SENATE BILL 350

52nd legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2015

INTRODUCED BY

Pete Campos

AN ACT

RELATING TO MINIMUM WAGES; AMENDING SECTIONS OF THE NMSA 1978 TO PROVIDE FOR A MINIMUM HOURLY WAGE RATE OF TEN DOLLARS TEN CENTS ($10.10) FOR STATE EMPLOYEES AND FOR EMPLOYEES OF STATE CONTRACTORS OF CONTRACTS VALUED AT FIFTY THOUSAND DOLLARS ($50,000) OR MORE; PROVIDING FOR STATE MINIMUM WAGES TO INCREASE ANNUALLY AT THE RATE OF INFLATION.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO:

     SECTION 1. Section 10-7-9 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1974, Chapter 10, Section 2) is amended to read:

     "10-7-9. MINIMUM SALARY RATE.--Every state employee and every person regularly employed at a state educational institution named in Article 12, Section 11 of the constitution of New Mexico [constitution], except student employees as defined by the [board of educational finance] higher education department, shall receive a salary at a rate equal to at least [four hundred dollars ($400) per month] ten dollars ten cents ($10.10) per hour pursuant to Section 50-4-22 NMSA 1978."

     SECTION 2. Section 50-4-22 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1955, Chapter 200, Section 3, as amended) is amended to read:

     "50-4-22. MINIMUM WAGES.--

          A. Except as provided in Subsections E through G of this section, an employer shall pay an employee the minimum wage rate of six dollars fifty cents ($6.50) an hour. As of January 1, 2009, an employer shall pay the minimum wage rate of seven dollars fifty cents ($7.50) an hour.

          B. An employer furnishing food, utilities, supplies or housing to an employee who is engaged in agriculture may deduct the reasonable value of such furnished items from any wages due to the employee.

          C. An employee who customarily and regularly receives more than thirty dollars ($30.00) a month in tips shall be paid a minimum hourly wage of two dollars thirteen cents ($2.13). The employer may consider tips as part of wages, but the tips combined with the employer's cash wage shall not equal less than the minimum wage rate as provided in Subsection A of this section. All tips received by such employees shall be retained by the employee, except that nothing in this section shall prohibit the pooling of tips among employees.

          D. An employee shall not be required to work more than forty hours in any week of seven days, unless the employee is paid one and one-half times the employee's regular hourly rate of pay for all hours worked in excess of forty hours. For an employee who is paid a fixed salary for fluctuating hours and who is employed by an employer a majority of whose business in New Mexico consists of providing investigative services to the federal government, the hourly rate may be calculated in accordance with the provisions of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 and the regulations pursuant to that act; provided that in no case shall the hourly rate be less than the federal minimum wage.

          E. The state shall pay each person employed by the state no less than a minimum wage rate of ten dollars ten cents ($10.10) per hour.

          F. Any contractor of a contract, which takes effect on or after July 1, 2015, that is with a state agency and that is valued at fifty thousand dollars ($50,000) or more shall pay each person employed under that contract no less than a minimum wage rate of ten dollars ten cents ($10.10) per hour.

          G. Effective July 1, 2016, the state's minimum wage rates in effect on January 1, 2016 shall be increased in an amount equal to the total increase in the cost of living from January 1, 2010 through February 28, 2016 and shall be adjusted annually to account for increases in the cost of living. The increase in the cost of living shall be measured by the percentage increase as of February of that year over the level as of February of the previous year of the consumer price index for all urban consumers, United States city average for all items, or its successor index, as published by the United States department of labor or its successor agency, with the amount of the minimum wage increase rounded to the nearest multiple of five cents ($.05). The governor shall publish by May 1 of each year the adjusted minimum wage that takes effect on July 1. The minimum wage shall not be adjusted downward as a result of a decrease in the cost of living."

     SECTION 3. EFFECTIVE DATE.--The effective date of the provisions of this act is July 1, 2015.

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