NEA-NM Legislative Hotline

Cutting School Employee Health Benefits is a Bad Idea

Most NEA- New Mexico members get their health insurance benefits through the programs of the New Mexico Public School Insurance Authority (NMSPIA).  As a part of its budget cutting plan the Legislative Finance Committee pressured the NMSPIA Board to draft a benefits plan that contained no premium increase for next year.  This is the funding level currently in House Bill 3, the Education Appropriation Act.   While no premium increase might seem like a good idea at first glance, it requires deep cuts in employee health benefits to achieve.  Some of the cuts include adding a deductible of $300 per person. Office call co-pays will go up $5 or $10.  There will be a $300 deductible or $900 per family plus an additional 20% coinsurance payment, up to a $2800 out of pocket maximum.  Tier 3 drugs will go to a charge of 50% of the discount price; a minimum price will be established. While the NMSPIA board did not officially accept these changes, they will be on the agenda for the group's March 4 and 5 board meeting in Santa Fe.

If the legislature refuses to fund the employer share of premium increases through the school funding formula, they have little choice but to instigate the changes. Even thought it means a premium increase, we need to ask the legislature to fund the employer insurance share to avoid these benefit cuts.  As the final budget takes shape, call legislators and the Governor and tell them you do not support this drastic cut of employee health benefits. 

Follow this link to send an email on school employee health benefits.

Bad Ideas on "Vouchers" and Employee Benefits

Bad Tax Policy: Raid on the Public Treasury in Senate Education Committee this Morning

Senate Bill 355, sponsored by Senator Pete Compos, is a back-door voucher bill that creates a new personal and corporate income tax credit for contributions to scholarship granting organizations called the “Equal Opportunity Scholarship Tax Credit.” It is always difficult when a negative piece of legislation is introduced by a well-meaning usually pro-education legislator.  Senator Compos certainly fits this category. He has a sincere desire to help church-related schools.  In that vein, NEA-New Mexico leaders met with representatives of the conference of Catholic Bishops to attempt to reach a compromise on this issue. However all our suggestions to make tax policy that both helped the private schools but did no damage to the constitutional principals that we hold were not acceptable to the advocates for the legislation. We are, however continuing to work with the sponsor to find an acceptable compromise.  Meanwhile, we must vigorously oppose Senate Bill 355 as currently written.  It may be heard in the Senate Education Committee  at 8:00 AM Friday morning.  Let committee members know that you are against this attempt to move public tax dollars to support private religious schools.

The maximum credit is $500 for an individual or $1,000 for married taxpayers. The taxpayer cannot claim a credit if the taxpayer has already itemized the contribution on his or her federal return and the credit is only good against current year tax liability. There is a $50,00 maximum credit if it is claimed against corporate income tax liability.  The credit would be available in tax years 20010 through 2014. The measure is estimate to reduce state revenues by $6.6 million per year.

In NEA-NM's opinion, credit against income tax is considered a tax expenditure in that, while it is not a direct payment from the state to the taxpayer, the taxpayer reduces the amount of tax paid to the state. Thus this measure violates the establishment clause of the US Constitution and several provisions of the New Mexico Constitution.  As an expenditure of tax dollars it is a violation of Article IV, Section 31 of the New Mexico Constitution, which prohibits a direct educational appropriation to any person, corporation, association, institution or community not under the direct control of the state.  Additionally, the measure also violates Article XII, Section 3 of the New Mexico Constitution  because it prohibits the use of public money for the support "of any sectarian, denominational or private school…"

Although categorized as an “Equal Opportunity Scholarship Credit” (Credit), the Credit does not prohibit discrimination on the basis of religion.   Because the bill does not restrict the availability of the Credit if the 501(c) (3) charitable organization primarily supports private religious schools, the state may find itself indirectly supporting private religious schools by permitting corporate and individual taxpayers to take the Credit.  This implicates the Establishment Clause (1st Amendment) of the federal Constitution. This bill defines a qualified school as one that does not discriminate on the basis of a student’s race, national origin or ethnicity, noticeably omitting religion or gender, and that qualified schools may not have admissions standards, as many secular private schools do. The language in the bill does not reflect all three prongs of the test for determining Establishment Clause violations, which were laid down by the U.S. Supreme Court

Other arguments against this effort:

On January 29, 1999, the New Mexico Attorney General Opinion 99-01 opined that “A school voucher program involving the use of public money to provide parents of private school children with tuition assistance raises serious and substantial state constitutional questions, most significantly under Article XII, Section 3, which proscribes the use of public money for the support of private schools, and the anti-donation clause of Article
IX, Section 14.”

