U.S.
Feb. 18—Two news stories last week proved New Mexico has a working class and a ruling class.
The first story was about Santa Fe's minimum wage, which will increase to $14.60 an hour March 1. That's a bump of 4%, or 57 cents an hour.
The second story was shorter, almost a footnote. It mentioned New Mexico state senators and representatives approving a bill with the harmless title of "Legislative Retirement Changes."
A more accurate heading would be: "50% pension increase for sitting legislators."
New Mexico's citizen legislators do not receive a base salary, so you might wonder how they can qualify for pensions.
They make the laws, and they have created a Cadillac pension plan for themselves. Legislators stand to gain even more if Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signs their bill into law.
Pensions for state lawmakers are calculated through a complex formula, but almost all of the money comes from taxpayers.
Legislators receive a daily expense allowance when they are in session or working on interim committees. Those who serve at least 10 years qualify for a pension based on 14% of the expense allowance that's in effect when they retire. The current rate is $231 a day.
That formula is multiplied by 60 for every year a lawmaker served. The pension of a legislator who retired today would be about $1,940 for each year of service, according to a legislative staff analysis.
If Lujan Grisham signs Senate Bill 165, the multiplier jumps to 90. Pensions for new legislative retirees would increase to $2,911 for each year of service.
Lawmakers say the higher rate for their pensions was mistakenly omitted from previous legislation setting the multiplier at 60. They failed to account for New Mexico alternating between 30-day and 60-day legislative sessions, said Rep. Harry Garcia, D-Grants.
"Senate Bill 165 is a technical fix to the bill that was passed in 2022," he said to fellow House members. "The accounting was supposed to be for 60 days and 30 days for a total of 90. But 30 days was dropped, and this bill just makes a correction."
Sen. Bobby Gonzales is a sponsor of the latest bill to increase legislators' pensions. I asked him why no one caught the supposed error after the first bill was introduced in 2022.
"That's a good question," Gonzales told me, but he had no answer.
Is it fair for legislators to receive another increase in retirement pay?
"I would say it is fair. Put yourself in our shoes," said Gonzales, a state lawmaker for 29 years. "We've reached a point where being a legislator doesn't stop. We deserve something for the loss of personal time and also for the sacrifices of our families."