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Santa Fe New Mexican-By Steve Terrell | The New Mexican

Photo by: Luis Sanchez-Saturno/The New MexicanAlthough he's campaigned both for president and governor as a tax-cutting Democrat, Gov. Bill Richardson told reporters Monday that tax increases are "inevitable" during the next legislative session because of the budget crisis. "It's very painful," Richardson said. He said he'll soon be appointing a committee to study the best ways to raise revenue. Richardson declined to say which tax hikes might be approved in the Legislature. "Nobody likes them, but we're going to have to have them," he said. If it's true that tax increases might be seriously considered next year, it would be the first time in at least 15 years that raising taxes has been seriously discussed in New Mexico.

When Richardson took office in 2003, cutting personal income taxes and capital gains taxes were among Richardson's chief priorities. He said these actions would help attract high-paying jobs to the state. And in the eight years prior to Richardson, his predecessor, Gary Johnson, made low taxes and small government his hallmark. In the days leading up to the recent special session, Richardson made it clear he would oppose any move to repeal his tax cuts — as unions, the New Mexico Conference of Catholic Bishops and various other advocacy groups are calling for. During the special session, several liberal Democrats complained that Richardson had "tied our hands" by his proclamation that said lawmakers couldn't consider tax increases. "Where was he during the special session?" was the response of one Democratic lawmaker when told about Richardson's statement that tax increases are inevitable.

Richardson at the news conference acknowledged such criticism. Referring to meetings before the session, Richardson said, "I sat here with legislative leaders, and they all agreed we wouldn't have any tax increases this session. Because if we're gonna have (tax increases), we're going to do it in a methodical, practical, positive way." He said there will be more time to study taxes before the regular 30-day session that begins Jan. 19. Terri Cole, executive director of the Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce, who attended the news conference, thanked the governor for "prohibiting tax increases" during the special session. Richardson will find no lack of sponsors next year for tax increase ideas.

State Rep. Brian Egolf, D-Santa Fe, who during the recent special session introduced measures to raise taxes on alcohol and tobacco as well as the motor vehicle excise tax, said he'll carry similar measures again in 2010. Egolf said he expects public support for the increases, in the face of the state's budget crisis. "These taxes have broad public support as a means to provide the revenue we need to fund our children's education. The taxes on cigarettes will have the added benefit of reducing teen smoking and reducing smoking-related deaths in the future," Egolf said. Increasing the state tax on cigarettes by $1 a pack would generate almost $33 million a year for the general fund, while increasing the cost of alcohol by a dime a drink would bring in about $66 million annually. Raising the motor-vehicle excise tax by 1 percentage point could generate almost $70 million a year.

Heart attack rates drop after smoking bans, continue downward over time

DALLAS, Sept. 21, 2009 — One year after passing smoking bans, communities in North America and Europe had 17 percent fewer heart attacks compared to communities without smoking restrictions, and the number of heart attacks kept decreasing with time, according to a report in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association.

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Help Reduce Teen Smoking

As mentioned below the new law that allows the FDA to regulate tobacco is will go a long way towards informing and protecting Americans from the health threat of tobacco products.

Help us encourage state lawmakers to step up tobacco prevention efforts in NM

There are several ways states can make it tougher for cigarette makers to target youth in their ads and marketing. Click on the link above to learn more and take action today!

Why the FDA Tobacco Law is just the beginning

In June the FDA Tobacco regulation bill was passed by Congress and signed into law by the President. This landmark bill will make it tougher for Big Tobacco to market their deadly product towards children and make false claims regarding “safe” and “reduced risk” cigarettes. It will also force tobacco companies to disclose all of the ingredients in cigarettes including the hundreds of harmful additives.

When the government passed the Federal Cigarette Labeling and Advertising Act numerous years ago, states across the country were prohibited from taking any action against advertising or labeling of tobacco products for health reasons. With the recent passage of the FDA tobacco regulation bill on the national level, states now have rights to take regulatory action for public health in the marketing and advertising of tobacco products.

States now have the ability to impact control over public health aspects of tobacco labeling and advertising including:

• Supplement the new FDA requirement that all retail ads for cigarettes and smokeless tobacco products consist only of black text on white background, applying the same restrictions to cigar and other tobacco products.

• Limit the number or size of tobacco product ads at retail outlets.

• Require that tobacco product or tobacco product ads be kept away from cash registers in order to reduce impulse purchases by smokers trying to quit.

• Restrict or eliminate “power walls” being offered for sale at retail outlets (which will be the only remaining presentation of cigarettes after the FDA

It is important to note that all restrictions of tobacco product ads must still comply with the First Amendment protections for commercial speech.

In addition, by taking action in regards to the marketing and advertising of tobacco products, states still have within their purview to pass comprehensive smoke-free air laws, adequately fund state smoking cessation programs and restrict the sale and distribution of tobacco products.

Richardson open to looking at some tax credits, incentives to close budget gap

Gov. Bill Richardson said today that, while he doesn’t want to scale back 2003 tax cuts or the film incentive program, he may be willing to put an end to some other tax credits and incentives.

“We need to take a look at them, to look to see if some may have outlived their usefulness,” Richardson was quoted by the New Mexico Independent as saying.

Richardson and lawmakers must agree on a way to plug a $433 million shortfall in the current budget. The governor has said he’ll call lawmakers into special session for that purpose in November.

Richardson has said he wants a deal in place before the session begins, and he wants the session to last one day. To that end, he told the Independent that he has named members of his staff to a negotiating team, and he expects lawmakers to do the same.

There will be some resistance to finalizing a fix before the session begins. Some rank-and-file lawmakers have told me they want to make sure they have a chance to represent their constituents in the process, and that the deliberations are open. That’s exactly what the public legislative process is designed to do.

Health Secretary Says New Mexico Must Address Serious Obesity Problem

In response to Trust for America’s Health “F as in Fat” report released earlier this month, Health Secretary Alfredo Vigil, MD, said New Mexico needs to continue to strengthen its obesity-prevention efforts to address a serious problem with obesity.

According to the report:

· Mississippi had the highest obesity rate, 32.5 percent, for the fifth year in a row
· New Mexico ranks as the 36th most obese at 24.6% for adults.
· New Mexico fares worse when it comes to children. 32.7% are either overweight or obese, the 19th highest total in the country.

In the report, “F as in Fat: How Obesity Policies Are Failing in America 2009,” obesity-related costs to Medicare and Medicaid are likely to grow significantly as the Baby Boomer generation ages, because of the large number of people in this population, the high rate of obesity and obesity’s negative health impact. See F as in Fat 2009