In November 27, 2006, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear a challenge (by a writ of certiorari) to an April 2006 decision of the Maine Supreme Judicial Court that upheld a Maine law that prohibited the use of public funds to send students to private religious schools.

Bad Ideas About Employee Benefits

Most NEA-New Mexico members get their health insurance benefits through the programs of the New Mexico Public School Insurance Authority (NMSPIA).  As a part of its budget cutting plan the Legislative Finance Committee pressured the NMSPIA Board to draft a benefits plan that contained no premium increase for next year.  This is the funding level currently in House Bill 3, the Education Appropriation Act.   While no premium increase might seem like a good idea at first glance, it requires deep cuts in employee health benefits to achieve.  Some of the cuts include adding a deductible of $300 per person . Office call co-pays will go up $5 or $10.  There will be a $300 deductible or $900 per family plus an additional 20%  coinsurance payment, up to a $2800 out  of pocket maximum.  Tier 3 drugs will go to a charge of 50% of the discount price; a minimum price will be established. While the NMSPIA board did not officially accept these changes, they will be on the agenda for the group's March 3 and 4 board meeting in Santa Fe.  If the legislature refuses to fund the employer share of premium increases through the school funding formula, they have little choice but to instigate the changes. Even thought it means a premium increase, we need to ask the legislature to fund the employer insurance share to avoid these benefit cuts. 

Other plans before the legislature would change retirement benefits for new employees offered under the Educational Retirement Board.. House Bill 573 and House Bill 631 would both require new employees to work 30 years before full retirement or have age and service equal 80.  The current rule is 25 years or age and service equaling 75.  We don't think these changes should be considered this year. We believe that all retirement plans should be studied over the next legislative interim and moved toward financial stability with needed changes applied to both the public employment retirement (PERA) system and educational retirement in a fair and equitable manner.  Ask legislators to leave educational employee benefits in place with no drastic reductions for next year.

One Necessary Idea

The only good idea  about employee benefits is House Bill 351 and Senate Bill 366 which will require a small increase in both employer and employee contributions to the retiree health cares system beginning in school year 2010-201.  While no one likes an increased cost, to do nothing will result in the financial collapse the retiree health care system. We support these measures to make retiree health care move toward solvency. increasing funding to the Retiree Health Care Authority (RHCA) program by increasing employee and employer contributions from the current rate of 1.95 percent to 3 percent over a 4 year period. For an employee making $25,000, the increase to 3 percent would mean less than $100 per year in additional deductions for RHCA, and for an employee making $75,000 the increase would mean less than $263 per year in additional deductions for RHCA.

Help Avoid Education Cuts in New Mexico. Oppose Bad Tax Policy

Thanks to e-mails and calls from NEA members across the country to your Senators last week and over the weekend, threatened cuts to education in the Senate economic recovery proposal were largely averted. A compromise reached this weekend leaves much of the education funding that flows directly to local school districts untouched.

Passage of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act is an important first step to avoiding education cuts in New Mexico public schools.   New Mexico could receive more than $300 million in education funding over the next two years as part of the plan.  The money could more than make up for a 1 percent current year public school budget cut in a series of legislative measures signed by Governor Richardson last week and keep the maximum kindergarten class size, for example, from rising from 20 to 22 students.   "I don't think that will be necessary," The Governor said. "I believe there's a good chance we won't have to make education cuts."  Governor Richardson said he's sent a letter to New Mexico legislative leaders to establish a joint working group that will decide exactly how the stimulus money will be put to work.  Actually some of that cut has already been made up when the Public Education Department releases some previously held-back federal forest reserve funds. The cut in the basic support of public schools (School Equalization Guarantee) will now be only .53%.  However, any cut is too much (see previous entries to tell legislators to hold public schools harmless from cuts).

Communicate with Senators Bingaman and Udall Again Today as the Senate Prepares to Act

This economic recovery package is very important. It will help save jobs and put more money immediately into struggling local economies. It will also reduce pressure on state budgets so more cuts to important programs can be avoided.

