BURRITO PROJECT FINDS NEW HOME IN GALLUP COMMUNITY, B1
a Gallup Sun VOL 11 | ISSUE 510
www.gallupsun.com
January 3, 2025
New Year, New Legislation? STATE LAWMAKERS AIM TO PASS ALCOHOL TAX
By Steven Hughes Sun Correspondent
G
allup and McKinley County have a well-known alcohol problem. The Sun reports weekly on DWIs, with some offenders having seven, eight, or even nine offenses. According to data from the New Mex ico Department of Health, more than 2,000 people died from alcohol-related causes in New Mexico in 2022. It was the third year in a row that the state has exceeded 2,000 deaths. The Gallup Alcohol Policy Alliance has debated the alcohol problem and strategized ways to confront it since 2016. They held a public meeting Dec. 18 to discuss the issue and brainstorm solutions to the problem. The meeting was held in the city council chambers. “Every year, we get more feedback to hear what things are missing, how things need to be adjusted and to make sure that these have the intended consequences we hope to have,” Jennie Wei, an addiction medicine physician and member of the McKinley County Alcohol Task Force, said during the meeting. ONGOING CHALLENGES This year, local officials and behavioral health experts discussed the idea of a two-in-one tax on alcohol distribution and consumption that can push alcohol harm recovery-related efforts statewide. Senators and representatives have been fighting for alcohol-related taxes for years, facing a few challenges. Rep. Joanne Ferrary, D-N.M., noted that there have been 140 attempts to regulate the state’s liquor excise tax. The Sun last reported that Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham vetoed a 20% alcohol excise tax increase in April 2023. Ferrary said she was glad Lujan Grisham vetoed the tax increase because “there was a mistake in the translation of the amount” of
tax revenue allocated for the work in the harm-reduction strategy. “People would say, ‘Well, we raised it, but it was so minimal that it wasn’t worthwhile,’” Ferrary said. The attempt during the 2024 legislative session also faced a roadblock as it didn’t get through the house’s Taxation and Revenue Committee. Nevertheless, Sens. Antoinette Sedillo Lopez, D-N.M., Shannon Pinto, D-N.M., and Ferrary presented the next hope in the upcoming legislative session. After hearing a quick legislative history of alcohol reduction-related taxes, Ferrary debuted a “hybrid” tax. The tax is a combination of a sales and excise tax. Pinto said that one of the tax’s aims is to generate $200 to $250 million in annual revenue, noting that the revenue goal came from needing to get an initial hold on how much the state is spending on alcohol harms-related incidents, such as healthcare costs. Pinto added that the revenue can maintain current alcohol reduction-related programs and create the Alcohol Harms Alleviation Fund. Tribes, nations, and pueblos will get 25% of that fund. The legislators shared a presentation that outlined this tax. During the presentation, they said that the revenue would fund harm reduction programs to respond to price increases. They also showed the plan for the tax structure, detailing the tax will adjust the alcohol excise tax to account for infl ation since 1994 and introduce a 12% sales tax “across all beverage types.” Ferrary explained that the proposed sales tax would be the fi rst in New Mexico, stemming from conversations with the Revenue Stabilization and Tax Policy Committee. Pinto later added that creating advocacy and assistance is a costly venture. Wei continued Pinto’s point by noting alcohol harms many communities. Wei outlined examples of how the revenue from the tax could be used, such
as treatment reimbursement for uninsured individuals and prevention and treatment efforts for seniors, children, teens, and in domestic violence cases. “Just getting this bill through is a battle,” Pinto said. “Convincing the state that this is something positive is an uphill battle.”
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