Brian Colón Guest Blog: No Tax for the Side Tortilla with My Bowl of Red Chile

This is a guest blog by Brian Colón, Democratic Candidate for Lt. Governor.

There is nothing better than a bowl of red chile with a tortilla at any one of our state’s amazing family-owned restaurants. As New Mexicans we take great pride in our food. It is part of our heritage and the identity of our state. These foods are also staples which feed a population of New Mexicans who are among the poorest in the nation and who are disproportionately of Hispanic and American Indian descent.

Unfortunately the State Senate recently voted to ignore these realities and increase the economic burden on working New Mexicans by raising taxes on such staple foods as tortillas. Like most New Mexicans, I was shocked and outraged by the proposed tax increase on foods such as tortillas, taco shells, salsa, chile powder, dried chile pods, canned soup, potatoes, pasta, spaghetti sauce and Spanish rice which recently passed the State Senate.

Already, New Mexico’s lowest income earners are saddled with the unfair burden of higher taxation. The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy recently concluded that New Mexico’s system of taxation is regressive and unfairly places a higher burden on earners in lower tax brackets, while higher earners pay less of a percentage than our low income New Mexicans. In addition, the report concluded that, even without the inclusion of the proposed tortilla tax, New Mexico already has a “comparatively high reliance on gross receipt taxes.”

To quote Gerry Bradley of New Mexico Voices for Children, “The lower your income, the higher the percentage of it you pay in sales taxes ... because lower-income families generally need to spend all of their income on day-to-day necessities that are taxed, while those in higher brackets can set some of their income aside.” Increasing the burden on the poor is not a solution to our budget impasse.

Just last weekend I drove more than 700 miles and attended events in seven of our state's 33 counties. In these counties I continue to witness the diversity of our people and our economy. A good deal of our state’s economy comes from locally grown, prepared and distributed food such as chile and tortillas. New Mexico is rich with farming history from Pueblo and Acequia traditions to modern methods. I agree that we need to revitalize our farmland and encourage consumption of foods that are closer to home. It is both healthier for the environment, and healthier for New Mexicans' waistlines. Encouraging a healthier diet, with more fruits and vegetables, is laudable. However, it is not a justification for implementing a regressive form of taxation on our lowest-income earners.

Our economy is suffering and our tax base is eroding, but balancing the budget on the backs of the poor and middle class, many of whom depend on government services for day-to-day survival, will aggravate our state’s economic woes. That is why I have proposed that our state end the big-box tax loophole for out-of-state retailers. Our tax code should benefit the local small business owners, not out-of-state mega stores. Only New Mexico and Oklahoma fail to tax big-box stores, and it is time for New Mexico to join the rest of the country in eliminating this loophole.

In addition, I believe that our state must reform our tax code. We should implement a more progressive form of taxation, one that is fair to all hard working New Mexicans. We should also look to eliminate areas in the budget that are wasteful or overly redundant, and no longer serve a purpose. Across the board cuts, especially cuts that will hurt children and the poor, are unconscionable and should not be passed.

As always I am looking forward to my next bowl of red chile in one of our 33 counties, but hope, like many other New Mexicans, that I am not forced to pay a premium for that tortilla on the side. It would be a terrible waste of government to hurt lower- and middle-class New Mexicans, and a terrible waste of food to have to skip the tortilla and not be able to scoop up the rest of the red or green chile in my bowl.

This is a guest blog by Brian Colón, Democratic Candidate for Lt. Governor. If you'd like to submit a piece for consideration as a guest blog, email me by clicking on the Email Me link on the upper left-hand corner of the page.