A nearly $1 billion tax package cleared the House Taxation and Revenue Committee on Monday with 1-cent to 2-cent tax per drink increases on beer, wine and liquor instead of much larger rate hikes sought by advocates.
Author: NM In Depth
Advocates for missing and murdered Indigenous people denounce Indian Affairs appointee
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s appointment of a former San Ildefonso Pueblo governor to lead the state’s Indian Affairs Department could be in peril as members of the state’s Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Relatives Task Force, and a Navajo state senator, say they will fight his nomination.
Lawmakers tackle raising the alcohol tax
New Mexicans die of alcohol-related causes at nearly three times the national average and alcohol is involved in more deaths than fentanyl, heroin, and methamphetamines combined.
Proposed office of alcohol prevention steps up ambition, but is short on vision
New Mexico Department of Health asked the legislature for $5 million to build an Office of Alcohol Prevention and would expand the staff to 13.
Some experts say the plan isn’t enough to handle the crisis.
Politics trump health in NM’s response to alcohol crisis
In February 2021, as New Mexico lawmakers considered landmark legislation to loosen restrictions on alcohol sales, the state’s alcohol epidemiologist Annaliese Mayette set out to assess the bill.