New Mexico taxpayers would get at least a $50 check from the state under a proposal announced this week by Gov. Bill Richardson.

The governor said he would call a special legislative session next month to consider a $100 million package that includes tax rebates and home heating assistance. Richardson said the rebates would aid residents in the state struggling with high prices at the fuel pump.

The spending would tap state coffers overflowing with oil and fuel revenues, the New Mexican reported.

Details of the rebate plan are still being worked out, but Richardson said at a news conference Tuesday, Sept. 20, it would be designed to provide the greatest benefit to low-income families with children.

The current version calls for a low-income family of four to get a rebate of about $175, and a larger family to qualify for a $200 rebate, the Las Cruces News-Sun reported. Every taxpayer would get at least $50.

If approved by legislators during the scheduled Oct. 5-6 special session, Richardson’s plan calls for checks to be mailed out within a few weeks to everyone who filed a state income tax return last year.

In addition to the $75 million rebate plan, $20 million would go toward helping New Mexico’s poor and the elderly pay heating bills. Another $3 million would be earmarked for the state police and school districts to cover high fuel costs, and $1.5 million would go for weatherization projects.

Richardson said he also would ask lawmakers to pass a bill during the special session allowing the state to investigate and punish companies that engage in price gouging.