Tomorrow (Friday) the House will vote on a budget and revenue package that has a personal income surtax on the very rich, a good law to collect out-of-state tax revenue that's owed to us, a half cent Gross Receipts Tax, and a last-minute addition that would eliminate a loophole used mostly by high-income itemizers (called Personal Income Tax Add-Back).
While we're not thrilled about the GRT increase, the other three revenue measures are all generally progressive and it's on balance a good compromise package that doesn't cut state, university, and child care workers even further.
The vote is going to be close, and your excellent work in calling and emailing has made a difference. If the package doesn't get 36 out of 70 votes tomorrow, we'll have some targets for you to call. But for now, we need to turn our attention to the Senate Finance Committee and key Senate leaders.
The Senate is a much less worker-friendly chamber than the House, and as of right now the Senate is debating between 2% cuts and layoffs. We have a lot of work to do there, and we're all going to have to make even more calls and send more emails as budget and revenue goes over there.
Here is contact info for the seven Democrats on the Senate Finance Committee (the four Republicans have already said no to revenue) plus the Majority Leader Michael Sanchez. If we get these eight senators to support some revenue measures, they'll be closer to agreeing with the House on no more cuts to public employees.
Call and be very nice to the staff who answer the phones. They're working long hours, and appreciate kindness from our members. Remember, they just work there and are the messengers to the senators, so the nicer you are to them, the more likely they'll report your calls and make favorable comments to senators about our message.
Ask senators to raise revenue and vote against any additional cuts. If you want to add more detail, mention that we've already had $700 million in cuts and have to have a balanced approach that includes revenue.
Majority Leader Michael Sanchez (Belen--Valencia County) 986-4727 senatormssanchez@aol.com
Senate Finance Democrats:
Chair John Arthur Smith (Deming--Luna, Hidalgo & Sierra Counties) 986-4361 john.smith@nmlegis.gov
Vice Chair Carlos Cisneros (Questa--Los Alamos, Rio Arriba, Santa Fe & Taos Counties) 986-4365 carlos.cisneros@nmlegis.gov
Pete Campos (Las Vegas--Guadalupe, Mora, San Miguel, Santa Fe & Torrance Counties) 986-4311 petecampos@newmexico.com
Howie Morales (Silver City--Catron, Grant & Socorro Counties) 986-4863 howiemorales@yahoo.com
Jerry Ortiz y Pino (Albuquerque--Bernalillo County) 986-4380 jortizyp@msn.com
Mary Kay Papen (Las Cruces--Dona Ana County) 986-4270 marykay.papen@nmlegis.gov
Nancy Rodriguez (Santa Fe--Santa Fe County) 986-4264 no email
Gracias a todos--only 2 weeks left. Let's make them count! --Carter
