Derrick Lente

New Mexico has the highest rate of alcohol-related deaths in the nation and the situation has gotten even worse since the pandemic. Despite this, state lawmakers this session failed to pass any substantive measures to curb the crisis. Public health reporter Ted Alcorn has long covered the issue for New Mexico in Depth. He spoke with KUNM about a debate over whether and how to change the way the state taxes alcohol. Democrats filed competing bills this year, neither of which got to the governor.

New Mexico lawmakers will once again not raise taxes on alcohol this year, nor redistribute more of the revenue to treatment and prevention. Neither of two competing bills amending the liquor excise tax made it out of the House Taxation and Revenue Committee Friday.

Homelessness in New Mexico has risen 48 percent according to a 2023 preliminary report by the Legislative Finance Committee. And while Native Americans made up 11% of the state’s population in 2021 they represented 17% of people experiencing homelessness. Democratic Representative Derrick Lente of Sandia Pueblo highlighted these disparities during a recent LFC committee hearing. He said this is an on-going issue on both urban and Native lands.

The 2023 Institute of American Indian Education (IAIE) is hosting a summit to give an update ahead of the five year anniversary of the Yazzie-Martinez v. State of New Mexico ruling.

A tax reform package got the go-ahead from the New Mexico House late Sunday with a few substantial changes. The amended bill increases the amount all taxpayers will get in direct payments and nixes a proposed tax hike for New Mexicans who make the most.

The House Taxation and Revenue committee has been hearing tax proposals for 48 days and, on Monday, it passed a bill that compiles around 20 of them into a comprehensive package. It includes a significant reduction of direct payments called for by the governor in order to make room for other reforms.

The expansion of the federal child tax credit in 2021 made a dent in how many U.S. children are living in poverty, but it ended after just one year. New Mexico, a state with the second highest child poverty rate in the country, quickly passed its own version of the tax relief for people with children last year. While parents won’t see the benefits of the state credit until they file taxes next year, lawmakers are already debating whether to increase it.

A new bill that would give money to the state's growing creative industry is moving forward. Visual artists, dancers, game designers, architects, even ceramic artists would be funded through this bill to provide maker spaces, community resources, and workforce development.

Let's Talk New Mexico 4/16, 8a: School staff around the state are racing to get meals, services and instruction to students stuck at home, but not all…