{"id":10193,"date":"2009-12-11T15:30:24","date_gmt":"2009-12-11T22:30:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/?p=10193"},"modified":"2009-12-13T22:15:30","modified_gmt":"2009-12-14T05:15:30","slug":"food-tax-would-hurt-new-mexico-families","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2009\/12\/food-tax-would-hurt-new-mexico-families\/","title":{"rendered":"Food tax would hurt New Mexico families"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Lt.

Lt. Gov. Diane Denish (Photo by Heath Haussamen)<\/p><\/div>\n

For many\u00a0New Mexico families, budgets are tighter this holiday season than last, which means fewer gifts under the tree. But for other families, simply getting by is a struggle. During these difficult times, a broad-based tax on food<\/a> to fix the\u00a0budget shortfall\u00a0is a bad idea.<\/p>\n

I will not support it, plain and simple.<\/p>\n

Our state is facing serious budget challenges, no doubt about it. But we must not balance the budget on the backs of regular, hard-working New Mexico families. And when nearly one in four\u00a0New Mexico children\u00a0go to bed hungry, making it more difficult for their parents to buy basic food is simply unconscionable.<\/p>\n

So when the\u00a0Legislature\u00a0convenes next month, where should lawmakers look to close the budget gap?<\/p>\n

\"Guest<\/p>\n

First and foremost, before anyone starts debating tax increases, legislators must do everything possible to make sure government is leaner and more efficient. They must not ask for more tax dollars until they can show that the tax dollars already coming in are being spent as efficiently as possible. I\u2019ve proposed several areas where reform is needed, including overhauling the\u00a0capital outlay\u00a0system and ending the practice of double-dipping. Others have proposed additional reform ideas that require thoughtful consideration.<\/p>\n

Once all possible reforms are debated and implemented, legislators should look to see who is gaming the system at the expense of the taxpayers. Right now, a loophole exists in\u00a0New Mexico law\u00a0that allows big, out-of-state corporations to get special breaks at the expense of\u00a0New Mexico families\u00a0and businesses. Haven\u2019t we seen enough of these kinds of special breaks on Wall Street?<\/p>\n

We certainly want to create incentives for employers to create jobs, but New Mexicans are sick of these loopholes for the big guys \u2013 that\u2019s a big part of what got our nation into this economic mess in the first place.<\/p>\n

These are just a few ideas for reducing the state\u2019s\u00a0budget shortfall,\u00a0and I\u2019m open to other good ideas as well.<\/p>\n

But before legislators convene in January, they should send a clear message to New Mexicans that the food tax is off the table. We simply cannot, in good conscience, support higher taxes on basic necessities at a time when so many families are struggling to get by.<\/p>\n

I urge New Mexicans to contact their legislators and encourage them to oppose this costly, harmful tax increase.<\/p>\n

Denish<\/em><\/a> in New Mexico\u2019s lieutenant governor and a Democratic candidate for governor.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

During these difficult times, a broad-based tax on food to fix the budget shortfall is a bad idea. I will not support it, plain and simple. Instead, here are a few other ideas for reducing the state\u2019s budget shortfall.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":26,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1192,16],"tags":[118,107],"class_list":["post-10193","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-commentary","category-guest-columns","tag-economy","tag-roundhouse"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10193","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/26"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10193"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10193\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10193"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10193"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10193"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}