Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signs SB 11,  the (Gross Receipts Tax) ‘GRT Bill’ into law Thursday watched by, from left, Sen. Carlos Cisneros, Sen. Richard Martinez, Rep. Christine Chandler and Rep. Andrea Romero. Courtesy photo

HOUSE DISTRICT 43 NEWS

Moments ago, Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham signed SB 11, Gross Receipts for Non-Profit Organizations. Senators Carlos Cisneros and Richard Martinez and Representative Christine Chandler presented and successfully ushered the bill through the Senate and House.

The bill known colloquially as “the GRT bill” removes any primary contractor running a national lab in New Mexico from non-profit (501c3) Gross Receipts Tax (GRT) exemption. The new law would include Sandia and the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). Various communities surrounding LANL, particularly Los Alamos County, receive millions from the GRT tax rate from lab activities. The county’s budget would drop by more than half overnight should the lab’s contractor be deemed non-taxable.

Of the bill, Representative Chandler said, “Ensuring the continued fiduciary support by the Los Alamos National Laboratory of surrounding communities was supported by a bipartisan coalition during the 2018 election cycle. By passing this bill, I fulfill a campaign promise and ensure fair funding for jobs and essential services for our district residents are protected.” She continued, “Los Alamos in particular would be hard hit by a multi-million dollar cut. Across our district, businesses and taxpayers, who do not participate in the LANL ecosystem, would be left unfairly covering costs while the proportionately much larger lab economic activity did not.”

Representative Chandler can be reached during the session in her office Room 203B, by phone at 505-986-4226 or via email christine.chandler@nmlegis.gov and welcomes constituent input. Please join the email list at www.Christine4StateHouse.com to keep up to date on the Representative.