Martinez signs tax package; capital outlay still pending

Gov. Susana Martinez signed a tax package on Monday afternoon that she says will create jobs throughout the state.

Martinez, accompanied by those in the business community as well as legislators, signed the legislation in Albuquerque. The state Legislature passed the tax package last week overwhelmingly during a special session. The package failed to pass during the regular session earlier this year.

“We must diversify our economy and grow our private sector, and that requires us to make it easier for those with great ideas to start a new business in New Mexico,” Martinez said in a statement. “We also need to ensure that investments in technology businesses, high-tech start-ups, and new innovations happen right here in our state. With this jobs package, we can better accomplish these goals, while also building upon the substantial gains we have made in our trade economy along the border.”

Democratic state senators said Martinez was furious that the package was filibustered at the end of the regular session. They said she was also angry about the failure to pass capital outlay legislation. The tax package that she signed is similar to the one that failed to pass during the regular session but not identical; a tax cut for trust funds was not included in this version.

“This is a jobs package that every New Mexican can be proud of because it is the direct result of lawmakers from both parties and chambers working together to put our families first,” Speaker of the House Don Tripp, R-Socorro, said in a statement.

“Democrats agreed to this tax package in order to get Republican support for what was really important to New Mexico’s working families; the $287 million capital outlay package,” Democratic Party of New Mexico chairwoman Debra Haaland said in a statement. “These capital projects will create jobs and economic stimulus. We don’t believe the tax package will create new jobs or help the small businesses that are the backbone of the state’s economy. We do believe the tax package favors out-of-state corporations at the expense of New Mexico taxpayers. As Democrats, we will continue to do what’s necessary to move our state forward.”
Martinez said that the package had been negotiated between her office as well as the leaders of both the House and Senate.

The biggest piece of the special session is still pending. The nearly-$300 million capital outlay bill, which funds infrastructure and other projects throughout the state, was passed in the same special session as the tax package and a funding bill that Martinez signed on Friday.

Martinez has line-item veto authority and so the capital outlay legislation that passed is not necessarily the version that will become law.

Related stories:

Legislators pass infrastructure bill, two others in just hours

Session recap: Dem Senators say Martinez ‘furious’ after session

Top ten (plus two) individual capital outlay projects

Why capital outlay can still happen, weeks after deadline

Capital outlay projects dead on arrival

Update:

Added quote from DPNM chair Debra Haaland.