Amendment 4: Legislative Cash Grab, not Reform

Amendment 4: Legislative Cash Grab, not Reform
By Paul J. Gessing

This November New Mexico voters will be vote on a constitutional amendment to pay each of the State's 112 legislators an annual salary of just under $68,000 annually with that rate to rise with inflation in the future.

New Mexico's Legislature is said to be the only "unpaid" legislative body in the nation, but that's not quite true. Our legislators receive a "per diem" (daily pay when they are in Santa Fe or at committee hearings of $247) which does not include mileage reimbursement.)

Legislators have also created a very generous pension for themselves. As Milan Simonic of the Santa Fe New Mexican recently wrote, "A legislator leaving office after 12 years qualified for a pension of $35,000 a year. A member with 25 years of service will collect a pension of almost $73,000 annually."

"Nearly all the money for legislative pensions comes from taxpayers." If Amendment 4 passes legislators will be paid nearly $68,000 annually on top of these other benefits. For some that could put them over $100,000 annually and that doesn't include the pension which kicks in after they leave the Legislature.

Notably, legislators in New Hampshire, widely considered to be among the best run states in the nation, receive a whopping $100 annually (no pensions or per diem). Utah, another well-governed state closer to New Mexico, pays its legislators $301 per legislative day and has no legislative pension.

Amendment 4 is being billed as a step towards "democratizing" or "professionalizing" our Legislature. There is simply no evidence that paying them such an exorbitant amount of money will improve governance or outcomes in our state. New Mexico fails because we elect economic and policy illiterates, not because we don't pay them.

To be clear, the Rio Grande Foundation isn't completely opposed to paying the Legislature, we just think Amendment 4 is the wrong approach. At the very least, paying legislators should result in elimination of the pension and per diem and possibly other reforms to improve governance in New Mexico.

Another reform is term limits. Having to sacrifice pay by taking time away from your full-time job while in office is a limiting factor in how long most legislators are willing to serve in the Roundhouse. Paying legislators will likely result in more "career" politicians lured by paychecks that match the State's median income, not to mention per diem and a rich pension.

Would YOU leave a safe legislative seat as so many in New Mexico are for such a generous payday? Yes, being a good legislator CAN be a full-time job, but it is not a full-time job. The Legislature formally meets 30 or 60 days out of the year. Interim and constituent meetings are optional.

That's why the Rio Grande Foundation believes that in addition to elimination of their pensions, the Legislature should adopt term limits (8 years in each house is reasonable). Also, government employees who collect paychecks voted on by the Legislature should be prohibited from serving in the Legislature entirely.

This means Rep. Andrea Romero couldn't vote to fund and work for the District Attorney's office and disgraced Rep. Sheryl Williams Stapleton wouldn't be able to take a check from Albuquerque Public Schools while serving in the Legislature. Not all state-funded employees who serve in the Legislature are corrupt, but being able to vote on your own pay is corrupt.

Worse, Albuquerque Public Schools currently give District employees who serve in the Legislature paid leave. Nothing in this Amendment will remove that pay which would make it possible for APS employees to really cash in when they are in Santa Fe.

Nobody wants a better Legislature than the Rio Grande Foundation but adding a generous salary on top of per-diem and a sizable pension isn't the way to do it. We stand ready to work on real reforms with legislators, but this plan is nothing but a money grab.

Paul Gessing is president of the Rio Grande Foundation, an Albuquerque-based think tank focused on the importance of individual freedom, limited government and economic opportunity.