New Mexico legislators approve $1B state spending increase

Senate lawmakers endorsed a tax relief package Thursday on a 39-0 vote that would offer a personal income tax rebate of $250 for individuals or $500 for joint filers, at a cost of more than $300 million.

Democratic state Rep. Christine Chandler of Los Alamos, a proponent of modest tax relief, warned that those rebates could contribute to inflationary trends.

“This amount … pumped into the economy at this point in time could easily add to the inflationary trends that we are in right now, in one fell swoop,” she told a lead Senate budget committee.

The tax relief package would slightly reduce gross receipts taxes on sales and services, eliminate taxes on Social Security income for individuals earning $100,000 or less, and provide a per-child tax credit of up to $175 to parents.

A package of crime-fighting initiatives received Senate approval late Wednesday night on a 41-0 vote, sending the bill to the House for consideration.

The initiative includes efforts to expand police training and oversight, with funding for alternatives to traditional prosecution and incarceration.

New Mexico would overhaul police training and oversight, hire more state district judges, and enhance criminal penalties for threatening judges and for certain felons in possession of a firearm.