As state revenue projections continue to bring bad news to lawmakers, several are looking at new ways of generating cash this session, including tax increases and increased penalties for not paying taxes.

While the state traditionally has relied heavily on oil and gas revenues as staple for its coffers, the recent decline in energy prices has forced some officials and advocates to reconsider that reliance.

A coalition of groups says the state could make a serious dent in its budget crunch with a proposal (HB742) to raise the cigarette tax by $1 a pack and a measure (SB648) to reform the state's corporate tax system.

"When the budget is tight, the automatic response is often to cut spending," said Sen. Peter Wirth, D-Santa Fe, sponsor of the corporate tax bill. But, he added, "Cutting funding for programs like education, children's health care, and public safety hurts New Mexico's families in the best of times, but it's very detrimental in tough financial times."

At a press conference Wednesday, representatives from youth, religious, union and health care groups said the cigarette and corporate tax reform bills would raise $100 million in new revenue. At the same time, Wirth said his measure would cut taxes for 7,000 small businesses in the state.

Wirth's bill would eliminate corporate income tax for many corporations and would lower rates for others, according to an outline of the bill. It also would increase taxes for about 1,000 very large companies, including so-called big-box retailers.

The bills, however, haven't made it too far. The cigarette tax bill, sponsored by Rep. Bobby Gonzales, D-Taos, was tabled last week by the House Taxation and Revenue Committee and Wirth's proposal was pending in the Senate Corporations Committee Wednesday night, where it had been scheduled to be heard for several days.

A separate measure (HB649), also sponsored by Gonzales, would raise the excise tax on vehicles to 4 percent from 3 percent of the value of the car. Excise taxes are only charged on new cars. The money would go to public transportation projects, including buses, and the Rail Runner Express commuter trains. It is pending in the House Taxation and Revenue Committee.

Meanwhile, the state's Taxation and Revenue Department has several plans that would put additional money in the state's checkbook.

Under a measure (SB10), sponsored by Sen. Sue Wilson Beffort, R-Sandia Park, people who are delinquent in their taxes and haven't been notified by the Taxation and Revenue Department could be granted amnesty from penalties and interest during a 90-day period in 2010.

The Senate Corporations Committee has approved the measure, which is pending in the Senate Finance Committee, on which Beffort sits.

That committee has seen plenty of discussion this year about how the state can fix its budget crisis.

"Most of us are saying we need to cut our expenses and that we've grown too much and that it was not sustainable. We've been warning everybody that gas and oil was not going to be sustainable," she said.

A separate measure (HB266) would change the minimum civil penalty for not paying taxes from $5 to $35. It would also bump the fee for willfully intending to evade taxes from $25 to $50.

The tax department is working to collect more in delinquent taxes by adding auditors, collectors and tax examiners. It is also stepping up its collection of the weight-distance tax, in part by adding mobile license plate readers on less-used roads.

The department also is considering selling stocks that have gone unclaimed by owners for three years or longer. That move could bring in $7 million.

Contact Kate Nash at 986-3036 or knash@sfnewmexican.com. Read her blog at www.greenchilechatter.com.