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TEACHER RETIREMENT BILL CLEARS SENATE COMMITTEE
The Senate Education Committee has cleared legislation that would make employers pay more into the retirement fund for teachers. SB 42 would boost the employer contribution rate by 1% a year over four years. The bill passed 5-3 on a party line vote. The bill, plus bonding, would cost an additional $150 million a year once fully implemented. Where will this money come from? Funding is a real concern, and such a law would be more of a burden on New Mexico taxpayers who foot most of the bill for public employee pensions.
“I think we have to be really careful,” said House Minority Whip Rep. Craig Brandt.....“The same group that is pushing to get rid of the oil and gas industry in our state — and we can’t deny that that’s exactly what they’re pushing to do, they’re trying to drive them out — is the same group that wants to continuously increase the budget in the state of New Mexico. I don’t know how they expect to pay for it. I don’t know if there’s fairies that are going to bring money down from the sky or if they’re planting money trees that I’ve never been able to find or how they’re going to pay for everything.”
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