Tax Bill Heads to Senate. Salary Cutting Bill in Senate Finance Today!

Bill to Increase Retirement Withholding In Senate Finance Committee Today House Bill 854 received a unanimous do-pass recommendation from the Senate Public Affairs Committee yesterday.  The Budget train appears on a track for final passage soon.  This measure is scheduled to be heard in the Senate Finance Committee today.  The likelihood of derailing this train in this regular session of the legislature is dim.  But contact committee members with your opposition anyway!.   Legislators feel the budget deficit is simply too severe to change course.  However, continue to ask senators to kill this measure.  Continue calling all to ask all Senators to raise revenues, not cut teacher and other school employee pay!  This is still some chance to ask the Governor to veto this measure or to change in the almost certain special budget session the legislature that will occur when new revenue projections are made and when the full effect of the federal stimulus package are known; this session could happen next month or perhaps as late as July.     House Bill 854, sponsored by Representative Saavedra, is a part of the budget package and will cut school employees' and state employees' pay by 1.5% for two years. House Bill 854 increases the employee contribution to the pension fund 1.5% and reduces what the state is paying into the pension fund 1.5%. The measure would take hundreds of dollars out of the average school employee's pocket. House Bill 854, well intentioned thought it might be, targets a select group of employees for a pay cut.   In the Senate House Bill 854 received two committee referrals. Its next stop is the Senate Finance Committee.  Call   Committee Members with this simple message:   Choose a new revenue source to use to balance the budget.  Don't single out public employees with a 1.5% pay cut to balance the budget. Do not pass House Bill 854. In addition to being, on its face, a highly unfair targeted tax increase, the plan to dock workers 1.5% is a direct hit to the New Mexico economy.  It targets  It targets New Mexico families and only New Mexico families.  Further, the vast majority of the affected workers make between $15,000 and $70,000/year.  These are working class and middle class families who spend the money they take in, helping to keep the New Mexico economy moving.     Follow this Link to Send a message opposing HB 854 to Senators and the Governor     Tax Bill for Sufficient Funding Moves to Senate  House Bill 346, which provides the funding for the formula set out in HB 331, passed the House on Friday. This measure raises gross receipts taxes by .75% to fund public schools. ( Senate Bill 412 ,introduced by Senator Cynthia Nava, does the same thing.) One of these bills or a bill raising similar revenue must pass in order for House Bill 331 to become effective.  This bill now moves to the Senate where its first hearing will likely be in the HB 346 passed on a near party line vote.  Please thank those Representatives who voted yes! Follow this link to find your House memberand  office phone number           REPUBLICANS VOTING NO         Thomas Anderson (Albuquerque)         Janice Arnold-Jones (Albuquerque)         Paul Bandy (Aztec)         Richard Berry (Albuquerque)         Donald Bratton (Hobbs)         Zachary Cook (Ruidoso)         Anna Crook (Clovis)         Nora Espinoza (Roswell)         Candy Spence Ezzell (Roswell)         Keith Gardner (Roswell)         William Gray (Artesia)         Jimmie Hall (Albuquerque)         Dianne Miller Hamilton (Silver City)         Dennis Kintigh (Roswell)         Larry Larranaga (Albuquerque)         Kathy McCoy (Cedar Crest)         Jane Powdrell-Culbert (Corrales)         Bill Rehm (Albuquerque)         Dennis Roch (Tucumcari)         James Strickler (Farmington)         Thomas Taylor (Farmington)         Don Tripp (Socorro)         Shirley Tyler (Lovington)         Gloria Vaughn (Alamogordo)         Jeannette Wallace (Los Alamos)         DEMOCRATS VOTING YES         Eliseo Lee Alcon (Milan)         Elias Barela (Belen)         Andrew Barreras (Tomé)         Gail Chasey (Albuquerque)         Eleanor Chavez (Albuquerque)         