McCamley tax bill killed in committee

SANTA FE – Legislation by Rep. Bill McCamley, D-Las Cruces, that would have provided a tax credit for low-income families while also repealing the capital gains tax deduction was defeated late last week on a 6-5 party-line vote in the House Ways and Means Committee.

The bill would have increased the state’s Working Families Tax Credit from 10 percent of the federal Earned Income Tax Credit to 20 percent.

“New Mexican families are struggling, many living in poverty and they need us to find real solutions to the problems they face,” McCamley said in a press release. “If we want to be effective with tax policy and reduce poverty, we should replace the capital gains tax give away for millionaires with this tax credit that has proven to lift families and children out of poverty.

“This vote shows that my colleagues across the aisle value money over cops, soldiers, teachers, fire fighters and over 200,000 New Mexicans that are eligible for the Working Families Tax Credit.”

According to the fiscal impact report, both the number of people filing for the tax credit and the value of the credit have been increasing in recent years. It was not clear if the proposed repeal of the capital gains tax deduction would have provided enough revenue to pay for the tax credit expansion, according to the report.

McCamley’s bill to legalize marijuana, HB 75, is stuck in the Rules Committee, with scores of other bills, awaiting a message from the governor to be heard in this 30-day session. The same is true for bills he has sponsored this session to require additional reporting from college economic development programs (HB 76), and amend the brain injury policy for school sports (HB 180).

Two of his other bills are getting a hearing. Legislation to expand hours at the Santa Teresa Port of Entry, HB 77, and provide funding for the Water Resources Research Institute, HB 78, are pending in the House Appropriations Committee.