{"id":33782,"date":"2011-11-14T09:05:56","date_gmt":"2011-11-14T16:05:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/?p=33782"},"modified":"2011-11-15T07:01:10","modified_gmt":"2011-11-15T14:01:10","slug":"push-to-pay-legislators-may-be-gaining-momentum","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2011\/11\/push-to-pay-legislators-may-be-gaining-momentum\/","title":{"rendered":"Push to pay legislators may be gaining momentum"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

The Roundhouse in Santa Fe (Photo by Heath Haussamen)<\/p><\/div>\n

I authored a commentary in September arguing that we need to pay our state legislators; newspaper articles published this weekend may indicate that such an idea is gaining momentum.<\/p>\n

Steven Robert Allen, executive director of Common Cause New Mexico<\/a>, and State Rep. Antonio \u201cMoe\u201d Maestas<\/a>, D-Albuquerque, were quoted as saying they support paying lawmakers in an article<\/a> published by the Las Cruces Sun-News.<\/p>\n

In addition, the Albuquerque Journal published an editorial<\/a> saying voters should \u201cbe given the opportunity to decide if they want a professional, paid Legislature.\u201d<\/p>\n

In my September commentary<\/a>, I argued that our unpaid legislators \u201ccan\u2019t keep up with the governor or the pace of life in the 21st Century no matter how hard they work.\u201d From my column:<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we paid lawmakers a part-time salary, say $25,000 a year, we\u2019d dramatically increase the potential pool of candidates. And, because they would be making some money, lawmakers would have a greater responsibility and ability to focus on the job.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt would also take away any excuses based on a sense of entitlement. I can\u2019t tell you how frustrated I got every time I heard then-Sen. Shannon Robinson argue against ethics reform during the 2007 session. He essentially said that, because lawmakers weren\u2019t paid, it was unfair to take away things such as meals paid for by lobbyists.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s reasonable to suspect, then, that if you pay legislators, and take away that argument against ethics reform, you could create a legislative branch with a stronger commitment to ethical behavior, in addition to one that\u2019s committed to working harder.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u2018We romanticize the citizen Legislature\u2019<\/h3>\n

In the Sun-News article, which dealt with the potential conflicts created when lawmakers become lobbyists, Allen said one way to minimize conflicts would be to pay legislators a salary. Allen said that\u2019s something New Mexico \u201cshould\u201d do, saying it \u201cwould allow more people to run for the Legislature.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Sun-News quoted Maestas as saying some lawmakers have discussed the possibility of trying to make their positions salaried.<\/p>\n

\u201cI support a paid Legislature \u2013 maybe $40,000 or $50,000 a year per member \u2013 and zero gifts of any kind,\u201d the newspaper quoted Maestas as saying. \u201cWe romanticize the citizen Legislature in New Mexico, but the truth of it is that not many people can afford to run for a job that does not pay.\u201d<\/p>\n

Maestas suggested such a proposal would have to come from a senior member of the Legislature, such as Henry \u201cKiki\u201d Saavedra<\/a>, D-Albuquerque and the chair of the House Appropriations and Finance Committee.<\/p>\n

\u2018A fair question to debate\u2019<\/h3>\n

Paying lawmakers would require a change to the N.M. Constitution, so lawmakers would first have to agree to put the question to voters, and then voters would have to approve it.<\/p>\n

Even the Journal said that\u2019s an idea worth considering. Its editorial, on the topic of public employees who serve in the Legislature while getting paid for their taxpayer-funded job, stated that voters should decide whether to pay lawmakers.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s a fair question to debate,\u201d the editorial states. \u201cIf they don\u2019t, and want to continue a volunteer citizen Legislature, the people who choose to serve in it should really fit that description.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I authored a commentary in September arguing that we need to pay our state legislators; newspaper articles published this weekend may indicate that such an idea is gaining momentum.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[109,107],"class_list":["post-33782","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news-and-analysis","tag-ethics-reform","tag-roundhouse"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33782","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=33782"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33782\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33782"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33782"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33782"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}