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.
The New Mexico House passed a bill Tuesday afternoon that would change the retirement fund for state workers who have been working for five years or less. The bill, which failed to pass the House this weekend, was brought back to life by Rep. Mimi Stewart, D-Albuquerque.
HB 644 would change the minimum age that PERA and ERB members who have been on the job for less than five years can begin drawing retirement funds and reduce the annual cost of living adjustment for PERA workers.
Stewart says the bill is necessary to save the retirement funds from insolvency. Critics of the bill said it’s not necessary and could perhaps even be a breach of contract for state workers who have not been on the job for at least five years.
Uniformed PERA members, such as firefighters and police officers, would be exempt from the legislation.
The Fiscal Impact Report explains the bill’s contents as follows:
Specifically, new eligibility requirements would apply to non-vested employees under the
following plans:
- State General Plan 3: minimum age of 55 with age and service equal to 80;
- Municipal General Plans 1-4: minimum age of 55 with age and service equal to 80; and
- Educational Retirement Act:
- - Tier 1b – non-vested members that entered ERB prior to June 30, 2010: minimum
age of 55, Rule of 75; and- - Tier 2 members – non-vested members who entered ERB after June 30, 2010:
minimum age of 55 with age and service equal to 80.The following PERA non-vested members are exempted from the new age 55 requirement:
- All uniform employees (public safety);
- Peace officers under State General Plan 3;
- Legislative members; and
- Judicial and magistrate plan members.
The bill faced some stiff opposition.
Rep. Sheryl Williams Stapleton, D-Albuquerque, called it a “bait-and-switch” on workers who had been in the job for less than five years and said she believed it was a “breach of contract.”
“I don’ think it’s fair that we change the rules in the middle of the game,” Rep. Debbie Rodella, D-Espanola, said.
Stewart’s bill obviously had some support as well.
Rep. Dennis Kintigh, R-Roswell, said that the legislation “one of those hard bills” that they “get the big bucks for” voting on. The legislature is a citizen legislature that only receives a per diem for their service during the legislative session.
Calls for the bill only to affect those who are hired after July 1 of this year, instead of all those who have less than five years of service, were made by Majority Leader Ken Martinez, D-Grants, and Rep. Al Park, D-Albuquerque.
Stewart said it would not do anything to save the PERA fund from insolvency.
The motion to reconsider the bill, and bring it back after being voted down by the House on a 38-28 vote previously, passed the House on a 39-29 vote.
The bill survived two close votes that would have sent the bill back to committees. A motion to send the bill to the House Labor and Human Resources Committee narrowly failed on a 35-34 vote. More than an hour later, a motion to send the bill to the House Judiciary Committee failed on a 34-34 vote.
The bill now heads to the Senate.
