{"id":1257,"date":"2007-02-13T18:33:00","date_gmt":"2007-02-14T00:33:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/2007\/02\/lujans-wage-bill-passes-altamiranos-is-gutted\/"},"modified":"2007-02-13T18:33:00","modified_gmt":"2007-02-14T00:33:00","slug":"lujans-wage-bill-passes-altamiranos-is-gutted","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2007\/02\/lujans-wage-bill-passes-altamiranos-is-gutted\/","title":{"rendered":"Lujan’s wage bill passes; Altamirano’s is gutted"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>The House Labor and Human Resources Committee voted today to amend a bill that\u2019s already passed the Senate to mirror one proposed by Speaker of the House Ben Lujan<\/a>, then sent both on to the Business and Industry Committee with do-pass recommendations. <\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Lujan\u2019s bill was given a do-pass recommendation on a 4-2, party-line vote. After amending Senate President Pro Tem Ben Altamirano\u2019s<\/a> bill, the committee members voted the same way on it.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

The move sets up the same clash between the House and Senate that led to no minimum wage increase being approved in the 2006 legislative session.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>\u201cI think we\u2019ll leave this session without a minimum wage bill if the amendments are added on,\u201d Altamirano said in opposing the amendments to his bill, which were proposed by Rep. Sheryl Williams Stapleton<\/a>, D-Albuquerque and the House majority whip.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

During the hearing, a number of people affiliated with religious and labor groups spoke in favor of Lujan\u2019s bill, House Bill 759<\/a>. Business and industry groups spoke in favor of Senate Bill 324<\/a>, sponsored by Altamirano.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Several people testified about the need to raise the minimum wage and the positive effects that would have on the state\u2019s economy.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think there\u2019s anybody who opposes raising the minimum wage,\u201d Altamirano said. \u201cI think that\u2019s very apparent here today.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

The debate is over the details<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

The debate was about how a minimum wage increase should be implemented.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Both bills raise the state minimum wage to $7.50 per hour in two phases. Altamirano\u2019s bill would raise the minimum wage to $6.50 per hour in 2008 and $7.50 per hour in 2009. Lujan\u2019s implements each phase a year earlier.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Altamirano\u2019s bill does not include indexing that would increase the minimum wage in the future to keep up with inflation, exempts agricultural workers and keeps cities and counties from passing their own wage increases, with the exception of those that have already done it \u2013 Santa Fe, Albuquerque and Bernalillo County.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Lujan\u2019s bill, on the other hand, does include inflation indexing, doesn\u2019t exempt agricultural workers and doesn\u2019t keep cities and counties from increasing the minimum wage beyond the level set by the state.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Altamirano\u2019s bill is backed by Gov. Bill Richardson. Altamirano said his bill came out of discussions between the Richardson Administration and the agriculture community, and pointed out that his bill is endorsed by the governor.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

In a news conference earlier today, Richardson<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> said he still endorses Altamirano\u2019s bill, but said he expected the House to pass Lujan\u2019s bill. He said the issue would be resolved in a closed conference committee after that \u2013 with his intervention, if necessary.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Arguments from both sides<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

During the hearing, Lujan said the state, in raising the minimum wage, should not prevent local governments from raising it even higher.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cThe federal government doesn\u2019t preempt states,\u201d Lujan said. \u201cI don\u2019t think it\u2019s proper for us to preempt local government.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Carol Oppenheimer, co-chair of the Santa Fe Living Wage Network, agreed.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cIn Santa Fe<\/st1:city> we have experienced Democracy in action,\u201d she said about Santa Fe<\/st1:city><\/st1:place> passing what is now \u201cthe highest living wage in the country.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cWe urge you to extend this opportunity to other communities across the state,\u201d Oppenheimer said.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Terry Cole, president and CEO of the Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce, spoke in support of Altamirano\u2019s bill.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cBusiness wants the appropriate balance struck on this measure,\u201d she said. \u201cWe believe Senate Bill 324 achieves that.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Allison Kuper, lobbyist for the New Mexico Restaurant Association, agreed.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cWe appreciate Sen. Altamirano working with the business community,\u201d she said. \u201c\u2026 As long as the negotiated measures remain in place \u2013 remain in this bill \u2013 we can support this legislation.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Rep. Candy Spence Ezzell<\/a>, R-Roswell, supported the provisions in Altamirano\u2019s bill and, after the committee\u2019s four Democrats amended the bill, voted against it. She also voted against Lujan\u2019s bill.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cThis bill makes everybody feel warm and good inside,\u201d she said of Lujan\u2019s bill. \u201cBut, in fact, it can be devastating.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t get me wrong, folks, I\u2019m for everybody making a good wage \u2013 I really am,\u201d Ezzell said. \u201cBut the unintended consequences can have a damaging effect.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The House Labor and Human Resources Committee voted today to amend a bill that\u2019s already passed the Senate to mirror one proposed by Speaker of the House Ben Lujan, then sent both on to the Business and Industry Committee with do-pass recommendations. Lujan\u2019s bill was given a do-pass recommendation on a 4-2, party-line vote. After […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1257","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1257","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1257"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1257\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1257"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1257"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1257"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}