I am writing today to announce the closure of the New Mexico Independent. After three and a half years of operation in New Mexico, the board of the American Independent News Network, has decided to shift publication of its news…
While environmental activists played their part yesterday during demonstrations at the capitol building, going so far as to dress up as solar panels and to sing the tune of “You Are My Sunshine,” their counterparts, the anti-cap-and-trade contingency who has…
Roughly one quarter of University of New Mexico students are unimpressed with the state’s flagship public school, according to a survey that questioned college students about their higher education experiences.
A bill that would require the Educational Retirement Board to publicly disclose the pension amounts for each of its 30,000 members goes before its first committee Thursday.
At a time when double dipping has invited extra scrutiny in New Mexico, a state law passed last year prohibits disclosure of such information.
The statute in question easily cleared the Legislature in 2009, and includes a petty misdemeanor charge for anyone who knowingly violates rules prohibiting disclosure of the pension amounts.
The sponsor of HB 231, Rep. Jack Thomas, D-Rio Rancho, said Tuesday that his legislation had a message from Gov. Bill Richardson, meaning lawmakers are allowed to hear it. Non-budgetary bills require a message from the governor in a budget session of the New Mexico Legislature.
Thomas said he didn’t expect much opposition from his fellow lawmakers.
“It’s a pretty simple bill,” Thomas said. “It’s about open government. This should move through the Labor Committee quickly and the (House) Education Committee. I don’t see any opposition on the House floor. I see no opposition on the Senate that I know of.”
The ban on ERB’s disclosure of members’ pension amounts comes at a time when state officials are struggling to contain costs and have targeted the practice of double dipping, when a public sector retiree returns to work for the state, collecting both a salary and a pension.
The Independent discovered the new rules in December when it requested pension amounts for retirees.
The increased scrutiny of double dipping, and the public’s interest in retirees’ pension amounts, coincides with cost-saving efforts by state officials as the state faces a large budget shortfall for the year that starts July 1.
Unlike most state workers, retirees who return to work do not contribute to the pension system–but the state continues to pay into the system on their behalf.
