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F I S C A L I M P A C T R E P O R T





SPONSOR: Stewart DATE TYPED: 3/7/01 HB HJM 69
SHORT TITLE: Educational Retirement Study SB
ANALYST: Wilson


APPROPRIATION



Appropriation Contained
Estimated Additional Impact
Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY01 FY02 FY01 FY02
NFI



(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)





SOURCES OF INFORMATION



Commission on Higher Education (CHE)



SUMMARY



Synopsis of Bill



House Joint Memorial 69 requests the Legislative Education Study Committee to work with the Legislative Finance Committee, the Educational Retirement Board, the State Department of Public Education, and the Commission on Higher Education to conduct a study on retirement benefits other states provide to public higher education faculty and classified staff employees. The resulting report is to include recommendations on improving the retirement benefits so that New Mexico is competitive on a national level.



     Significant Issues



New Mexico is experiencing statewide labor shortages in many of the discipline areas where higher education institutions are experiencing the greatest difficulty in recruiting and retaining faculty. Many of the available faculty positions at our colleges and universities are left unfilled due to inadequate compensation and inadequate research support.



By using a standardized approach in studying other states public higher education retirement benefits, the condition of New Mexico's higher education retirement system as compared to other retirement systems can be determined.



DW/njw