Santa Fe, NM - Today House Democrats on the Labor and Economic Development Committee voted to kill House Bill 8, a bill introduced by Rep. Jason Harper (R-Sandoval) to reform New Mexico's tax code. Harper's bill would have overhauled the state's sales tax structure to broaden New Mexico's tax base and lower the overall tax rate for all New Mexicans.
HB 8 was a revised version of House Bill 412, a bill Harper introduced during the regular session held earlier this year. HB 412 was co-sponsored by two senior Democrat lawmakers, Sens. John Arthur Smith (D-Luna) and Carlos Cisneros (D-Taos), and it had broad bipartisan support.
The bill was heavily scrutinized during the regular session, including intense analysis in three marathon committee hearings. HB 412 was unanimously approved by the House of Representatives on March 8, 2017, but it failed to advance through the Senate after receiving overwhelming opposition by numerous lobbyists and industry special interests.
The current version of Harper's tax reform bill contained compromise language he included in response to feedback he received after the session, but much of the legislation was similar to what was proposed HB 412.
House Democrats claimed that Harper's bill was too large and complex to take up during the special session, saying the matter should be studied further.
"Unfortunately, this sounds like the same old disingenuous Santa Fe-speak for ducking the issue of tax reform. New Mexico's taxes have been studied to death. I have no confidence that the Democrats will take action based on yet another study, but I hope they'll prove me wrong," Harper said.
"Last week we learned that New Mexico has the highest unemployment rate in the nation at 6.7%. Our children are fleeing this state in search of better job opportunities elsewhere, and Democratic legislators are showing no sense of urgency. I'm disappointed that the Democrats have chosen to continue their dithering while New Mexico's private sector collapses," Harper added.
Harper noted that efforts to reform New Mexico's tax code date back to at least 2003 when a blue-ribbon commission was formed to study the issue and recommend changes. These reform efforts intensified during the past two years with in-depth studies conducted by both the Department of Finance and Administration and an interim legislative committee, the Revenue Stabilization a and Tax Policy Committee.
Yesterday, the House Democrat Majority pushed through a $157.3M tax increase on hard-working New Mexican families when they voted for House Bill 2. The bill will impose new taxes on internet purchases and hospitals in New Mexico. HB 2 did nothing to address the overall instability and inequity of New Mexico's tax code.
All told, during both the regular and special session this year, Democrat legislators have proposed over $1.5 billion in new taxes on New Mexicans.