0001|                       HOUSE JOINT MEMORIAL 67
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0002|     43RD LEGISLATURE - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - SECOND SESSION, 1998
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0003|                            INTRODUCED BY
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0004|                       JUDY VANDERSTAR RUSSELL
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0005|     
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0006|                                   
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0007|     
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0008|     
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0009|     
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0010|                           A JOINT MEMORIAL
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0011|     REQUESTING THE PUBLIC EMPLOYEES RETIREMENT ASSOCIATION TO
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0012|     ASCERTAIN THE EFFECT ON ITS TAX STATUS OF ALLOWING INCREASED
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0013|     CONTRIBUTIONS BY MUNICIPAL PUBLIC EMPLOYERS ON BEHALF OF
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0014|     EMPLOYEES.
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0015|     
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0016|          WHEREAS, membership in the public employees retirement
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0017|     association is an important benefit to municipal employees;
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0018|     and
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0019|          WHEREAS, some municipal public employers may wish to
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0020|     benefit their employees by paying a portion of the employees'
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0021|     member contributions; and
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0022|          WHEREAS, Section 10-11-5 NMSA 1978 restricts a
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0023|     municipality to paying seventy-five percent of the employees'
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0024|     member contributions; and
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0025|          WHEREAS, some municipalities that are unable to pay
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0001|     seventy-five percent of the employees' member contributions
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0002|     would be willing to contribute a smaller percentage but are
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0003|     prohibited by this statutory provision from doing so; and
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0004|          WHEREAS, concerns about the federal tax consequences of
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0005|     changing these statutory restrictions have hampered efforts to
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0006|     allow municipalities to pay less than seventy-five percent of
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0007|     the employees' member contributions;
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0008|          NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE
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0009|     STATE OF NEW MEXICO that the public employees retirement
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0010|     association be requested to seek written tax advice or a
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0011|     federal internal revenue service ruling regarding the effect
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0012|     on the association's tax status as a qualified plan by
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0013|     allowing an affiliated municipal public employer to elect by
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0014|     resolution of its governing body to make contributions of a
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0015|     portion of its employees' member contributions up to seventy-
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0016|     five percent; and
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0017|          BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be
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0018|     transmitted to the executive director of the public employees
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0019|     retirement association.
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0020|                              
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