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Kate Nash of the Santa Fe New Mexican gives us a story today about another group — this time the American Federation of Teachers New Mexico — calling for a repeal of the 2003 income tax cuts to help the state balance its budget this year.

Kate Nash of the Santa Fe New Mexican gives us a story today about another group — this time the American Federation of Teachers New Mexico — calling for a repeal of the 2003 income tax cuts to help the state balance its budget this year.

The 2003 tax cuts lowered the top state income tax rate from 8.2 percent to 4.9 percent. The state phased in the reductions in over several years.

QUOTE: “We need to take a look at them, to look to see if some may have outlived their usefulness,” Richardson told me then. At the time Richardson didn’t specifically name any tax credits or incentives that he’d be open to closing.

QUOTE: Nash quotes a statement from Christine Trujillo in today’s story in which the AFT-NM president says:

“Personal income tax cuts for the wealthiest New Mexicans, (those with incomes of $295k or more) capital gains tax cuts, and tax loopholes for big out-of-state corporations are costing the state $1 billion a year in education funding. The governor must leave New Mexico with a better legacy and insist the state rid itself of tax breaks which have outgrown their usefulness. Additional tax revenues must be invested in schoolchildren,”

From the Alb. Journal: APS Employees May Face Layoffs Wednesday, September 02, 2009

http://www.abqjournal.com/news/metro/022257107405newsmetro09-02-09.htm

"There's a lot of ways to balance the budget without cutting education," Bernstein said. "They already cut by $30 a student. School districts are dying ... Programs are to the bare bones."

The union has proposed rolling back tax cuts that were approved in 2003, closing corporate loopholes that cost the state $60 million to $80 million and investing $1.8 billion in federal stimulus dollars. 

"The threats are huge," Bernstein said. "The bottom line issue on all of this is they're (legislators) going to work — as they should — to find a stable funding source for education that's not overly reliant on oil and gas."

 

        
Leaders of AFT-New Mexico and the Albuquerque Teachers Federation also called on Richardson and legislative leaders to start the special session on a Saturday so more members of the public can attend. They also want him to open the budget talks between the executive branch and legislators in advance of the session.
       

QUOTE: "Everything's already being decided behind closed doors," said Ellen Bernstein, president of the Albuquerque Teachers Federation. "I'm not hearing the conversations that parents, teachers and the rest of the education community want to hear."

 
FROM The New Mexico Independent: N.M. educators hope to pressure lawmakershttp://newmexicoindependent.com/31009/n-m-educators-hope-to-pressure-lawmakers

Members of the American Federation of Teachers New Mexico said Wednesday the petition drive has garnered roughly 3,000 signatures in Albuquerque alone and now the union will expand the drive to Belen, Grants, Taos and Española.

QUOTE: …Added Jeff Carr, a history teacher in Taos: “We’re just getting started. We’ll get more than 10,000 signatures.”

AFT members offered several options that state lawmakers could consider to pay for the cost savings that would be lost if the increased employee contributions are undone. One possibility mentioned repeatedly was the repeal of state income tax cuts in 2003.That law reduced the state’s top income tax rate from 8.2 percent to 4.9 percent

“There’s plenty of ways to get money that we need,” Carr said.

Monday, July 06, 2009  

        
The political action committee for the American Federation of Teachers New Mexico is circulating petitions to ask lawmakers to repeal the retirement deduction increase. The law (HB 854) went into effect Wednesday, the start of the new state fiscal year. 

 

The petition drive ratchets up the union's fight against the law. AFT New Mexico was among unions representing more than 57,000 state workers and teachers that sued last month over the increased contribution, contending it was unconstitutional.

 

Taking into account the "multiplier effect" — how often money turns over in the economy — higher contributions from workers could cost New Mexico 's economy $420 million, AFT said.

 

QUOTE: Tim Crone, vice president of AFT New Mexico's Committee on Political Education, said many state employees live from paycheck to paycheck, particularly those with salaries between $20,000 and $30,000.

"People as early as next week will realize they're getting a cut in pay," said Crone, a social sciences professor at Northern New Mexico College in Española.

Union local supports petition drive

 

GRANTS - The local school employees' union, Cibola County Federation of United School Employees, has joined the state union in launching a petition drive to reverse recent state legislation requiring state employees and teachers to contribute 1.5 percent more to their pension fund.

 

The law went into effect July 1, the beginning of the state fiscal year.

Mark Clark, vice-chair of the political action committee of CCFUSE, said he considers the increased contribution a “wage tax” because the state will no longer be making its contribution to the fund.

“This will impact all district employees, including Superintendent Kilino Marquez and the economic ripple effects will influence all of Cibola County,” Clark predicted. “The Grants/Cibola County School District is the largest employer in the county, so the reduced spending power of employees will harm businesses and retailers in the whole area.”

Clark asserted that the reduced paychecks will have an economic multiplier effect of five. “The reduced spending power of the employees will amount to $84 million over a two-year period and the state economy will lose $420 million,” he said.