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.
In the town of Silver City, there are four city employees who might be considered ‘double dippers,’ including the city police chief, Mayor James Marshall told The Independent Thursday. ”These people put in their service and get paid…
By a vote of 65 to three Thursday morning, the House overwhelmingly passed legislation that would prevent the vast majority of government retirees after that date from earning both a pension and government paycheck, commonly referred to as “double dipping.”
The vast majority of government retirees couldn’t “double dip” after July 1 under a bill the Senate passed Monday. Most retirees after July 1 would have to sit out 12 months following retirement before returning to government work and then give up their pensions for as long as they work. Those exempted from the new rules include elected officials, temporary legislative employees and the more than 1,400 people who currently double dip.
At a time when double dipping has invited extra scrutiny in New Mexico, a new state law bans disclosing to the public the pension amounts for tens of thousands of public-sector retirees.
The ban 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.
This week Gov. Bill Richardson announced plans to end a policy that allows state workers to retire, then return to work and collect both a salary and a pension. But some critics point out that Richardson’s proposal targets future “double dipping,” not current practices. Retirees who work in political jobs can take home over $150,000; one administrative assistant makes $89,000.
A state law passed this year required public employees, including state workers and public school teachers, to contribute 1.5 percent more into a state retirement fund, while reducing the state’s contribution. It exempted workers making under $20,000 a year from having to give more to the Public Employees Retirement Association (PERA), but the state budget used an obscure provision to narrow the group of state workers exempted. Now one of them is suing.
Gov. Bill Richardson signed a bill today that will require additional disclosure from investment firms seeking to do business with the state.
A bill that would require additional disclosure from investment firms seeking to do business with the state passed the Legislature and is awaiting action from the governor.
