Senate passes $8.50 minimum wage

SANTA FE – An effort to increase New Mexico’s minimum wage to $8.50 an hour passed the Senate on Monday and now heads to the House for consideration.

But Gov. Susana Martinez’s office, where the legislation ultimately would land, expressed concern that the increased minimum wage would make New Mexico less economically competitive with neighboring states.

Senate Bill 416, sponsored by Sen. Richard Martinez, D-Española, to increase the state’s current $7.50-an-hour minimum wage passed the Senate 25-17 along party lines, with Democrats supporting the increased minimum wage and Republicans opposed.

The bill includes some exemptions. Small businesses that employ fewer than 11 workers would not be required to pay the $8.50-per-hour minimum wage. The rule also would not apply to agricultural jobs and workers under age 18.

The bill also includes a so-called “training wage” provision that would allow businesses to pay new hires $7.50 per hour during their first year of employment.

“We need to pay the working poor; that’s the bottom line,” said Sen. Martinez, the bill sponsor. “They’re working hard, they’re barely surviving. We need to raise their income.” He noted the increased wage would allow workers earning minimum wage to increase their annual earnings to about $17,000 per year, up from about $15,000 per year under the state’s current $7.50-per-hour minimum wage.

Albuquerque’s minimum wage is higher than the state’s current minimum – voters approved $8.50 in November – and Santa Fe’s is higher yet, $10.39 and scheduled to go to $10.51 this month.

The bill sponsor said the exemptions included in the bill would not apply in Santa Fe or Albuquerque, where the local option for a higher minimum wage supersedes the proposed state rule.

Senate Republicans opposed the bill, saying it would hamper economic growth and prevent some businesses from hiring new workers.

“Every time we increase the minimum wage, we discourage the next small (business) shop or maybe destroy the small shop that’s there,” said Sen. William Sharer, R-Farmington.

Sen. Sue Wilson Beffort, R-Sandia Park, said the proposed increase could force increased prices for goods and services, further straining the budgets of low income workers.

“I really would love to be able to raise the minimum wage. I’m sure we all would, but I think it could backfire on the very workers that we’re trying to help,” Beffort said.

But Democrats said the effort to increase minimum wages is an obligation to advocate on behalf of New Mexico’s poor families struggling to make ends meet while living on minimum wage.

“We have a responsibility to those people. It’s our moral responsibility to take care of those people, and if $8.50 helps, (an additional) $40 per week, then we should do it,” said Senate Majority Leader Michael Sanchez, D-Belen.

Governor’s spokesman Enrique Knell said the Legislature should focus instead on making New Mexico more competitive for businesses in the state.

“The governor is concerned about a situation where New Mexico would have the highest minimum wage in the region, while simultaneously having the highest job-killing business tax rate and how that could drive job growth to surrounding states,” Knell said. “The governor is committed to working with the Legislature to enact legislation that will help small businesses grow and create more jobs.”

The governor is backing efforts to reduce the state’s corporate tax rate; that legislation is still under consideration in committee.

Sen. Martinez said he hopes the governor will reconsider her perceived opposition to the minimum wage increase.

“I think it’s probably the most important piece of legislation that we’re going to pass this year,” he said.

“She represents the whole state of New Mexico, she represents a lot of poor working families. I’m just hoping that she’ll reconsider it. … It’s the right thing to do. It’s the moral thing to do. If she’s got any heart, she’ll sign it.”

- READ MORE: At the Roundhouse Blog: Behind that minimum wage vote

— This article appeared on page A1 of the Albuquerque Journal