New Mexico State Senate. Wikicommons
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New Mexico State Senate.
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By Lauren Lifke
As New Mexico’s legislative session enters its final week, time is running out for the passage of two pieces of legislation that would introduce salaries to its lawmakers.
New Mexico is the only unsalaried Legislature in the United States. Legislators receive a per diem at a federal rate, but as a citizen-led, unpaid Legislature, its senators and representatives largely rely on other jobs to supplement their income, according to Common Cause New Mexico Policy Director Mason Graham.
Senate Joint Resolution 1 and House Joint Resolution 18 seek to change that — but with the session ending this week, the outcomes are uncertain.
New Mexico is also fairly unique in its legislative session lengths. With 30-day and 60-day sessions that alternate by year, its sessions are among the shortest in the United States. Virginia is the only other Democratic-majority state with sessions that alternate between 30 and 60 days — but its legislators receive a salary.
“We’re not the only state with a citizen-led legislature,” Graham said. “There are other states that have one; we’re the only one that’s uncompensated.”
Those who oppose paying legislators argue that not receiving a salary encourages lawmakers to work for the benefit of the people — not for money.
“Unfortunately, the goodness of our heart doesn’t pass good bills,” NM Voters First Executive Director Sila Avcil said. “We need more people who have more time, and more investment, and more information and a wide range of expertise to be able to pass good laws.”
Compared to Virginia, New Mexico has a higher proportion of legislators who classify themselves as retired, according to data from VPAP, the New Mexico Legislature website and lawmakers’ campaign websites.
Sen. Bobby Gonzales, D-Taos, is a former educator who entered office prior to his retirement.
“During the time that I was here, I didn’t receive compensation from work,” Gonzales said. “I used my leave time or my vacation time.”
Avcil said the demographic of lawmakers doesn’t accurately represent New Mexico, though there is some representation of educators. She recently spoke to a state representative who was taking PTA calls while at the Capitol.
“I’m like, ‘How are you doing that? You’re literally voting on bills on the floor as we speak,’” Avcil said. “It’s really wild to see the people who do have full-time jobs, that don’t own their own business, trying to balance that.”
New Mexico has a higher proportion of lawmakers who work in the education field than in Virginia. Conversely, Virginia has a higher proportion of lawmakers who work in law, and it has a slightly higher proportion of lawmakers in the medical field.
Sen. Martin Hickey, D-Albuquerque, is one of three legislators in New Mexico who have a medical background.
“I’m very lonely in that regard, and we’d hope that more physicians and seasoned health care executives would run for the Legislature,” Hickey said. “And bring expertise that we need in this state that is definitely in a health care crisis.”
However, studies from 2016 and 2022 indicate that paying legislators might not cause an increase in their occupational diversity.
The 2022 study, led by University of New Mexico professors Timothy Krebs and Michael Rocca, indicates that professionalization of the Legislature might require a multifaceted approach.
A professional Legislature holds an emphasis on its capacity to do its job, according to the study. The two main factors that would contribute to its capacity to legislate are increasing session length and greater staff support.
Staff support for New Mexico lawmakers has been increasing recently, according to Graham. As of this last year, legislators were all able to receive one paid professional staff person to help with emails, phone calls, research and analysis.
“We’ve heard some great things about the paid professional staff when shouldering some of the work that legislators have had to do in the past — completely by themselves,” Graham said.
According to the study, New Mexico has the third-shortest session length in the United States. Virginia is similar, with its alternating 60- and 30-day sessions.
These shorter sessions mean lawmakers have other full-time jobs, unlike in some states such as New York and California. But even among part-time Legislatures, there is still a variation in occupation.
People who work in business make up the largest group of New Mexico lawmakers — this includes small business owners, executive directors, consultants and real estate brokers. Businesspeople make up about 35.71% of New Mexico’s lawmakers — compared to 23.57% of Virginia’s lawmakers.
“A lot of New Mexicans are not retired — are working families — and they also don’t own their own businesses,” Avcil said.
Virginia has almost double the rate of lawyers, with lawyers making up 21.43% of its lawmakers, compared to New Mexico’s 11.61%.
Though Duke University’s 2016 study indicates that paying lawmakers may not change the occupational demographic of the state Legislature, Graham argued that it could change diversity overall.
“We don’t have a huge population,” Graham said. “So any one thing that impacts our state really impacts the majority of us.”
New Mexico has a female-majority Legislature, and a large portion of its lawmakers are Hispanic or Indigenous, especially compared to other states. Introducing pay for lawmakers, Graham said, might allow more of these communities to access a run for office.
“We have a state that is very rich in its people, and that’s just reflected in the legislature,” Graham said. “But that doesn’t mean that it can’t be better.”
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