Implementation of $500 Rebates Uncertain as New Mexico Governor Struggles Whether to Sign Tax Package

New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham stated last Wednesday that she’s currently having difficulties with whether to sign a huge tax package that would provide $500 rebates to the taxpayers of New Mexico.

Gov. Grisham about to head out for political meetings and a healthcare summit. (Photo: Albuquerque Journal)

Implementation of $500 Rebates Unsure?

Michelle Lujan Grisham, a New Mexico governor, revealed last Wednesday that present difficulties make her unable to make a decision on whether to sign a massive tax package that would $500 rebates to the taxpayers of New Mexico. Signing said tax package would also implement a reduction of taxes on goods and services. Governor Grisham explained why she is currently unable to sign the tax package, saying that signing it might lead to spending cuts in the future within the region. This spending heavily depends on natural gas and oil as a source of revenue.

Governor Grisham added that she is also unsure whether the $500 rebates are “sustainable.” While she pushed for the re-evaluation of the $500 rebates tax package, she gave a deadline to the lawmakers to rethink the legislation, which is due in the last week of the 60-day session of this year.

The chairman of the House Taxation and Revenue Committee, Rep. Derrick Lente, stated that he, along with his fellow legislators were involved in developing the tax package that would give way for the $500 rebates for New Mexicans. Lente later implied in an interview that the final decision solely rests on the governor’s shoulders.

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The Final Say is on Grisham Whether to Implement Tax Package

Lawmakers stated that the final word to implement the tax package that would give way for $500 rebates solely rests on Grisham. With Rep. Lente having explained that he did not have any follow-up conversations will Grisham since last March 18, the governor has to sign or veto the tax package by Friday, following her own deadline. If Grisham were to veto the package, she would have to call for a special session involving the lawmakers to come up with another tax package, possibly giving an opportunity for $500 rebates to taxpayers, but under different conditions.

The current tax package Grisham is about to sign is only one out of 53 bills still waiting for her signage. Among the 53 are said to be other tax packages that would tend to people with mental or physical disabilities, these other packages also give way for $500 rebates or less. The governor recently signed 59 bills prior to the remaining 53 in her hands, and with New Mexico currently experiencing an “unprecedented revenue bonanza”, time is surely running out for the governor.

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