Santa Fe, NM - House Bill Four, written by Mags Axelrod from Moriarty High School, has been signed into law by the Governor. The bill, “Ending the Burden on the Bereaved,” looks into removing the fees that are attached to cremation permits in New Mexico. It also discusses increasing the funds going to the office of medical investigators.
The bill states how there is currently a fee of $230 for permits, which grant someone permission to have a deceased person cremated. The funds the fees provide a $2.9 million dollar revenue, that goes towards around 36% of the annual budget of the New Mexico Office Office of the Medical Investigators also known as OMI.
This permit is like a death tax which put additional burden onto the bereaved. Instead of having the
fee, $2.9 million dollars could be budgeted through the state budget. This will go directly to OMI’s budget, which would make up for whatever income was lost from the cremation fee.
State Auditor Kaya Perce says, “it was a very creative bill that would lessen the emotional and financial toll of a death in a family.”
House Bill Four has been signed into Law Monday by Governor Gaby Delgado.
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