NEW MEXICO (KRQE) – After 60 days, the legislative session is officially over. Many major bills, including the billion-dollar tax bill, are headed to the governor’s desk.
Saturday at noon marked the end of the 2023 Legislative Session, and lawmakers on both sides celebrated the major victories they achieved.
“We lead, and we helped accomplish for New Mexicans, putting politics aside and putting people first. We got an agreement and pushed. [We] got rid of this horrible medical malpractice reimbursement problem,” said Rep. Gail Armstrong (R – Magdalena).
“We passed targeted, smart legislation, including Benny’s Bill to keep guns out of the reach of kids. We passed legislation to crack down on organized retail crime and to protect the safety of shoppers and retail workers,” said Democratic Speak of the House Javier Martinez
The $1.1 billion dollar tax bill that includes rebates of $500 for single tax filers and $1,000 for joint filers is heading to the governor’s desk. It was passed by the Senate in the middle of the night with the House approving it early this morning.
“The tax bill also contained a significant gross receipts tax reduction, and one of the key elements of that of that bill, and that gross receipts deduction is a trigger, so that we are sure that if those if the revenues go down, that gross receipts tax that’s in there, we’ll back off,” said Senate Majority Leader Peter Wirth.
The governor was happy that lawmakers could come together in a show of bipartisanship to pass these major bills. However, Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham said some safety bills that were passed on both floors aren’t as strong as they could have been.
“I introduced and was specifically engaged in 10, and we have about a handful up, and out of 40, it’s 10, and not all of those would really constitute, but I think are strong public safety measures.”
At this time, the governor said she isn’t planning a special session. A total of 252 bills and resolutions have made their way to the governor’s desk this session.
