that revenue be increased in a progressive way so that the tax burden on low-income New Mexicans is not increased.  While the Legislature did not pass any bills that would increase income taxes on wealthier taxpayers, it did include a more progressive provision in the omnibus tax bill that was passed.  Provisions increasing the gross receipts tax were passed during the special session.  The Governor vetoed the partial reinstatement of the food tax.

Senate Finance Committee Substitute for SB 10, 12 & 13  (Sen. Carlos Cisneros) increases the state's portion of the gross receipts tax (NM's version of a sales tax.) by 1/8 of 1% and generates revenue of about $60 million.   The Governor vetoed the portion of the bill that would have reinstated the local gross receipts tax on food  which averages about 2% depending on the locality and would have generated about $68 million.  The gross receipts tax is a regressive tax because low-income families pay a much larger portion of their income on this tax than do wealthier families.

This bill also contains a provision to close a tax loophole that didn't allow taxation of goods purchased from out of state sources that didn't have a location in New Mexico.  This provision generates about $12 million.

The bill also includes a progressive provision that requires state taxpayers who itemize on their federal returns to "add back" the amount they deducted for state taxes to their New Mexico taxable income.   New Mexico is one of only 6 states with a personal income tax that does not require this "add back."  This bill does not increase rates and is progressive because it only affects the approximately 30% of New Mexicans who itemize on their federal returns.  This provision generates $66 million.

The Governor also vetoed the small increase in the state Low Income Comprehensive Tax Rebate (LICTR) that was included in this bill.   This provision would have cost about $5 million. LICTR was created many years ago to offset some of the regressivity in our state tax system.

HB3 (Rep. Gail Chasey) increases the state tax on cigarettes by 75 cents generating about $33 million.   The Governor vetoed the portion of the bill which would have required that, for one year, $4.6 million of this increase would have gone to the Public Education Department for early childhood programs like the Pre-K program and $6.4 million would have gone to the Children, Youth & Families Department for early childhood programs.

HB120 (Rep. Ben Lujan) was passed during the regular session and changes tax law to insure that New Mexico state tax is withheld from certain out of state entities.   HB120 increases revenue by about $15 million and has been signed by the governor.  We supported this increase in the collection of taxes already owed.

Domestic Partnerships:   SB183 (Sen. Peter Wirth) would have allowed LGBT and other couples to have civil rights through domestic partnerships.  SB183 passed the Senate Public Affairs Committee and was tabled in the Senate Finance Committee during the regular session.  

Treatment instead of incarceration:   HB178 (Rep. Moe Maestas) would have created a way to make sure that those arrested for simple drug possession be given substance abuse treatment instead of only being incarcerated.  HB178 passed the House and was being debated on the Senate Floor when the regular session ended.