The First Session of the 56th Legislature adjourned late last month. With the 2023 Session being the first fully in-person in several years due to COVID-19 restrictions, NFIB New Mexico had a constant presence and influence notching several significant policy victories in the state capitol on behalf of small businesses across the state.
With over 1,294 bills, resolutions, and memorials introduced during the 60-day legislative session, NFIB New Mexico worked feverishly to push back against legislation to impose new mandates on employers, create unreasonable regulations, and increase the cost of doing business in New Mexico.
YOU DID IT! Anti-Small Business Legislation DEFEATED
- A burdensome, loosely defined, state-run paid family and medical leave that would have been funded through a payroll tax on employers and a wage tax on employees.
- Radical $16.00 minimum wage mandated with future increases indexed to inflation in perpetuity.
- Proposals to increase the personal income tax, which is a direct tax on small businesses—most of which are set-up as pass-thru entities.
- Transportation fuel regulations that would have increased the gas tax.
- New private rights of action targeting small business owners with predatory lawsuits.
- Elimination of attorneys’ fee caps in the Workers’ Compensation system that would have added substantial new system costs and increased workers’ compensation insurance premiums.
Omnibus Tax Package – From bad to better
The House Taxation and Revenue Committee unveiled the omnibus tax package with only a few weeks left in the 2023 Legislative Session. The initial proposal included increases in the personal income tax, a significant reduction in the capital gains deduction, and a sharp increase in liquor taxes.
After much debate and lobbying by NFIB and other business groups, the final omnibus tax package signed into law did not include any increases to the personal income tax, did not include any changes to the capital gains deduction, and did not include any tax increases.
NFIB thanks its members who shared their voice with our elected officials. Your advocacy efforts created an impact. Please continue to lend your voice to your elected officials thanking them for their service, reminding them of our disappointments, and looking forward to 2024.
Your activism and engagement are directly responsible for these advocacy victories, but we know they will be coming back when the legislature reconvenes in 2024. Please help us bring your voice to the Roundhouse by sharing your valuable perspective regarding the real-world impacts of these policies by completing the survey below.
CLICK HERE to make your voice heard.