The package includes funding flexible funding for local school districts, increased funding for Title I and special education, and tax credits to help school districts finance school modernization and repair.

Contact our Senators Today! Tell them to pass the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

• Call Sen. Jeff Bingaman at 202-224-5521.

• Call Sen. Tom Udall at 202-244-6621 or contact Senator Udall via a form on his website at this link.

This link provides an opportunity to email Senator Bingaman or write a printed letter to Senator Udall. Senator Udall receives email via the web form referenced above

Bad Tax Policy: Raid on the Public Treasury

Senate Bill 355, sponsored by Senator Pete Compos, is a back-door voucher bill that creates a new personal and corporate income tax credit for contributions to scholarship granting organizations called the “Equal Opportunity Scholarship Tax Credit.” It is always difficult when a negative piece of legislation is introduced by a well-meaning usually pro-education legislator.  Senator Compos certainly fits this category. He has a sincere desire to help church-related schools.  In that vein, NEA-New Mexico leaders met with representatives of the conference of Catholic Bishops to attempt to reach a compromise on this issue. However all our suggestions to make tax policy that both helped the private schools but did no damage to the constitutional principals that we hold were not acceptable to the advocates for the legislation. Thus, we must vigorously oppose Senate Bill 355.  It will be heard in the Senate Education Committee  at 8:00 AM Wednesday morning.  Let committee members know that you are against this attempt to move public tax dollars to support private religious schools.

The maximum credit is $500 for an individual or $1,000 for married taxpayers. The taxpayer cannot claim a credit if the taxpayer has already itemized the contribution on his or her federal return and the credit is only good against current year tax liability. There is a $50,00 maximum credit if it is claimed against corporate income tax liability.  The credit would be available in tax years 20010 through 2014. The measure is estimate to reduce state revenues by $6.6 million per year.

In NEA-NM's opinion, credit against income tax is considered a tax expenditure in that, while it is not a direct payment from the state to the taxpayer, the taxpayer reduces the amount of tax paid to the state. Thus this measure violates the establishment clause of the US Constitution and several provisions of the New Mexico Constitution.  As an expenditure of tax dollars it is a violation of Article IV, Section 31 of the New Mexico Constitution, which prohibits a direct educational appropriation to any person, corporation, association, institution or community not under the direct control of the state.  Additionally, the measure also violates Article XII, Section 3 of the New Mexico Constitution  because it prohibits the use of public money for the support "of any sectarian, denominational or private school…"

Although categorized as an “Equal Opportunity Scholarship Credit” (Credit), the Credit does not prohibit discrimination on the basis of religion.   Because the bill does not restrict the availability of the Credit if the 501(c) (3) charitable organization primarily supports private religious schools, the state may find itself indirectly supporting private religious schools by permitting corporate and individual taxpayers to take the Credit. This is more so of consequence since the bill does not prohibit discrimination on the basis of religion. This implicates the Establishment Clause (1st Amendment) of the federal Constitution. It bears observation that this bill defines a qualified school as one that does not discriminate on the basis of a student’s race, national origin or ethnicity, noticeably omitting religion or gender, and that qualified schools may not have admissions standards, as many secular private schools do. The language in the bill does not reflect all three prongs of the test for determining Establishment Clause violations, which were laid down by the Supreme Court

Other arguments against this effort:

On January 29, 1999, the New Mexico Attorney General Opinion 99-01 opined that “A school voucher program involving the use of public money to provide parents of private school children with tuition assistance raises serious and substantial state constitutional questions, most significantly under Article XII, Section 3, which proscribes the use of public money for the support of private schools, and the anti-donation clause of Article
IX, Section 14.”

In November 27, 2006, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear a challenge (by a writ of certiorari) to an April 2006 decision of the Maine Supreme Judicial Court that upheld a Maine law that prohibited the use of public funds to send students to private religious
schools.

Let members of  the Senate Education Committee  know that we think that Senate Bill 355 is bad public policy, unconstitutional, and cuts tax revenues needed for public schools.

Call New Mexico US Senators Today to Save Education Funds in Stimulus

NEA-New Mexico Urges You to Call Our Senators!!!!

As the New Mexico Legislative session grinds on, legislative finance committees are waiting to find out how much help we can expect from the federal government as we struggle with our budget deficits.

