Bill to Reduce Salaries with Retirement Withholding Increase Reported to Senate Calendar. Call Senators and the Governor Today!
House Bill 854 received an unanimous do-pass recommendation from the Senate Finance Committee on Monday. It was reported out of committee yesterday and could be on the Senate calendar as early as today! The Budget train appears on a track for final passage in the next couple of days. The likelihood of derailing this train in this regular session of the legislature is dim. But, contact senators with your opposition anyway!
We know that the legislative update seems like the same song, different verse, but it is important that Senators know that we think that their budget balancing act on our backs is a very bad idea.
One argument made in the committee Monday was that the federal stimulus rebate that all tax payers will receive will more than make up for the cut in pay for school employees! The member who voices this reason as a rationale for her vote, Senator Nancy Rodriguez, received assurances from the staff that, yes, most school employees will see a little increase in take-home pay, even after the 1.5% increase in retirement withholdings because it's before taxes and the stimulus rebate will be coming to employees. What the good Senator and staff don't seem to get (or conveniently forget) is that the stimulus is a decrease in federal taxes and withholdings for April through December of this year and the retirement withholding is a 1.5% deduction in gross pay two full years beginning July 1, 2009!! They also don't seem the get the fact that the idea of the federal stimulus rebate was to put more comsumer spending power into the economy (and workers' pockets) not to make donations to state government so that it can avoid putting Money into the economy We wonder if the committee will ask all New Mexicans, including themselves, to "donate" their stimulus rebate to the state and to "keep on giving" for a year and a half after the stimulus runs out. If you have a member on the committee you might want to ask them.
House Bill 854, sponsored by Representative Saavedra, is a part of the budget package and will cut school employees'and state employees pay by 1.5% for two years. House Bill 854 increases the employee contribution to the pension fund 1.5% and reduces what the state is paying into the pension fund 1.5%. The measure would take hundreds of dollars out of the average school employee's pocket. House Bill 854, well intentioned thought it might have been when it left the House, has become the symbol of the raw power of the funding committees.
We need to find at least a few Senators with the courage to stand against Senator Smith and the Finance Committee's power. Call Senators today (follow this link to find your senator) with this simple message:
"Choose a new revenue source to use to balance the budget. Don't single out public employees with a 1.5% pay cut to balance the budget. Do not pass House Bill 854. Don't use the excuse that public employees can pay for this with their federal stimulus rebate. That's not fair. Other New Mexicans aren't being forced to "donate" their rebate to the state, and, besides that rebate runs out at the end of the year! If you are unwilling to find the funding that the voters of New Mexico in poll after poll have indicated that they want you to find (even if it means a major tax increase) , then at least simply sent the funding cut to districts and let us decide what to cut at the local level!"
Call Governor Richardson today and ask him to veto HB 854 if it passes (and it probably will!). Use this simple message:
"Veto HB 854. It undoes your hard work in increasing teacher and other school employee salaries over the last six years. This is bad economic development. It is a hypocritical use of federal stimulus incentives to avoid allowing school employees the full advantages of the intent of the stimulus package! Don't single out public employees with a 1.5% pay cut to balance the budget. Do not pass House Bill 854. Don't use the excuse that public employees can pay for this with their federal stimulus rebate. That's not fair. Other New Mexicans aren't being forced to "donate" their rebate to the state, and, besides that rebate runs out at the end of the year!"
Tax Bill for Sufficiency Funding will Die in Committee Today Unless Supporters Generate an Outpouring of Support!
House Bill 346, which provides the funding for the formula set out in HB331, passed the House on Friday. This measure raises gross receipts taxes by .75% to fund public schools. HB346 passed on a near party line vote. HB 346 has been referred to the Senate Corporations and Transportation Committee.
It is on the agenda for this afternoon. Follow this link to get committee office numbers. Call Committee members this morning; there are not enough yes votes to keep this measure alive in committee right now! Call now.
Using the revenues form House Bill 346or Senate Bill 412 and the new set out in House Bill 331, there is sufficient revenue to meet the constitutional requirement to fund schools sufficiently. House Bill 331, sponsored by Representative Mimi Stewartchanges our state's outdated funding formula. The bill would base school funding on student needs including poverty, ELL, enrollment growth and other factors. House Bill 331passed the House Monday on a near party-line vote with most democrats voting for the bill and most republicans voting against. The measure next goes to the Senate Education Committee for a hearing; if it survives there it will move to the Senate Finance Committee where it died last year without a hearing. Follow this link to find your Senatorand office phone number. Contact all Senators with the message that this important measure at least deserves a hearing in the Senate Finance Committee this year. Any reason to oppose tax increases for public schools should have been removed when a recent poll found New Mexicans willing to pay higher taxes for public schools.
NEA New Mexico and the other members of the New Mexico Education Partners funded a poll released last Friday. The poll found that the majority of New Mexico's registered voters (59%) support increasing New Mexico's gross receipts tax by three-quarters of one percent for additional public school education. When told that school funding would be cut without the tax increase, even more voters supported the increase. Registered voters who were opposed or undecided about the tax measure were asked a follow up question in which they were informed that due to the state budget deficit, public school funding will probably be reduced starting this year. They were then asked whether they support or oppose the three-quarter of one percent gross receipts tax increase for public school education. In total, 64% of registered voters either initially support the tax or support the tax measure after being informed that public school funding will probably be reduced this year.
Bill to Reduce Salaries with Retirement Withholding Increase Reported to Senate Calendar. Call Senators and the Governor Today!"Choose a new revenue source to use to balance the budget. Don't single out public employees with a 1.5% pay cut to balance the budget. Do not pass House Bill 854. Don't use the excuse that public employees can pay for this with their federal stimulus rebate. That's not fair. Other New Mexicans aren't being forced to "donate" their rebate to the state, and, besides that rebate runs out at the end of the year! If you are unwilling to find the funding that the voters of New Mexico in poll after poll have indicated that they want you to find (even if it means a major tax increase) , then at least simply sent the funding cut to districts and let us decide what to cut at the local level!"
"Veto HB 854. It undoes your hard work in increasing teacher and other school employee salaries over the last six years. This is bad economic development. It is a hypocritical use of federal stimulus incentives to avoid allowing school employees the full advantages of the intent of the stimulus package! Don't single out public employees with a 1.5% pay cut to balance the budget. Do not pass House Bill 854. Don't use the excuse that public employees can pay for this with their federal stimulus rebate. That's not fair. Other New Mexicans aren't being forced to "donate" their rebate to the state, and, besides that rebate runs out at the end of the year!"
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