1. THE JOB-KILLING DEMOCRATS PUSH TO RAISE MINIMUM WAGE – and hurt our recovering economy.
Yesterday, the House Commerce and Economic Development Committee voted along party lines to advance House Bill 31. From several media reports, the committee hearing room was so packed that many had to sit in an overflow room as they awaited their chance to comment.
And there is not just one, but actually three bills – all sponsored solely by Democrats – to raise the minimum wage in New Mexico.
From The Santa Fe New Mexican:
House Bill 31 (ADVANCES TO FULL HOUSE FOR CONSIDERATION)
Sponsors: Rep. Miguel Garcia, D-Albuquerque, and Rep. Joanne Ferrary, D-Las Cruces
What the bill does: HB 31 calls for the statewide minimum wage to increase to $10 an hour in July and rise annually until it reaches to $12 an hour in 2021. At that point, the minimum wage would be adjusted yearly based on the cost of living. The bill also would eliminate the lower minimum wage for tipped employees.
House Bill 46
Sponsor: Rep. Patricia Roybal Caballero, D-Albuquerque
What the bill does: HB 46 would raise the statewide minimum wage to $15 an hour in 2020. The bill would adjust the minimum wage annually based on the cost of living. The bill also would eliminate the lower minimum wage for tipped workers.
Senate Bill 437
Sponsor: Sen. Clemente Sanchez, D-Grants
What the bill does: SB 437 would raise the statewide minimum wage to $9.25 an hour in October and then $10 an hour in April 2020. The bill would allow employers to pay a lower minimum wage of $8.25 to high school students. The bill would keep in place the lower minimum wage for tipped employees.
The major issue in the debate is the radical Democrat proposal to eliminate the lower minimum wage for tipped workers. This especially hurts the restaurant industry. Under current law, restaurants can pay employees a base minimum wage of $2.13 per hour as long as employees make at least $7.50 per hour when their tips are factored in.
Even restaurant employees know this will hurt their jobs. Jay Hayden, a server at Geronimo in Santa Fe, told KOB Eyewitness News that he's worried the minimum wage increase will hurt his employer. ""It puts a big financial imposition on the restaurant owners. It's a tough business. The margins are slim for them already. And you want to bump up the front of the house payroll by 5 times. That seems very substantial," he said.
2. PRO-ABORTION BILL HB51 PASSES HOUSE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE
Also yesterday, the Democrat majority in the House pushed House Bill 51, which decriminalizes ALL abortion in New Mexico, through the House Judiciary Committee and onto the full House floor for consideration.
Democrats, knowing that this unpopular bill would spark heavy public comment, refused to find a larger space in order to accommodate the hundreds of people who showed up to speak in opposition to this bill. Democrats even limited each side's time to just one hour in an effort to silence members of the pro-life community.
3. RADICAL REPRESENTATIVE ANDREA ROMERO ATTEMPTS TO LIMIT FREE SPEECH
And finally, state Representative Andrea Romero, who was previously known as the one who extravagantly – and illegally – spent your taxpayer dollars on booze and Major League Baseball tickets, was forced yesterday to pull back her proposal to limit freedom of the press. This clearly unconstitutional bill would have imposed fines on private companies – particularly news outlets – if they did not remove "damaging" or "excessive" information about people from their websites.
Romero likely was inspired by the European Union's absurd "Right to be Forgotten" laws, which have even been used to protect murderers.
Incidentally, the Albuquerque Journal reports that Romero is under investigation from the state Attorney General's office for her misdeeds; the AG's office is "deeply concerned about any misuse of public funds by officials."
