Fiscal impact reports (FIRs) are prepared by the Legislative Finance Committee (LFC) for standing finance
committees of the NM Legislature. The LFC does not assume responsibility for the accuracy of these reports
if they are used for other purposes.
Current FIRs (in HTML & Adobe PDF formats) are a vailable on the NM Legislative Website (legis.state.nm.us).
Adobe PDF versions include all attachments, whereas HTML versions may not. Previously issued FIRs and
attachments may be obtained from the LFC in Suite 101 of the State Capitol Building North.
F I S C A L I M P A C T R E P O R T
SPONSOR HVEC
ORIGINAL DATE
LAST UPDATED
3/3/07
3/3/07 HB HJR 6/HVECS
SHORT TITLE Distribution for Legislative Expenses
SB
ANALYST Fernandez/Baca/Wilson
ESTIMATED ADDITIONAL OPERATING BUDGET IMPACT (dollars in thousands)
FY07
FY08
FY09 3 Year
Total Cost
Recurring
or Non-Rec
Fund
Affected
Total
$2,029.3 $2,029.3 Recurring General
Fund
(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)
Companion to HB 20 and SB 796, Identical to SJR 12
SOURCES OF INFORMATION
LFC Files
SUMMARY
Synopsis of Bill
House Joint Resolution 6 proposes amending Article 4, Section 10 of the Constitution of New
Mexico to limit reimbursements to members of the legislature for expenses directly related to the
duties of their office in an amount not to exceed fifteen percent of the annual salary provided for
justices of the New Mexico Supreme Court and to prohibit members of the legislature from using
campaign funds for non-campaign-related expenses.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS
HJR 6 provides an annual distribution for expenses directly related to the duties of the member’s
office not to exceed 15 percent of the annual salary provided for the justices of the Supreme
Court. In FY07, the annual salary of the each justice of the Supreme Court is $115,041. If CS
HJR 6 is approved by the Legislature then subsequently approved by the people at the next gen-
eral election or a special election, legislators would be entitled to an annual distribution of
approximately $17,256. Assuming this annual distribution amount multiplied by 112 legislators,
the cost to implement this proposal would be approximately $1,932,683. If the justices of the
Supreme Court receive a salary increase of 5 percent FY08, the cost of this proposal in FY08
would be $2,029,317 or $18,119/member.
pg_0002
House Joint Resolution 6/HVECS – Page
2
Depending on when the proposal would be approved would determine the fiscal year when the
impact would occur.
Language in the proposal does not define expenses related to the duties of the member’s office.
Thus it is not clear if legislators would only be paid for expenses incurred. If this is the case, it
could be anticipated that some legislators would receive less than the annual amount of $18,119.
Secretary of State may incur additional expenses to place this proposal on the ballot at the next
general election. The exact costs are unknown but should be minimal.
SIGNIFICANT ISSUES
Legislative compensation was an issue considered by the Governor’s Task Force on Ethics
Reform and is under consideration by the Legislative Structure and Process Study Task Force.
In the Governor’s Task Force on Ethics Reform, Report of Recommendations, the task force
recommended $10,000 annually for legislative expense reimbursement accounts. “Funds from
the legislative expense reimbursement accounts should be used by legislators to pay for the
expenses directly related to their legislative duties. Such expenses might include staff,
telephone, travel and other constituent service-related expenses. Legislators should only be paid
for expenses incurred." The recommendation anticipated that some legislators would receive
less than the annual amount of $10,000.
The Legislative Structure and Process Study Task Force will produce a final report of its
conclusions and recommendations by December 21, 2007 for action during the 2008 legislative
session.
The information comparing actions regarding salaries and expenses for legislators in other states
are shown on the attachment obtained form the NCSL website.
ADMINISTRATIVE IMPLICATIONS
Passage of this proposal and House Bill 820 would result in additional administrative duties to
Legislative Council Service for the processing of the annual payments and possibly the
validation of expenses directly related to the duties of a member’s office.
Legislative Council Service would likely develop guidelines to provide for the distribution to
members.
The effective date when this would go into effect if approved by the voters is not clear. That is,
if approved by the voters would it be effective the following fiscal year beginning on July 1.
