Bipartisan bill expands heath care tax credits in rural areas
On March 6, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed into law our omnibus tax package, House Bill 252. Included in this legislation was the language of House Bill 163 of which I and Rep. Jenifer Jones, my Republican colleague from Deming, were chief sponsors.
HB 163 added six new professions to our Rural Health Care Practitioner Tax Credit Act.
The six additional professions to the tax credit act are: 1) pharmacists, 2) registered nurses, 3) social workers, 4) physical therapists, 5) licensed midwives, and 6) behavioral health counselors and therapists. These professions are most noteworthy and well deserving of the $3,000 credit for working in a rural area.
During the most arduous period of the COVID epidemic our registered nurses were the only persons in our ICUs holding the hand of a perishing COVID patient whose family members were not allowed in.
In many of our rural communities, the “drug store” is a pillar of the community. When that mom-and-pop or independent drug store closes, we lose an institution.
In the 1960s, as a teenager in the small rural town of Tucumcari, the drug store was the only game in town for a vanilla Coke, a cherry Sprite, or a salty sour lime drink.
The drug store was the only place in town with national magazines that the pharmacist let us poor Chicano kids read without making a fuss about having to buy the item before you can read it. Sports Illustrated, Car and Driver, Hot Rod, and Rolling Stone were our favorites except for the untouchable and behind-the-counter item, Playboy magazine.
The 2024 legislative session was my ninth year of carrying this bipartisan legislation. Last year was the first time that the measure made it into the tax package. Sadly it was line-item-vetoed by the governor.
In these past nine years, strong-willed and rural community Republican champions have been chief sponsors. Former state Rep. Rebecca Dow from T or C championed the legislation, as did current state Rep. Gail Armstrong from Magdalena. This session, Rep. Jenifer Jones was a chief sponsor. She is a retired registered nurse.
In 2007, the Rural Health Care Practitioner Tax Credit Act was established. It is a two-tiered credit, $5,000 and $3,000. The $5,000 credit is mainly the doctor class. The primary focus of the original bill, as it is now, is to retain practitioners in rural sites. It is also a recruitment tool for bringing practitioners to rural areas and to help reduce shortages.
The addition of the six professions will help bridge the great divide between urban and rural when it comes to equity of health practitioners. The latest report by the New Mexico Healthcare Workforce Committee highlights this divide and the need to enhance our rural practitioner infrastructure.
The committee reports that of the 16,400 registered nurses, only 21% practice in rural areas. Of the 1,890 pharmacists, only 24% practice in rural New Mexico. Of the 8,435 behavioral health counselors and therapists, only 25% practice in rural areas. Keep in mind that New Mexico is 62 to 65% rural.
I am hopeful that we will keep targeting rural New Mexico in future omnibus tax packages. Our rural neighbors merit the same quality of life and quantity of resources that our neighbors in urban areas take for granted.