Ernest Chavez (Albuquerque)         Nathan Cote (Las Cruces)         Brian Egolf (Santa Fe)         Mary Helen Garcia (Las Cruces)         Miguel Garcia (Albuquerque)         Thomas Garcia (Ocate)         Karen Giannini (Albuquerque)         Roberto "Bobby" Gonzales (Taos)         Joni Marie Gutierrez (Mesilla)         Sandra Jeff (Crownpoint)         Antonio Lujan (Las Cruces)         Ben Lujan (Santa Fe)         Patricia Lundstrom (Gallup)         James Roger Madalena (Jemez Pueblo)         Antonio "Moe" Maestas (Albuquerque)         Rodolpho "Rudy" Martinez (Bayard)         W. Ken Martinez (Grants)         Rick Miera (Albuquerque)         Bill O'Neill (Albuquerque)         Danice Picraux (Albuquerque)         Benjamin Rodefer (Corrales)         Debbie Rodella (Española)         Henry "Kiki" Saavedra (Albuquerque)         Nick Salazar (Ohkay Owingeh)         Edward Sandoval (Albuquerque)         Sheryl Williams Stapleton (Albuquerque)         Jeff Steinborn (Las Cruces)         Mimi Stewart (Albuquerque)         Jack Thomas (Rio Rancho)         Jim Trujillo (Santa Fe)         Luciano "Lucky" Varela (Santa Fe)         Richard Vigil (Ribera)         DEMOCRATS VOTING NO         Ray Begaye (Shiprock)         Jose Campos (Santa Rosa)         Joseph Cervantes (Las Cruces)         John Heaton (Carlsbad)         Dona Irwin (Deming)         Rhonda King (Stanley)         DEMOCRATS NOT VOTING         Andy Nunez (Hatch)         Al Park (Albuquerque) Representatives Egolf  of Santa Fe, Barela of Valencia County, M.P. Garcia of Albuquerque, M.H. Garcia of Dona Ana County, and Maestas of Albuquerque deserve special thanks for their great debate in support of funding public education!   And, of Course, Representative Mimi Stewart deserves our great thanks for her hard and determined work to create and fund a new funding formula to sufficiently fund public schools!   HB 346 has been referred to the Senate Corporations and Transportation Committee.  Contact members of this committee in support of HB 346.   Using the revenues form House Bill 346 or Senate Bill 412 and the new funding formula laid out in House Bill 331,  there is sufficient revenue to meet the constitutional requirement to fund schools sufficiently.   House Bill 331, sponsored by Representative Mimi Stewartchanges our state's outdated funding formula. The bill would base school funding on student needs including poverty, ELL, enrollment growth and other factors. House Bill 331passed the House Monday on a near party-line vote with most democrats voting for the bill and most republicans voting against.  The measure next goes to the Senate Education Committee for a hearing; if it survives there it will move to the Senate Finance Committee where it died last year without a hearing.  Follow this link to find your Senator and office phone number. Contact all Senators with the message that this important measure at least deserves a hearing in the Senate Finance Committee this year. Any reason to oppose tax increases for public schools should have been removed when a recent poll found New Mexicans willing to pay higher taxes for public schools.  NEA New Mexico and the other members of the New Mexico Education Partners funded a poll released last Friday.  The poll found that the majority of New Mexico's registered voters (59%) support increasing New Mexico's gross receipts tax by three-quarters of one percent for additional public school education.  When told that school funding would be cut without the tax increase, even more voters supported the increase. Registered voters who were opposed or undecided about the tax measure were asked a follow up question in which they were informed that due to the state budget deficit, public school funding will probably be reduced starting this year. They were then asked whether they support or oppose the three-quarter of one percent gross receipts tax increase for public school education. In total, 64% of registered voters either initially support the tax or support the tax measure after being informed that public school funding will probably be reduced this year. Follow this link for the poll results.   Follow this link to send an email message on sufficient funding to your Senator