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| SPONSOR: | Lopez | DATE TYPED: | 2/11/00 | HB | |||
| SHORT TITLE: | Public Employee Salaries | SB | 132 | ||||
| ANALYST: | Gonzales/Dunbar | ||||||
| Recurring
or Non-Rec |
Fund
Affected | ||||
| FY00 | FY01 | FY00 | FY 01 | ||
| Significant | Recurring | See Below | |||
(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)
_________________
* All agency operating funds
SOURCES OF INFORMATION
LFC files State Personnel Office
Highway and Transportation Department Department of Finance
Regulation and Licensing Department State Agency on Aging
Department of Game and Fish NM Office of Game and Fish
Division of Vocational Rehabilitation NM Public Regulations Commission
NM Department of Labor Economic Development Department
Administrative Office of the District Attorneys Commission of Public Records
Veteran's Service Commission State Land Office
NM Commission on Higher Education Health Policy Commission
Human Services Department Office of Cultural Affairs
Public Defender Department Energy and Minerals and Natural Resources
SUMMARY
Synopsis of Bill
SB 132 provides for an adjustment in the minimum wage of certain state employees in the Executive, Legislative and Judicial branches of state government to be paid at least $8.50 per hour.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS
There is no appropriation contained in this bill.
According to the State Personnel Office (SPO), the bill would require a general fund appropriation of $3,906.0 for FY 01 for executive classified employees only. The amount includes basic mandated employer-paid benefits such as retirement, and Social Security. SPO states that the bill would affect 2,178 classified employees.
The State Highway and Transportation Department reports a fiscal impact of $1,278.5 effecting 505 employees.
The General Services Department (GSD) notes that fewer than 2% of classified employees earn less than $15.0. GSD states that this increase would bring the annual minimum wage to $17.6 and this would reduce state agencies group benefits premium contributions from 75% to 70%.
ADMINISTRATIVE IMPLICATIONS
The appropriate branches of government would need to adjust their pay plans accordingly.
OTHER SUBSTANTIVE ISSUES
SPO reports that the personnel system recognizes job worth as an important part of the system. The state uses a job evaluation system that ultimately assigns a job classification to a salary grade. The bill would have a significant impact on the lowest 14 salary grades. These grades would have to be eliminated, consolidated or modified to pay the employees in these grades $8.50 per hour. SPO further elaborates that the implementation of this bill would lead to significant classification/compaction with 2,200 employees all earning the same pay for jobs that require 14 salary grades to define their relative worth. Therefore, according to SPO, employees in pay grades just above grade 14 will find their jobs valued the same as jobs that were 14 pay grades lower.
Most agencies expressed concerns over the cost of funding this salary increase and the compaction effect on those position included in the bill and those positions that are not included in this bill, whose pay grades are just above grade level 14. Several agencies addressed morale issues pertaining to those employees not included in the increase.
The Commissioner of Public Lands strongly supports passage of the bill.
The Human Services Department indicates that it will make it easier to recruit and maintain employees for affected positions and on the other hand it will make it more difficult to retain employees who are not affected and are close in salary composition to employees who do benefit from an increase.
The Health Policy Commission makes the following points on the bill
JMG:BD/prr/njw