Area officials oppose bills that would raise minimum wage

Three bills under consideration by the New Mexico Legislature that would increase minimum wages and enhance family and medical leave benefits for employees in the state are being opposed by Chambers of Commerce members in Curry and Roosevelt counties.

Two of the bills proposed in the state House of Representatives have been sent from the House Labor, Veterans and Military Affairs Committee to the House Commerce and Economic Development Committee.

The economic development committee has tabled one of the bills, House Bill 28, which would set the minimum wage at $12 per hour and raise it based on the consumer price index.

The other bill, House Bill 25, would raise minimum wage by specific amounts from $11.50 per hour in 2023, by increments to $15.50 per hour on Jan. 1, 2026.

In addition, HB 25 would also link future minimum wage increases to the consumer price index.

This bill was still under economic development committee consideration on Monday.

Rep. Andrea Reeb, representing House District 64, which includes parts of Curry, Roosevelt and Chavez counties, joined fellow Republican members on the Veterans and Military Affairs Committee who voted against both HB 25 and HB 28. The four Republicans on the committee were overwhelmed by the 10 Democrats who voted in favor of a “do pass” recommendation on HB 25 and the 11 Democrats who voted to advance HB 28 with a “do-pass” recommendation.

Reeb could not be reached for comment on the bills.

Meanwhile, Senate Bill 11, which would create and fund enhanced family and medical leave for workers in New Mexico, was on the calendar for consideration by the full Senate Monday, but did not receive action, according to the Legislature’s website.

It was calendared for a floor vote after passing through the Senate’s Tax, Business and Transporation Committee and the Senat Finance Committee with “do pass” recommendations.

Ernie Kos, executive director of the Clovis-Curry County Chamber of Commerce, said chamber members gave defeat of the minimum wage increasing bills their highest priority.

“Small businesses are just now recovering from COVID-19,” she said, and higher minimum wages could cripple the recovery.

In addition, Kos said, the New Mexico Hospitality Association, of which she is a member, and the New Mexico Chamber of Commerce Executive Association also have given priority to defeating proposed increases in minimum wage.

Karl Terry, executive director of the Roosevelt County Chamber of Commerce, said HB 28 was effectively killed by the economic development committee’s tabling action. In addition, he said, HB 25’s prospects are not good, since the bill has not been placed on a calendar for House floor action.

“Both bills are killed unless they come back late in the session,” Terry said. On HB25, he noted, even the bill’s sponsors have asked for a delay while further changes are made to the bill.

SB 11, Terry said, also faces a dim future.

The bill’s leave provisions would be funded by a $5 per $1,000 earned tax on employees, which would be matched by employers, Terry said..

“It’s a killer for business,” Terry said, “and small wage earners need all they can get just to buy groceries. This would raise taxes on workers.”

In addition, he said, the bill would create a “huge new department” in state government with 200 employees.

Projections, he said, show that the funds for SB 11 would be exhausted within two years.

Diane Crandall, treasurer of the Roosevelt County Democratic Party, agreed with Republicans that raises in the minimum wage could cripple many of the smallest businesses, but she also said she believes “people deserve to be paid a living wage, a good wage.”

She proposed an alternative, however -- a subsidy from the government that would help make up the difference between what small businesses can afford to pay and what would be considered a living wage.

Larger companies like Walmart and Target should easily be able to afford to meet new minimum wage levels, she said. She cited economist Robert Reich who recently observed that since the 1990’s, CEO pay has increased 1400% while worker pay has increased only 18%.

Some of the money going to CEOs, she said, could be distributed among workers to provide living wages.

Crandall said the Family and Medical Leave Act is a good idea.

The funding through deductions from employee pay matched by employers may not be adequate, she said, “but you’ve got to start somewhere.”