HOUSE MEMORIAL 96

53rd legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - second session, 2018

INTRODUCED BY

Christine Trujillo

A MEMORIAL

REQUESTING THE NEW MEXICO LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL TO CHARGE THE LEGISLATIVE FINANCE COMMITTEE WITH CONDUCTING A STUDY OF THE POTENTIAL BENEFITS AND NEGATIVE IMPACTS OF A GROSS RECEIPTS TAX ON SOME OR ALL FOOD.

     WHEREAS, according to the department of health, the overall diagnosed diabetes rate during the years 2014 to 2016 was ten and seven-tenths percent of the New Mexico population; and

     WHEREAS, according to the department of health, between the years 2014 and 2016, the percentage of diabetes among American Indians in New Mexico was nineteen and seven-tenths percent, while the average among Hispanics in New Mexico was thirteen and six-tenths percent; and

     WHEREAS, according to the fourteenth annual report by the trust for America's health entitled "State of Obesity: Better Policies for a Healthier America", New Mexico now has the thirty-second highest adult obesity rate in the United States; and

     WHEREAS, New Mexico's adult obesity rate is currently twenty-eight and four-tenths percent, which indicates a precipitous rise in obesity rates from the seventeen and four-tenths percent rate in the year 2000 and the eight and one-tenth percent rate in the year 1990; and 

     WHEREAS, the state of obesity report indicates that nearly one in four children aged ten to seventeen years in New Mexico, or twenty-four and nine-tenths percent, are obese; and

     WHEREAS, the proceeds of a gross receipts tax on some or all food items could be used to offset the costs of obesity, diabetes and other public health challenges that New Mexico faces;

     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that the New Mexico legislative council be requested to charge the legislative finance committee with conducting a study of the potential benefits and negative impacts of imposing a gross receipts tax on the sale of some or all food items; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the New Mexico legislative council be requested to charge the legislative finance committee with soliciting input and participation from all potentially interested persons; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the legislative finance committee be requested to investigate the most effective way to impose a gross receipts tax on food items if a tax is deemed more beneficial than detrimental to the public interest; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the legislative finance committee be requested to charge its staff with reporting its findings and recommendations by October 1, 2018 to the governor, the legislative finance committee, the legislative health and human services committee and the department of health; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be transmitted to the governor, the director and the chair and vice chair of the legislative finance committee, the chair and vice chair of the legislative health and human services committee and the secretary of health.

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