CONFLICT, DUPLICATION, COMPANIONSHIP, RELATIONSHIP
Committee Substitute for House Joint Resolution 6 is a companion to House Bill 820 which
amends Section 1-19-29.1 NMSA 1978 to prohibit the expenditure of campaign contributions
received by members of the legislature for duties reasonably related to their office; and provides
for an annual distribution to members of the legislature for expenses directly related to the duties
of their office. The provisions of the bill shall become effective upon certification by the secre-
tary of state that the constitution of New Mexico has been amended as proposed by CSHJR 6.
Senate Joint Resolution 12 duplicates the intent House Joint Resolution 6 and Senate Bill 796 is
the companion bill to Senate Joint Resolution 12.
pg_0003
House Joint Resolution 6/HVECS – Page
3
OTHER SUBSTANTIVE ISSUES
Currently, Article 4, Section 10 provides the compensation of legislative members to per diem at
the internal revenue service per diem rate for the city of Santa Fe during legislative sessions and
the internal revenue service standard mileage rate for each mile traveled to and from the seat of
government. As of January 2007, the per diem rate for Santa Fe is $142/day and the mileage rate
is $0.485/mile.
During the interim between sessions, legislative members receive per diem at the same rates
listed above however, it should be noted that the internal revenue service per diem rates increases
slightly during the summer months. For example, from September 1, 2005 - September 31, 2005
the rate was $141.00/day then from October 1, 2005 – September 31, 2006 the rate increased to
$144/day. The mileage rate during the interim also fluctuates slightly.
WHAT WILL BE THE CONSEQUENCES OF NOT ENACTING THIS BILL
If this constitutional amendment and the companion HB820 are not adopted, legislators will not
receive compensation for expenses they incur in the performance of their duties as proposed.
They will continue to absorb those expenses related to the performance of their duties which are
not reimbursed from public funds or campaign contributions.
Attachment
CTF:LB:DW/nt
pg_0004
House Joint Resolution 6/HVECS – Page
4
ATTACHMENT
NCSL Back grounder: Full- and Part-Time Legislatures
In the Blue states, average lawmakers spends the equivalent of half of a full-time job doing legislative work. The compensation they
receive for this work is quite low and requires them to have other sources of income in order to make a living. The blue states have
relatively small staffs. They are often called traditional or citizen legislatures and they are most often found in the smallest
population, more rural states. Again, NCSL has divided these states into two groups. The legislatures in Blue are the most traditional
or citizen legislatures. The legislatures in Blue Lite are slightly less traditional. States are listed alphabetically within subcategories.
Table 1 shows the breakdown of states by category. Table 2 shows the average scores for the Red, White and Blue states for time
on the job, compensation and staff size. For 2005 legislator compensation figures, go to
http://www.ncsl.org/programs/legismgt/aboutl05salary. htm.
Table 1. Red, White and Blue Legislatures
Red Red Light White Blue Light
Blue
California Alaska
Alabama Missouri Georgia Montana
Michigan Illinois
Arizona Nebraska Idaho
New
New York Florida
Arkansas North
Indiana Hampshire
Pennsylvania Ohio
Colorado Carolina Kansas North
Massachusetts Connecticut Oklahoma Maine
Dakota
New Jersey Delaware Oregon Mississippi South
Wisconsin Hawaii South
Nevada Dakota
Iowa
Carolina New Mexico Utah
Kentucky Tennessee Rhode Island Wyoming
Louisiana Texas
Vermont
Maryland Virginia West Virginia
Minnesota Washington
Source: NCSL 2004
Source: NCSL 2004
Table 2. Average Job
Time,
Compensation and Staff Size by
Category
of
Legislature
Category
of
Legislature
Time
on the Job
Compensation Staff per Member
(1)
(2)
(3)
Red
80%
$68,599
8.9
White
70%
$35,326
3.1
Blue
54%
$15,984
1.2
Notes:
1. Estimated proportion of a full-time job spent on legislative work including time in
session, constituent service, interim committee work, and election campaigns.
2. Estimated annual compensation of an average legislator including salary, per diem,
and any other unvouchered expense payments.
3. Ratio of total legislative staff to number of legislators.
Source: NCSL, 2004