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Albuquerque, NM - The clock is ticking with just under 120 hours left for New Mexico Governor Susana Martinez to decide whether to veto a measure aimed at closing a loophole that allows big-box stores to claim their New Mexico profits in states that don't have a corporate income tax. New Mexico is the last Western state that allows out-of-state companies to use this loophole to avoid taxes.
Meanwhile, the New Mexico Green Chamber of Commerce is highlighting a recent poll conducted by Project New America that demonstrates that 70% of New Mexico voters support closing tax loopholes for out-of-state corporations while lowering the corporate income tax for all businesses that pay their fair share of taxes. Senate Bill 9, sponsored by Senator Peter Wirth, does just that and after nearly a decade of legislative attempts, was approved by a bi-partisan vote of the New Mexico State Legislature in the recent legislative session. The bill is now sitting on the Governor's desk for signature.
"In the 5 years that we've been conducting polls in New Mexico, we've seldom seen such widespread public support for a policy initiative as we now see for the closure of these loopholes," said Jill Hanauer of Project New America, the research company that conducted the survey. "The numbers suggest a disconnect between Governor Martinez and the majority of New Mexico voters."
The New Mexico Green Chamber of Commerce continues to receive an outpouring of support from businesses favoring this legislation. A veto by Governor Martinez will hurt small businesses and will be a huge windfall to "big-box" stores who will continue to use the loophole to avoid paying their fair share of taxes.
"Governor Martinez has the chance to close a tax loophole for "big box" stores and use the proceeds to help lower taxes for local businesses that do pay their fair share and create thousands of jobs," said Allan Oliver, CEO of the New Mexico Green Chamber of Commerce. "We urge Governor Martinez to listen to the public and support New Mexico's small businesses."
On Thursday, the group released the following video emphasizing the net impact that SB9 would have in job creation and supporting local businesses in New Mexico over out-of-state big box corporations:
 | | SB9 Video.m4v |
Project New America's survey of 600 likely November 2012, New Mexico voters was conducted by telephone using professional interviewers December 9-13, 2011. The margin of error for the sample as a whole is plus or minus 4.0 percentage points at the 95% level of confidence. | 
