The Latest: New Mexico House launches debate on tax plan

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — The Latest on efforts to resolve New Mexico's state budget crisis (all times local): 6:50 p.m. The New Mexico House of Representatives is debating a Democrat-sponsored bill that would increase state revenues by $250 million to fill a budget shortfall for the coming fiscal year and shore up state reserves. Debate began on the House floor Wednesday on the plan to bridge a budget shortfall without new cuts to state general fund spending. It would raise more money from taxes and fees on online retail sales, hospitals, car buyers and trucking business. An initial provision to tax sales by nonprofit groups has been eliminated. The Democrat-led House is considering a $6.1 billion spending bill for the fiscal year that stars in July that would hold spending levels steady. The Legislature is wrestling with stunted state revenues linked to a downturn in the oil sector and a sluggish economy. GOP Gov. Susana Martinez says the budget bills as drafted are disconnected from New Mexico's values, and Republican lawmakers are pushing for major changes to the revenue bill. ___ 5:00 p.m. Republican lawmakers in the New Mexico House of Representative are admonishing their colleagues in the Democratic majority for proposed tax increases designed to close a budget shortfall. Republican lawmakers including House Minority Leader Nate Gentry presented alternatives Wednesday that they say can avert spending cuts without outright tax increases. The GOP plan would combine Democrat-backed proposals to collect taxes on online sales by out-of-state retailers with other cost-saving measures such as construction-projects delays, temporarily reductions in tax credit payments to New Mexico's film industry and reduced subsidies to a state health insurance pool for the severely ill. Both parties want to raise money by recalibrating taxes on hospitals and other health care providers. Lawmakers are preparing for a House-floor debate on the budget for the fiscal year starting in July.