w/ 8 days left in NM's leg. session, officials are wrestling with the state's alcohol crisis. A pivotal hearing of the house tax committee is about to begin, where a 25¢/drink tax hike brought last/this year is vying against a bill that would remake the tax in fundamental ways. Rep. Cadena's HB 213 passed the House Health committee *without* recommendation, as members expressed concerns it would *reduce* alcohol taxes on cheaper alcohols and fail to raise significant new revenue. But as co-chair of Tax Committee, Cadena may have the upper hand today.

The NM House Health & Human Services committee is discussing a new proposal to alter alcohol tax rates, introduced by Rep. Micaela Cadena. #nmleg sg001-harmony.sliq.net/00293/Harmony/… She and @DerrickLente are chairs of the tax committee, which this bill would have to pass thru. In that role last year they cut a proposed alcohol tax from 5¢ a drink to less than a penny. So it's interesting to see her in the driver's seat today. nmindepth.com/2024/once-skep…

Today the NM House tax committee begins considering an omnibus tax bill. To the surprise of many, the draft includes an alcohol tax increase—but not a meaningful one. Advocates had asked for a flat quarter-per-drink tax; the draft language offers little more than a penny. #nmleg In historical context, inflation continually erodes alcohol taxes' real value & the draft increase would not come close to returning beer and wine to the levels they were taxed in '94. Liquor—hiked the smallest amount—would only make up for ground lost to inflation *since 2021*.

My bird-dogging of bills targeting New Mexico's alcohol crisis continues! Today in the Senate Tax Biz & Transport committee, considering @ASL4Justice4all's SB 259 to raise alcohol taxes to 25¢ per drink.

Webcasting: sg001-harmony.sliq.net/00293/Harmony/…

The bill: nmlegis.gov/Legislation/Le… It's companion legislation to @rjferrary53's HB 230, which last week was debated, then tabled by the house tax committee. Members voiced concern about the tax hike's size (@Christine4nm ), efficacy (@Cynthia4Council), unintended effects (@DerrickLente).

https://twitter.com/TedAlcorn/status/1628025475489464323?s=20

In New Mexico, the senate tax committee is about to debate @jerryfornm's bill SB 220 that would dedicate current alcohol tax revenues more fully to treatment & prevention services. It seems to have broad support. #nmleg

For viewers at home: sg001-harmony.sliq.net/00293/Harmony/… Year-to-year, state alcohol tax revenues are fairly flat at $45-50M (adjusting for inflation, they've fallen). Currently, nearly half goes to the general fund and most of the rest trickles down to counties thru a DWI Grant Program , administered by @NewMexicoDFA.

In New Mexico, an effort to raise alcohol taxes is stalling amid concerns voiced by some state lawmakers that it would hurt poor people.

For @NMInDepth I dug into why a policy tarred as 'regressive' might also do the most good for low income New Mexicans.
nmindepth.com/2023/do-alcoho… Barbs have come from the right but also the left. In a hearing last fall, Dem Rep. Susan Herrera said she refers to 'sin taxes' as ‘poor man’s taxes.’

“Not that I think poor people sin more than rich people — I just think they pay more for their sins.”

https://twitter.com/pgessing/status/1627706280625467392?s=43&t=vH12exI3_8qU36EB29Mk1Q

Yesterday when NM house tax committee debated a bill to raise alcohol taxes to 25¢/drink, alcohol lobbyists urged lawmakers to take up alternate bills that would merely direct existing tax revenues to treatment & prevention. One of them (SB 61) is now being heard in Senate Tax. The bill, sponsored by Sen. Bill Tallman, D-Abq, would divert revenues to a new Domestic Violence Victims Fund that previously went to general fund: nmlegis.gov/Legislation/Le…

Hearing webcast here: sg001-harmony.sliq.net/00293/Harmony/…

Halfway through NM's legislative session, key committees are considering competing bills to alter alcohol taxes. Senate Tax will Tues & possibly Thurs—but first is House Tax & Revenue this AM: nmlegis.gov/Committee/Stan…

Webcasting here for viewers at home: sg001-harmony.sliq.net/00293/Harmony/… The bill considered today, HB 230, is the only proposal that would raise alcohol taxes (to 25¢ per drink). Alternates from @jerryfornm & Sen. Bill Tallman would change where tax revenues are directed but would not affect tax rates, which in NM have stagnated the last 30 years.

The drug killing more people in the US than any other—by a long shot—is alcohol. My latest @nytimes story is about its toll in Oregon, where a small group of people in recovery are fighting a mammoth industry to get policymakers to act. nytimes.com/2022/09/11/hea… The pandemic spurred huge changes in alcohol sales and consumption that scientists are still puzzling out. I gathered quarterly @USTreasury data on federal alcohol tax revenues and show they rose 8% in FY2021 and have remained a step-change above their pre-pandemic trend.

One crucial finding from my @NMInDepth investigation into the neglected toll of alcohol is that elected officials who stress science/health in other realms turn a blind-eye on this one.

Case-in-point: New Mexico @GovMLG.

https://twitter.com/TedAlcorn/status/1551545382802440197?s=20&t=u57d3uXs2lVmIgQh8KL8Fw

Lujan Grisham has been steeped in health all her career. She ran @NMDOH from 2004-7, championed a strong public response to Covid-19, sought appointment as Biden's health secretary. But her staff have ignored the science on alcohol. abqjournal.com/1521446/report…

Big, big, big guns news for a Sunday.

Why I am optimistic and why it matters, a quick 🧵:

https://twitter.com/ChrisMurphyCT/status/1536013602846560256

Political contrasts w/ 2013 Manchin-Toomey effort: That negotiation dragged for months but these moved fast—it's been 19 days since #Uvalde! Delay lets status quo retrench. And Toomey had no credibility on guns to cover for other Rs but Cornyn does—a Nixon-goes-to-Moscow moment?

To distill @mattyglesias' take: gun politics are bad for Democrats, gun policies aren’t effective enough to be worth the sacrifice, so progressives should just cede the issue in favor of other priorities. Why I think he’s wrong (a thread): slowboring.com/p/national-dem… In the wake of this election, he’s not the first left-leaning pundit to throw gun violence under the bus — @ericlevitz beat him to it: nymag.com/intelligencer/…

A series of mass shootings sparks a march on DC to reduce gun violence w/ plans to draw a million people. It’s #MarchforOurLives…but it’s also the Million Mom March on May 14 2000. Today’s advocates should reflect on this history, what it accomplished, & how it fell short. 1/n Backstory: after a mass shooting at a LA Jewish Community Center, a publicist & novice advocate @RealDonnaDees called on moms to march on the capitol on Mother's Day, 2000.