I know it seems like we're asking for lots of calls and emails, but we're in crunch time at the legislative session, and we need calls on everything from the budget to arbitration to child care organizing. Please read all the way down, and try to make as many calls and emails as you're able to.
Y'all have done a terrific job so far, and are saving us from what could have been an absolutely disastrous year. It's still likely to be worse than we'd hoped on the budget front, but we're not done fighting yet, and we've avoided layoffs and more dramatic cuts because of your work. Keep fighting, and if you know legislators personally, try to talk to them about these issues as well. Six days until the end of the session. Mil gracias!
BUDGET/FURLOUGHS/LAYOFFS/PAYCUTS
The Senate Finance Committee didn't listen to our requests to find other sources of revenue instead of hitting state employees, university employees, and public school employees with a 1.5% paycut (it's actually more like 1.2% or 1.3% because the transfer of PERA and ERA payments from employers to employees is pre-tax).
The Senate floor is virtually certain to adopt the Senate Finance recommendations, so our best chance at changing the 1.5% PERA/ERA contribution increase is in the House-Senate conference committee, which will adopt the final budget.
Our message should be the same as it has been all session:
1. Enact revenue enhancements like combined reporting instead of asking New Mexico families to pay more to the state.
2. Allow agencies, universities, and schools to find the $42 million internally if revenue enhancements are not immediately available.
3. Any legislative requirements that employees pay more should be done in a progressive way, using a sliding scale, so that the highly-paid exempt employees bear their fair share of the burden.
The conference committee members are assigned after passage of the budget by the Senate, so we don't know for certain who they are as of Sunday early afternoon. But the following leaders are likely to be appointed, so start calling this weekend and keep calling until there's a final budget:
HOUSE LEADERS AND POSSIBLE BUDGET CONFERENCE COMMITTEE MEMBERS
House Appropriations Chair Kiki Saavedra (D-Albuquerque) 986-4316
House Appropriations Deputy Chair Lucky Varela (D-Santa Fe) 986-4318
SENATE LEADERS AND POSSIBLE BUDGET CONFERENCE COMMITTEE MEMBERS
President Pro Tem Tim Jennings (D-Roswell) 986-4733
ARBITRATION
The good news is that House Bill 15 (Speaker Lujan) has not only made it through the House, but passed both of the Senate Committees to which it was assigned.
The tougher news is that now that HB 15 is going to the Senate floor, there will likely be a motion to give it a third committee referral and move it into Senate Finance.
Please call the following Senators and ask them to support House Bill 15 by voting for HB 15 on the floor and voting against a referral to Senate Finance.
Also, our pressure to give our senate version of the arbitration bill (SB 164--E. Griego) a hearing in Senate Finance seems to have worked, and it looks like it may be heard on Monday or Tuesday. Please call our six most likely Senate Finance Committee votes to urge them to pass SB 164:
Nancy Rodriguez (D-Santa Fe) 986-4264 [no email]
PERA/ERA
As noted in the last update, we have successfully defeated all attempts to change PERA and ERA for FY '10, and all current members are protected as well. There will be some kind of task force during the period between this and the next full session, either contained in HB 573 (Heaton) or HJM 45 (Varela) or both.
HB 573 has a placeholder provision whereby ERA and PERA new members starting in FY '11 would have a 30 year retirement OR a "Rule of 80", where if you're combined age and years of credited service is 80 or over you can retire. Enhanced plans for FY '11 or later new members in police, fire, and corrections would continue to be 5 years better than the other plans.
HOWEVER--these are just placeholder provisions. Six unions, including AFSCME, will be on the HB 573 task force. In other words, nothing that passes this year will change PERA or ERA for current or future retirees, and we have a year to come up with something that protects our current members and retirees while ensuring that our future sisters and brothers have a great retirement, too.
CHILD CARE ORGANIZING
We are still awaiting our hearing for Senate Bill 402 (Cisneros) on the House floor, where we will likely have to defeat a motion to move SB 402 into House Appropriations. The leadership of the House and of the House Appropriations Committee are committed to fighting against such a move, and even if it occurred we would likely be able to get it out of House Appropriations and back to the floor. We are lobbying House members hard to keep SB 402 out of House Appropriations, and probably have the votes, but calls to House Appropriations will help shore them up:
House Appropriations Democrats
Chair Kiki Saavedra (D-South Valley) 986-4316 [no email]
Deputy Chair Lucky Varela (D-Santa Fe) 986-4318 [no email]
Rhonda King (D-Stanley) 986-4438 [no email]
Nick Salazar (D-Ohkay Owingeh) 986-4433 [no email]
House Appropriations Republicans
Carter Bundy
Political Action Representative
AFSCME International
1202 Pennsylvania St. NE
Albuquerque, NM 87110
(505) 266-2177 ext. 13 (work)
(505) 266-3155 (fax)
