{"id":14889,"date":"2010-03-22T10:57:16","date_gmt":"2010-03-22T16:57:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/?p=14889"},"modified":"2010-03-22T10:57:23","modified_gmt":"2010-03-22T16:57:23","slug":"veto-the-food-tax","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2010\/03\/veto-the-food-tax\/","title":{"rendered":"Veto the food tax"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

Fred Nathan<\/p><\/div>\n

Many New Mexicans are asking whether Gov. Bill Richardson<\/a> will line-item veto the reimposition of the local portion of the food tax that was passed during the recent special session.<\/p>\n

However, once they learn the story behind the food tax\u2019s passage, New Mexicans are more likely to ask instead: \u201cWhy wouldn\u2019t Governor Richardson veto the food tax?\u201d<\/p>\n

First, a little recent history. In 2004, Governor Richardson, delivering on a campaign promise made in his 2002 election, boldly pushed a repeal of the food tax through the Legislature with the critical help of Speaker Ben Luj\u00e1n<\/a> and many others.<\/p>\n

At the time, Governor Richardson pointed out: \u201c\u2026the gross receipts tax on the food that goes on the plates of New Mexico families is an unconscionable reach into the pockets of New Mexico breadwinners.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Indeed, this was an important victory for working low- and middle-income families in New Mexico, who had been paying this regressive, anti-family tax since 1933 when it was enacted as a \u201ctemporary\u201d and \u201cemergency\u201d statute.<\/p>\n

So it was not surprising that Governor Richardson, in his State of the State address to the Legislature at the beginning of the regular session this January, made it clear that he would not support reimposing the food tax: \u201cWe cannot ask working New Mexicans to pay more for groceries when too many are struggling to make ends meet,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

This was a sensible position to take at a time when tens of thousands of New Mexicans are newly jobless and many more are living paycheck to paycheck.<\/p>\n

Then came the \u2018tortilla tax\u2019<\/h3>\n

Nevertheless, about three weeks later, some in the New Mexico Senate concocted and passed the infamous \u201ctortilla tax\u201d by a vote of 23-19. This tax actually went well beyond tortillas to hit food staples including rice, canned soup, spaghetti, nuts, honey, eggs, potatoes and yogurt. Thankfully, a House committee killed it 9-0.<\/p>\n

In between the regular session and the special session, Governor Richardson worked hard to forge a compromise that would address the budget deficit. He said that while he was still opposed to the food tax, he was open to signing a junk food tax on sugary soft drinks and candy.<\/p>\n

This tax would generate approximately $22.4 million annually while helping to lower New Mexico\u2019s soaring obesity and diabetes rates and reduce health care costs for these illnesses.<\/p>\n

In the special session, rather than accept the governor\u2019s reasonable offer to tax junk food, some in the Legislature chose instead to tax fruits, vegetables and baby food, among other things. The food tax is included in the tax package that now sits on the governor\u2019s desk awaiting his signature or a line-item veto.<\/p>\n

Many reasons to line-item veto the food tax<\/h3>\n

Governor Richardson has many good reasons to line-item veto the food tax. First, reimposing a $68 million food tax will serve as an anti-stimulus, draining dollars out of New Mexico\u2019s fragile economy and harming local businesses. The money that families will be forced to spend on the food tax is money that they would otherwise be able to spend on other goods and services.<\/p>\n

Second, for the same reason, the food tax will not close the budget deficit or avert the need for another special session. Revenue estimates for the food tax (and the budget itself) are too optimistic because they assume that New Mexico consumers will not change their buying patterns even though they will have less discretionary income thanks to the food tax. In the real world, less spending on non-food goods and services means lower gross receipts tax collections, which is not accounted for in the estimates.<\/p>\n

Third, there are far better alternatives for balancing New Mexico\u2019s budget. The Legislature could reduce state spending without cutting vital public services, as some fear. For example, a bipartisan task force created by Governor Richardson and headed by former Governor Garrey Carruthers recently recommended merging some state departments and eliminating a number of inactive boards and commissions.<\/p>\n

Similarly, if the goal of this tax package is to \u201cspread the pain\u201d as broadly as possible, why was the liquor lobby spared from any increase in taxes on alcohol, which unlike fruits, vegetables and baby food, is a luxury?<\/p>\n

We can do better than taxing food. Governor Richardson has said that he \u201chates the food tax.\u201d So do the vast majority of New Mexicans, but only Governor Richardson can veto it. Now is his opportunity to cement his legacy and keep New Mexicans food-tax free.<\/p>\n

Nathan is executive director of <\/em>Think New Mexico<\/em><\/a>, an independent, results-oriented think tank serving New Mexicans. To learn more about the food tax or to contact the governor, please go to: www.thinknewmexico.org.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Many New Mexicans are asking whether Gov. Bill Richardson will line-item veto the reimposition of the local portion of the food tax that was passed during the recent special session. However, once they learn the story behind the food tax\u2019s passage, New Mexicans are more likely to ask instead: \u201cWhy wouldn\u2019t Governor Richardson veto the food tax?\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":679,"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-14889","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\/14889","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\/679"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14889"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14889\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14889"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14889"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14889"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}