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| N.M. Federal Lawmakers Host First in Series of Economic Summits |
January 24, 2003 |
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Wilson, Udall, Pearce Taking Serious Look at Job Creation, Economic Stimulus
Albuquerque, NM - Congresswoman Heather Wilson (NM-01) joined her two New Mexican colleagues in the U.S. House to host an Economic Summit in Albuquerque today. Wilson, Congressman Tom Udall (NM-03), and Congressman Steve Pearce (NM-02) heard formal testimony from several New Mexico experts and received public input from audience-members.
“I’m hear to listen to New Mexican’s thoughts on how the federal government can create jobs and strengthen the economic recovery,” said Wilson. “There are competing Republican and Democrat plans and I want to know how they will affect New Mexico’s families. There are parts of the President’s proposal that I find appealing and helpful to large numbers of people in New Mexico. I look forward to hearing what New Mexicans think.”
Specifically, Wilson cited three tax relief ideas that she supports because of their effect on thousands of New Mexico families:
Expanding the 10% tax bracket - affects 319,000 New Mexico families
This proposal would accelerate the expansion of the 10% tax bracket so more lower income taxpayers don’t have to pay into the higher brackets. This provision would immediately place money into people’s pockets by decreasing paycheck withholdings and would effect a large number of New Mexico’s families.
Cutting the Marriage Penalty - affects more than 170,000 New Mexico families
Current tax law will phase-out the Marriage Penalty by 2009. Wilson supports immediately repealing the penalty so that married couples are no longer taxed more than single individuals.
ncreasing the Child Tax Credit - affects more than 137,000 New Mexico families
As part of the Child Tax Credit, most parents can deduct $600 per child per year, which gradually increases to $1,000 by 2010. Wilson supports speeding up the credit to provide the full $1,000 more quickly to parents.
“We need to attract businesses to New Mexico to provide good-paying jobs,” continued Wilson. “In the meantime, I understand how difficult it is for people as we shift towards economic recovery and job creation. That’s why I supported extending unemployment benefits 13 weeks beyond the standard 26 week benefit.”
Today’s Summit was the first of three hosted by New Mexico’s U.S. House Members. Congressman Udall and Congressman Pearce will each chair similar Summits in their own districts in the coming weeks. All three members will participate in each of the Summits. With Joe Skeen’s retirement from Congress, Wilson became the senior member of New Mexico’s U.S. House Delegation and suggested the idea of these joint meetings to her colleagues.
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