Avoiding cuts in education funding in New Mexico is largely dependent on whether or not we get help from the federal government’s proposed economic stimulus package.  The version that passed the U.S. House would cover all of this year’s proposed cuts and go a long way toward helping avoid disaster next year.  Now, some Senators want to drastically cut that help.

EDUCATION FUNDING IN JEOPARDY: NEA-NEW MEXICO URGES YOU TO CALL SENATORS BINGAMAN AND UDALL TODAY!!!!

This is so critcal that is worth repeating: Education funding in the proposed economic recovery package is in serious danger.  An amendment being offered by Senators Nelson (D-NE) and Collins (R-ME) would drastically reduce the education funding in the economic recovery package.  Other so called compromises cut education funding.  Tell Senators Bingaman and Udall to leave Education funding in place!

New Mexico stands to lose some $ 217 million dollars from these cuts.

This funding is very important.  It will help save jobs and put more money immediately into struggling local economies.  It will also reduce pressure on state budgets so more cuts to important programs can be avoided. 

The Nelson-Collins amendment would cut one-half of the funds allocated for:

• Flexible funds to local school districts ($39 billion)  
• Special education/IDEA ($6.8 billion)
• Title I  ($6.5 billion)
• Head Start ($1 billion)
• Teacher Quality grants ($50 million)

These cuts would undermine the intent of the economic recovery package to take pressure off state budgets stretched to their limits and infuse critically needed resources immediately into local communities.  See how the amendment would impact funding for your state.   

•           Call Sen. Jeff Bingaman at 202-224-5521.

•           Call Sen. Tom Udall at 202-244-6621 or contact via a form on his website at http://tomudall.senate.gov/contact/contact.cfm .

Contact your Senators Today! This link provides an opportunity to email Senator Bingaman or write a printed letter to Senator Udall.  Senator Udall receives email via the web form referenced above

Bill to Raise Revenues Gets Robust Hearing in House Committee

House Bill 331, sponsored by Representative Mimi Stewart is the legislation that creates a new more efficient funding mechanism for New Mexico Public Schools.  The formula laid out in House Bill 331  provides for a new public school funding formula and the maintenance and periodic recalibration of the formula. Since the new formula radically changes the distribution of public school funding, it is important that the new money be place before the redistribution takes place.  As a result a tax bill, House Bill 346, has also been introduced by Representative Stewart.  This bill provides the new funding needed through a combination of repeal or recent high earners tax cuts and a half percent increase in Gross Receipts Tax. Together the two methods will raise some $350 million for the school year beginning in 2010.

Using the revenues form House Bill 346 and the new funding formula laid out in House Bill 331, there is sufficient revenue to meet the constitutional requirement to fund schools sufficiently.

 

House Bill 346 received its first public hearing yesterday afternoon in the House Taxation and Revenue Committee. Lobbyists for every major business group in the state were at the hearing in force, expecting to kill the legislation after a short hearing. Two extraordinary things happened.  The hearing wasn't short, it lasted for hours and members of the committee thoroughly debated the bill. And then, much to the chagrin of the titans of industry present, Speaker Ben Lujan led a charge that chastised the anti-school funding lobbyists for offering only criticism and no constructive alternatives to the funding mechanism offered in House Bill 346.  Other members of the committee were especially forceful and effective in their defense of public education and support for sufficient funding.  These included Committee Chair Edward C. Sandoval; Representative Representative Jim Trujillo; Representative Roberto Gonzales; and Rep Representative Benjamin Rodefer. Follow the links indicated above to these Representatives to thank them for their support, especially if any of them represent you.  At the conclusion of the hearing, the measure was temporarily tabled, with instructions from Chairman Sandoval to the assembled business leaders to work with the sponsors to attempt to put together a funding mechanism that they could support. Joining NEA-NM and AFT NM in supporting the funding bill were the New Mexico Coalition of School Administrators and lobbyists for Santa Fe Public Schools, Los Lunas Public Schools, and AlbuquerquePublic School. A representative of the Fire Fighters Union also supported the bill. 

Let the entire House Taxation and Revenue Committee know that you support raising revenues to sufficiently fund public schools.

House Bill 331, if funded, provides for a new public school funding formula and the maintenance and periodic recalibration of the formula. The bill provides for a longer school year for students, a longer work year for teachers and other instruction staff (one additional day in 2010-2011 and four days when fully implemented--the bill requires that the days be paid for with additional compensation), and codifies the Educational Plan for Student Success (EPSS) as the accountability instrument to be used to verify appropriate programs of instruction are provided.

