Lt. Gov. Diane Denish (Photo by Heath Haussamen)

Lujan calls lieutenant governor’s opposition “unexpected and unfortunate”

After the House narrowly approved a temporary, half-cent hike in the state’s gross receipts tax on Friday, Lt. Gov. Diane Denish said she’ll vote against the “harmful tax” in the event of a tie vote in the Senate.

“During these tough economic times, the last thing New Mexico families need is a tax increase on all of their purchases, and I won’t support it,” Denish said in a news release. “Instead of trying to balance the budget on the backs of New Mexico’s most vulnerable families, legislators need to get serious about reforming state government.”

“If a tie-breaking vote is needed in the Senate, I will swiftly vote against this unfair tax on everyday New Mexicans,” she said.

Denish didn’t provide an alternative to the tax hike in her news release. House Speaker Ben Lujan, the sponsor of the legislation, was quick to complain about her stating opposition after the fact rather than providing alternatives during the House debate.

“The House has worked hard to send to the Senate a budget plan with revenue enhancements to support a responsible fiscal budget that minimizes additional cuts to education, health and essential services,” Lujan said in his own news release. “It is unfortunate that the lieutenant governor opposes the courageous action taken by the House with support from education, health and labor advocates.”

House Speaker Ben Lujan during Friday's debate on the bill. (Photo by Heath Haussamen)

“It would have been helpful during our discourse if she would have shared her ideas on how to keep education whole and provide the necessary resources to match federal dollars for Medicaid,” Lujan said.

The speaker called the opposition from Denish, his party’s candidate for governor, “unexpected and unfortunate.”

“None of us take pleasure in imposing additional taxes, but the reality is that there are glaring needs we must address, and the majority felt this was unfortunately one of the few choices we had without imposing additional cuts,” Lujan said. “As to (Denish’s) vote in the event of a tie, her comment is not only premature, but totally unnecessary.”

The contentious tax proposal passed the House on a vote of 34-32 on Friday, but only after a lot of drama that included two Democratic members who were excused from the debate briefly appearing after a call of the House was issued and then vanishing again – only to return yet again after the final vote was taken.

In addition, two Republican members missed deliberations on the bill. Had they been present and voted against the bill, it would have died on a tie vote.

Update, 9 p.m.

Denish spokesman James Hallinan released this follow-up statement:

“Lt. Gov. Denish has shared her ideas on how we can reform government to save millions – and she believes cost-cutting reforms must come before considering any tax increases on New Mexico’s middle-class, working families like this gross-receipts tax,” he said.

I assume the ideas Hallinan is referring to are these proposals Denish made to cut some fat out of government. I asked in an e-mail to Hallinan what else Denish is proposing to balance the budget, since the ideas she’s laid out don’t appear to go far enough. I’ll let you know if I get an answer.

Update, 9:40 p.m.

Here’s Hallinan’s response:

“The lieutenant governor has been clear from day one that before any tax increases are considered, legislators must do everything possible to cut waste and make government more efficient – such as ending double-dipping, cutting political appointees, downsizing the state’s car fleet, sweeping non-reverting cash balances and reforming the capital outlay process. When you consider that many of these cost-saving reform measures haven’t even been debated, it’s simply unfair to ask middle-class New Mexicans to pay more taxes.

“If legislators make every cost-saving reform possible and they determine that revenue increases are still needed, those increases should be targeted – like eliminating corporate loopholes – not across-the-board tax hikes that hurt middle-class New Mexico families. But right now the focus should remain on how government can do more with less and be more cost-efficient.”