By Jesse Jones, The Paper. — New Mexicans watching their wallets as gas prices go on a roller coaster ride this summer could get a big break if three House Republican leaders get their way — but don’t count on it.
New Mexico House GOP leaders, including Minority Floor Leader Gail Armstrong, R-Magdalena; Minority Whip Alan Martinez, R-Rio Rancho; and Caucus Chair Rebecca Dow, R-Elephant Butte, asked Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham in a July 7 letter to call a special legislative session to repeal the state’s personal income tax. They said her proposed $250 one-time tax rebate falls short and argued the state’s oil-driven budget surplus provides an opportunity to provide permanent tax relief by eliminating the tax. “New Mexicans do not need another temporary rebate. They need lasting relief,” Armstrong said in a press release.
Republicans said repealing the state’s personal income tax would keep more than $2 billion a year in New Mexicans’ pockets, boosting spending and investment. The letter said the state would still collect more than $12 billion in recurring revenue to fund public education, law enforcement, Medicaid and other ongoing services. Lawmakers would offset the lost tax revenue by cutting one-time spending, which leadership said “would simply require the Legislature to lessen its appetite for nonrecurring spending” to protect the state’s finances. The GOP leaders added that states operating without a personal income tax enjoy rapid population growth and greater economic opportunities than those that keep it in place.
The Democratic Party of New Mexico pushed back, calling the proposal a “handout for the wealthy” that would shift the tax burden to lower- and middle-income residents. residents. DPNM Communications Director Daniel Garcia said the request was an “opportunistic publicity stunt” by an “unserious and ineffective legislative caucus.” He said the plan would widen economic inequality and hurt working families, while pointing to Democratic-backed tax credits and deductions as efforts to reduce costs for residents. “Time and time again legislative Republicans refuse to support Democratic proposals to ease the tax burden of working families because they’d rather play partisan politics than actually help people,” Garcia said.
A special session on eliminating the personal income tax appears unlikely. Michael Coleman, the governor’s communications director, told Source New Mexico that eliminating the tax would have “recurring and significant budget implications that demand comprehensive analysis and rigorous debate.” If approved, the change would make New Mexico the 10th state without a personal income tax, but similar efforts have struggled in the past. A 2025 bill by Rep. Elaine Sena Cortez, R-Hobbs, to eliminate the tax died in committee.
With Lujan Grisham entering the final months of her term, lawmakers first chance to take this up will likely be during the regular legislative session in January with a new governor.
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