ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Republican gubernatorial nominee Gregg Hull wants New Mexicans to keep more of what they earn, and he has outlined a conditional plan to phase out the state’s personal income tax, with a four-year goal.

Hull, a former three-term Rio Rancho mayor, unveiled “Four Steps to Zero” on Oct. 5. The Albuquerque Journal characterized the proposal as the state’s largest tax cut in decades. The plan comes as the state is flush with oil-driven revenue.

Hull said “the people who earn the money deserve to keep more of it,” according to KRQE.

Relief would start with each filer’s first dollars of income. Step One would exempt the first $25,000 of taxable income for single filers and $50,000 for joint filers. Later steps lift those bands to $50,000 and $100,000, then $100,000 and $200,000, before the fourth step removes the remaining tax on eligible personal income. Filers keep a band’s benefit even when they earn above it. Net business profits, rental profits and royalties would stay taxable, as would the corporate income and gross receipts taxes.

By the campaign’s examples, a single filer with $40,000 in taxable income would see state tax drop from $1,471 to $671 at Step One and to zero at Step Two. A joint-filing couple at $200,000 would see $8,989 fall to $7,250 at Step One and to zero at Step Three. The examples are before credits.

The plan would preserve the Working Families Tax Credit, Child Income Tax Credit and Low-Income Comprehensive Tax Rebate, according to the campaign’s white paper. Hull has also said he would not raise other taxes to pay for the cut or draw on the state’s permanent funds.

Hull said the plan could help bring health care professionals back to New Mexico, the Journal reported. He has said he prefers a lasting change to one-time rebate checks, which he said would be spent quickly and deliver minimal relief.

The plan is built to move only when the state can afford it. Each step needs legislative approval and a public finding that services and reserves are protected. Hull has said reserves could not fall below 25% of current spending, Source NM reported. The governor’s office said Aug. 26 that reserves were projected to end fiscal 2026 at 40.4% of recurring appropriations, or $4.4 billion, and that revenue is forecast to hit a record $14.8 billion in fiscal 2028, leaving $924 million in new money.

“We’ve seen the spending growth far exceed personal income growth,” Hull told reporters, according to Source NM. The paper sets a planning target of about 2% annual growth in recurring spending, but says funding for classrooms, health care and public safety comes first. If a step can’t meet the tests, it waits.

The paper acknowledges a state agency has not scored the plan’s full cost. The Journal reported that it could exceed $2 billion a year once fully implemented.

If lawmakers balk, Hull says he would pursue ending the remaining state tax on Social Security benefits and qualifying military retirement pay.

Democratic nominee and former Interior Secretary Deb Haaland has criticized the plan, likening it to a Trump-style approach that helps the wealthy, the Journal reported. She favors expanding existing tax credits, including the child tax credit, and raising the state’s $12 hourly minimum wage.

Early voting began Oct. 6. Election Day is Nov. 3.