For the first time in New Mexico's recent history an empirical study determined the costs of ensuring that all students in the state of New Mexico have access to the programs and resources necessary to have sufficient education as required by the State Constitution.

The bill lays out the foundation for a new formula projecting the sufficient per-student cost calculation for school districts and charters schools. It contains definitions and cost factors consisting of: poverty, English language learners, special education, mobility, percent of district enrollment by set grades, and the weighted index of staff qualifications. It identifies the sufficient per-student cost multiplier and guidance about how to complete the sufficient per-student cost calculation. Methodologies are identified for factoring in growth; new school demographics; special education; implementation of intervention strategies related to lowering special education identification rates; annual updates of cost factors; and annual adjustment of the base per-student cost based on appropriations.

Follow this link to send an email to House Members asking them to pass the new funding formula and to sufficiently fund our schools.

 

Legislature's Solvency Package Cuts Current Year Funding 1%

The so-called solvency package of bills is made up Senate Bill 79 and House Bill 10, which together cut some  $23 million out of public school support for this current school year.   These cuts will result in a decrease of about 1% in this year's school equalization support (SEG) and about a $29 cut in unit value; even though much smaller that the cuts directed at other agencies, it will still create hardship in school districts faced with midyear cuts. 

 

Our message to legislators must be, "Hold public school harmless from cuts in this year's budget!" House Bill 10 and Senate Bill 79 cut SEG by 2.5%, but restore about 1.5% of the cuts by spending reserves that have accumulated in the so-called "lock box" of funds set aside for school reform from 2003's passage of a constitutional amendment to spend more of the state's land grant permanent fund on everyday operations of schools.  There is still time for the legislature to repair these cuts. One place funding might be found is from the stimulus package currently moving though the U.S. Congress.  NEA is working at the federal level to insure that the federal stimulus package contains funds to restore education cuts made at the state level.  It is important that our congressional  delegation understand our needs on this issue.

 

Follow this link to  urge Congress to pass the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act

 

It is also important that legislators know that the cuts in the solvency package must be restored before the legislature adjourns, whether from the stimulus funds or from other revenues, such as the rest of the "lock-box."

 

Follow this link to tell legislators to hold schools harmless from any cuts this year.

 

Next year's budget is also being prepared.  The Legislative Finance Committee recommended $2.5 billion for public school support, which is about $40 million more than the governor proposed but about 1.5 percent less than the current budget. Schools are cut under the spending plans by the LFC and the Richardson administration. The governor proposed state aid cuts of $30 million by allowing schools to have larger class sizes, $14 million by reducing one school day and $50 million by having schools pay for property and liability insurance costs with earmarked money for school maintenance.  These cuts will increase class size and reduce the instructional time available to children. Most school employees (Teachers and others who work a normal school year) will lose one day of work and one day of pay---a .5% cut in salary! 

 

Follow these links for an outline of the Governor's proposal  and the LFC proposal for next year.

Follow this link to ask the legislature for adequate funding next year.

 

Both this year's cuts and the funding levels proposed for next year represent unacceptable responses to our state's budget crisis.

As our first task this year, we must forcefully let our representatives know that any cut in public school funding for the current year is one cut too many.

 

Reduced funding for next year means children cannot get back a year lost to over-crowed classes! As legislative committees begin to craft cuts in the current year budget and propose reduced spending for next year, we need to insist on no cuts to education in the current year and the increased funding we need for next year.
 

Legislature Gets to Work in Earnest on Budget Balancing

House Bill 10 is a major part of the Legislature's so-called solvency package. It will be heard in the Senate Finance Committee this morning and likely on the floor of the Senate today.  This measure cuts current year school funding by about 1%. It avoids increasing class size or eliminating the extra instructional day for the current year.  It is also hoped that the stimulus package passed by the US House of Represnetatives and now before the Senate will provide funds to replace these cuts.

Please continue contacting legislators with the message that education cuts don't heal!  We will update the budget process later in the week.

In addition to stopping or minimizing cuts to public education, we must continue to advocate for sufficient funding and revenues in coming years.

Follow this link for a legislative alert and suggested message:

Legislative Alert on Funding Cuts

To send a message to House members on sufficiency funding:

 Fund Public Schools .