New Mexico Wants Real Shared Sacrifice
Michelle Kavanaugh – Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Here in New Mexico, our legislative session has just begun. Governor Susana Martinez gave her “State of the State” address touting her accomplishments during the last year: selling the corporate jet, firing the chefs at the Governor’s mansion and getting rid of “non-essential government vehicles.” These accomplishments were under the guise of “shared sacrifice” during this time of economic hardship, however, these are only first steps – there is much more to be done now that New Mexico’s legislature has convened.
New Mexico’s poverty level is 18 percent. What is 18 percent, you ask? That’s over 400,000 New Mexicans are living under the poverty line. Even worse, 1 in 4 of New Mexico’s children now live in poverty.
Those are startling numbers, but they’re numbers reflected in the faces Working America canvassers and organizers see every day. Often our members are forced to decide between paying for necessary medication or food, paying the electric bill or the rent, paying for gas to get to work or replacing their child’s worn-out shoes.
New Mexicans are indeed, “sharing the sacrifice,” so you can imagine the frustration many New Mexicans feel when they see corporations doing business in in our state that are not sharing that sacrifice in the slightest. Currently, most corporations in New Mexico do not pay state taxes and these corporate tax loopholes have drained millions of dollars of the state.
Senator Peter Wirth (D-Santa Fe) has introduced Senate Bill 9 which would close that corporate tax loophole. The bill lowers the tax rate for all New Mexico businesses and increases revenue by fairly taxing the five hundred corporations currently not paying their fair share.
If Governor Martinez and the New Mexico Legislature truly feel that we all must share the sacrifice, then they must take action now. This additional revenue into the state would allow for infrastructure projects that would create quality jobs for those unemployed New Mexicans who have shouldered so much of the burden during these unstable economic times.
Our political leaders must hear from us on this important issue. They need to know that giving up the corporate jet just isn’t enough.
1-888-717-0911 connects to the New Mexico State Capitol Switchboard. Tell your Senator and Representative to support Senator Wirth’s Senate Bill 9.
Tags: Corporate Accountability, Jobs, New Mexico
Gov. Richardson gave companies tax breaks ***in return for their hiring the local workforce.*** The idea, which worked until about mid 2009 or after, was that if the unemployment rate was low, soeicl services expenses would be minimized.
So the problem is whether the companies are hiring the local workforce. If the companies are outsourcing the jobs or making national or international searches in hiring, then they are not obeying the principle of the tax break, which was to hire the local workforce.
In that case the companies should have the tax break revoked. The state should crack down on companies that are accepting the tax break and then not hiring local workers.
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Sorry about the typo in this message. It should read “social services.”
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The other problem is NM is that probably 20% of the people in the state are illegal immigrants. The relationship of NM and Mexico is like that of NY and NJ. People in NM have relatives in Mexico. People want the border control to keep the drug dealers and organized crime out, but as far as normal working people are concerned, they want the same ease of seeing their relatives as people in NJ have to see their relatives in NY.
Giving drivers licenses to everyone regardless of status helps law enforcement separate the drug rings from the average people who just want to work and raise a family. But as soon as the government cracks down on illegal immigrants, then you have all these masses of poor people who would otherwise be working. So in this case, being overzealous throws a burden on society.
These people are human being and have an equal right to a decent life. If some people age 60 managed to come across the border 40 years ago and now have children and grandchildren who are citizens, are you going to kick them out or let them die with no medical care?
This is why there needs to be some kind of amnesty. Give people who are already here a c chance to be law abiding, working people and stop the overzealousness that is throwing people onto social services roles.
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