Tuesday, Feb. 14, 2023
Senate bill seeks to install expansive family leace changes
A bill out of the New Mexico Senate has small businesses and business organizations on red-alert this week. The bill seeks to mandate up to three months of paid leave for a variety of family and close relationship issues, such as death, maternity or paternity leave or illness of a family member. The bill would deduct funding for the program from each employee using withholding and would expect employers to match that amount. On top of the taxed amount to employers they would be stuck trying to balance extended leave time with small staff and great difficulty in hiring at the current time. The bill passed its first Senate committee late last week on a 6-2 party-line vote.

The fiscal impact study attached to the bill shows the program would be insolvent almost immediately if this plan goes into effect. State officials believe it would take an incredible 200 staff to oversee the program. The bill is currently in the Senate Finance Committee where push back should be stronger but this bill needs to be stopped in the Senate.
Minimum wage bills have rough sailing ahead
The minimum wage increase bill of the two introduced in the House this year was tabled this week in the House Commerce and Economic Development Committee. Two Democrats voted with Republicans on the committee to table the bill in a 6-4 vote. While the bill could be brought back to life before the end of the 60-day session it is unlikely. Even the bill’s sponsor admits that the votes are likely not there to pass another minimum wage bill when the latest increase went into effect last month. The other minimum wage bill is stuck in the same committee.
Airport funding bill advances
A bill that would distribute $314 million to 49 airports around the state. Has sailed through its first committee hearing on a 9-0 vote. The measure contains $2.94 million for the Portales Municipal Airport.
Dormant water rights bill soundly defeated in House
In one of the craziest bills we hadn’t even heard about. HB-346 went down in an 8-0 vote in the House Agriculture, Acequias and Water Resources Committee. The bill sought to have the state scoop up any water rights that hadn’t been exercised in the last 10 years. The rights could then be used by the state for conservation projects or just retired.

Local representative Martin Zamora was having none of it.

“My biggest problem is taking somebody’s water rights without telling them,” said Zamora.
Outlawing plastic bags statewide on the docket
Another effort to require businesses to get rid of so-called single-use plastic bags in favor of paper as been introduced in the House by a Dona Ana County legislator. Currently Santa Fe has this kind of law in place and Albuquerque did until the pandemic came along stressing businesses. It was repealed and then an attempt to bring it back failed. Our guess is this would bring additional costs to struggling retail businesses and hold lots of unforeseen problems.