Dear Editor,
Early voting starts tomorrow. One of the Constitutional changes being proposed on this year's ballot is whether or not to pay Legislators. I am urging everyone to vote NO on this change.
One of the arguments is that if they get paid, it will allow more "normal" people to run for the positions, because they won't have to leave their regular jobs. I know that a potential candidate for our rural District 39 seat was told by the person running the Speaker's fund that it would take $300K to run for the seat this year. What "normal" New Mexican do you know who has that kind of money? Yes, they can get contributions to run, but if you don't take "big money," that is darn near impossible.
Also, getting paid more than an average New Mexican makes in a year for 1 or 2 months of full time work seems a little extreme. At present, they will receive an estimated $68,00.00/year. What "normal" job receives $34,000/month? And yes, they have to do committee work in between, but they will also be paid per diem ($247/day) and mileage ($.72/mile) for that, on top of the base salary.
Maybe, to some, that doesn't seem like a lot. But when you multiply that by 112 Legislators, it adds up fast! Not only that, but in addition to their salaries they're are also going to receive per diem at a current rate of $247 for every day they are at the Legislative Session. The Roundhpuse IS their place of enjoyment, so now they are being paid twice to go to their office. Payment for travel to committee meetings makes sense, but payment to their place of business does not. At the current rate, during a 60 day session, they will be paid what amounts to over $1000/day, while in a 30 day session, it's over $2000/ day.
Base pay is 112 (Legislators) × $68,000 (each per year)= $7,616,000.00
Then, add to that, per session:
30 Day Per Diem:
112 (Legislators) × $247 (per day) x 30 (days) = $829, 920
60 Day Per Diem:
112 (Legislators) x $247 (per day) x 60. (Days) = $ 1,659, 840
Then, there are all the Committee meetings. There are approximately 49 Committees, 25 regular committees and 24 interim. There's a rough average of 10 members per committee.
If they meet once per quarter (some meet much more often), that's 196 meetings of per diem, at 10 members each, $247/day, plus mileage, and it's at least 2 days for each meeting.
10 × $247 × 196 × 2 =
$968, 240
So the total for a 60 Day session year, with committees is:
$9, 275, 840.00 (not including mileage)
For a 30 Day season year with committees, it's:
$8, 445, 920. 00 (not including mileage)
Per Legislator that comes out to:
60 Day year- $ 82, 820
30 Day year- $75, 410
Plus, they receive $ .72/ mile milage to travel to all these meetings, which is a little harder to calculate here.
When they have been there 10 years, they are eligible for a FULL State pension for life. They also receive many perks from lobbyists throught the year.
That's a pretty good deal for a less than full time job.
I think I see this differently because I served my community for 12 years with absolutely ZERO compensation. Silver City is one of I believe two or three municipalities that doesn't pay their Mayor and Council. Not even a stipend, like the tiny municipalities offer. Being a Town Councilor is a 52 week/ year job. The work doesn't stop for municipal (or county ) officials. It's not 2 months a year and you're done, with the every single day party of the year. And after 10 or more years of service, there's no pension offered.
I served because I cared, not because I needed a paycheck. I watched my fellow councilors and mayors from other communities serve while holding down other full time jobs, and sometimes while owning their own businesses, too. They've all made it work without an extra $77-82K a year. If they can do it, so can the Legislators. Oh, and the Legislators have their own staff. The only Councils who may have that are in the metro areas.
Approximately 74-80% of the state's 106 municipalities have average annual budgets of $9 million or less. That means almost all of us are surviving on less that the Legislators will be.
My concerns are these:
First off all, there need to be term limits. If not, someone could spend 40 years in office, and well, you do THAT math.
There are also no guardrails in place to keep them from increasing their pay exponentially without our say. There are also no actual requirements to be paid, other than being elected. We all know some Legislators are amazing and work really hard and actually answer to and interact with their constituents. Then there are those who are so ineffective that the other elected officials in the communities they represent don't even know them! No specific standards or requirements + an unlimited pool of money= TROUBLE.
And probably my biggest worry is that when they remove the oil and gas money from the equation (because we all know it's a boom or bust industry and some legislators would like to eliminate them completely), then what? When the budget has to be made to stay solvent, will the Legislators cut their own pay, or will they make those cuts in places that hurt those "normal people" who okayed this without thinking about the math?
I don't know if these opinions will reach enough people to make a difference, but I hope it makes a few people think twice before voting. This isn't going to open up opportunities for new people, it's just going to help those already there become even more entrenched.
Guadalupe Cano
Silver City, NM
