HOUSE JOINT MEMORIAL 2

46th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2003

REQUESTING A STUDY OF THE EFFICACY OF COMBINING THE PUBLIC EMPLOYEES RETIREMENT SYSTEM AND THE EDUCATIONAL RETIREMENT SYSTEM.

WHEREAS, based on statistics collected by the state department of public education, New Mexico is facing a shortage of teachers as a result of retirements, resignations and difficulties attracting and retaining quality individuals to the profession; and

WHEREAS, to address this shortage and to attract and retain quality professionals, the legislature has supported several measures in the recent past, including establishing alternative teacher licensing programs, the teacher loan-for-service program, teacher recruitment initiatives, professional development initiatives and beginning teacher mentorship; and

WHEREAS, research confirms that teacher quality is the single most influential determinant of student academic success, outside of home and family circumstances; and

WHEREAS, the lack of parity between retirement benefits of the educational retirement system and the public employees retirement system may be a contributing factor to the teacher shortage in New Mexico; and

WHEREAS, the disparity between the retirement benefits of public employees and educators has been a growing concern since the 1994 amendments to the Public Employees Retirement Act that enhanced retirement benefits; and

WHEREAS, movement toward parity between the two systems may serve to attract and retain teachers statewide and provide a high quality education for the children of New Mexico; and

WHEREAS, members of the legislature have attempted to correct this disparity since 1994; however, all efforts to do so have been unsuccessful;

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that the educational retirement board be requested to update the parity study conducted in 2000; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the educational retirement board and the public employees retirement association be requested to study the effects of combining the educational retirement system and the public employees retirement system into one retirement system; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the results and findings of these studies and any recommendations be reported to the legislative education study committee by November 2003; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be transmitted to the educational retirement board, the public employees retirement association and the director of the legislative education study committee for appropriate distribution.