HOUSE MEMORIAL 36

56th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2023

INTRODUCED BY

Joseph L. Sanchez and Patricia A. Lundstrom and Harry Garcia and Cynthia Borrego and Micaela Lara Cadena

 

 

 

 

A MEMORIAL

REQUESTING THAT ANY TAXATION TASK FORCE CONVENED IN 2023 BY THE GOVERNOR OR THE LEGISLATURE BE REQUESTED TO RESEARCH AND DEVELOP LEGISLATIVE RECOMMENDATIONS AND ALTERNATIVES THAT CAN PROMOTE MORE EQUITABLE REGIONAL TAX DISTRIBUTIONS FROM LOS ALAMOS NATIONAL LABORATORY OR SIMILAR FEDERAL RESEARCH FACILITIES IN NEW MEXICO.

 

     WHEREAS, New Mexico has been at the forefront of scientific endeavors for eighty years and has achieved recognition as the home of one of the finest multi-program scientific research laboratories in the world; and

     WHEREAS, these research laboratories have made an enormous contribution to the safety and national security of the United States; and

     WHEREAS, New Mexico's national laboratories continue to spur innovation and industrial applications that benefit the nation and private industry; and

     WHEREAS, these federal institutions recruit and employ a significant portion of their workforce from New Mexico's higher education institutions; and

     WHEREAS, in 2022, Los Alamos national laboratory annually purchased more than nine hundred fifteen million dollars ($915,000,000) in goods and services from suppliers in the state; and

     WHEREAS, Los Alamos national laboratory contracts awarded to New Mexico small businesses totaled more than six hundred thirteen million dollars ($613,000,000) in 2022; and

     WHEREAS, Los Alamos national laboratory employs more than fourteen thousand employees, mostly from northern New Mexico; and

     WHEREAS, Los Alamos national laboratory is crucial to New Mexico's economic health, paying more than one billion five hundred million dollars ($1,500,000,000) in salaries, which has a direct impact on the state's economy each year; and

     WHEREAS, Los Alamos national laboratory's operations and construction have resulted in more than one hundred thirty-six million dollars ($136,000,000) in gross receipts tax revenues paid in 2022; and

     WHEREAS, Los Alamos national laboratory was founded in secrecy at a remote location during World War II, and northern New Mexico communities and residents built and have maintained the facilities since its inception and are an indispensable component of the current workforce; and

     WHEREAS, the majority of Los Alamos national laboratory employees live outside of Los Alamos county, with approximately fifty-five percent of laboratory employees residing in the surrounding counties, and the operations of the laboratory impact all of northern New Mexico; and

     WHEREAS, legislation has been enacted to tax Los Alamos national laboratory, regardless of whether the laboratory were to become a nonprofit entity; and

     WHEREAS, the local revenue distribution from the Los Alamos national laboratory gross receipts tax currently paid to the state greatly benefits Los Alamos county and does not benefit the rest of northern New Mexico; and

     WHEREAS, the communities outside Los Alamos county contribute greatly to the success of Los Alamos national laboratory; and

     WHEREAS, the importance of equitable regional tax distribution on communities and workforces outside Los Alamos county must continue to be examined;

     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that any taxation task force convened in 2023 by the governor or the legislature be requested to research and develop legislative recommendations and alternatives that can promote more equitable regional tax distributions from Los Alamos national laboratory or similar federal research facilities in New Mexico; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the legislative finance committee and the revenue stabilization and tax policy committee be requested to study the issue in the event no taxation task force is commissioned in 2023; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be transmitted to the members of the New Mexico congressional delegation, the United States secretary of energy, the director of Los Alamos national laboratory, the director of Sandia national laboratories, the governor and the co-chairs of the New Mexico legislative council.

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