The NM Political Report (https://nmpoliticalreport.com/2019/02/02/minimum-wage-hike-advances-despite-restaurant-industrys-fight/)
Minimum wage hike advances despite restaurant industry's fight
By Andrew Oxford, Santa Fe New Mexican | February 2, 2019
Gabriela Campos/The New Mexican
Bill McCamley, secretary-designate of the Department of Workforce Solutions, speaks in favor of House Bill 31 during a committee hearing Friday. The legislation would raise the statewide minimum wage to $10 an hour in July and increase it annually up to $12 an hour in 2021.
Democrats campaigned last year on a promise to raise New Mexico's minimum wage, which has remained at $7.50 an hour for a decade.
How high it will go, exactly, is a question that quickly has become wrapped in a battle waged by the restaurant industry and could get caught in a tug-of-war between the state House and Senate.
The issue has raised a series of other questions as well.
Should there continue to be a lower minimum wage for workers who traditionally earn tips from customers, such as restaurant servers? Should employers be allowed to offer a lower minimum wage to younger workers, like high school students?
The debate over those points was on full display Friday when the House Commerce and Economic Development Committee voted along party lines to advance a bill that would raise the state's minimum wage to $10 an hour in July and increase it annually up to $12 an hour in 2021.
The Department of Workforce Solutions said raising the minimum wage to $10 an hour would mean a raise for 160,000 New Mexicans.
Neighboring Arizona and Colorado have already raised their statewide minimum wages — to $11 and $11.10 per hour, respectively.
"It's popular. It's good public policy. It's one of the best ways to raise wages for women of color and mothers with kids," said Workforce Solutions Secretary-designate Bill McCamley.
But the restaurant industry is pushing back hard against a provision in House Bill 31 that would eliminate the current lower minimum wage for tipped workers of $2.13 an hour.
Under what is known as tip credit, businesses can pay their employees the lower base wage as long as employees make the equivalent of at least $7.50 an hour when tips are included.
The provision is key for the restaurant industry, which argues that requiring employers to pay servers many times more than they earn now would be ruinous for New Mexico eateries.
"We definitely support raising the minimum wage. I think it should be $15 an hour nationwide," James Campbell Caruso, the head chef and owner of La Boca restaurant in Santa Fe, told the committee Friday.
But, he added: "By doing this, it's going to put a lot of pressure on restaurants."
Guy in black: David Castor, a manager at the Compound restaurant, speaks in opposition to House Bill 31, which would raise the state's minimum wage, during a committee meeting Friday. The restaurant industry is fighting the bill over a provision that would eliminate a lower wage for tipped workers.
Eight states require employers to pay tipped workers the regular minimum wage, including California, Montana, Minnesota and Washington.
Backers of HB 31 argue the provision is a matter of equity.
But even some Democrats expressed hesitance about eliminating the lower minimum wage for tipped workers.
"I'm really concerned about us removing that because I think it will make a great impact," said Rep. Patricio Ruiloba, D-Albuquerque.
One of the bill's sponsors argued, however, that the House should pass the legislation as it stands to save some latitude for negotiations with the more conservative Senate, where it is likely to face a tougher battle.
"This legislation is not a done deal," said Rep. Miguel Garcia, D-Albuquerque. "We still have the Senate. And we in the House still want to reserve our negotiating power."
Chairman Moe Maestas, D-Albuquerque, told the committee he expected the bill to be amended and said he would ask House Speaker Brian Egolf to send the legislation to one more committee — Appropriations and Finance — instead of putting it up to a vote on the floor immediately.
There are other bills wending through the Legislature to raise the minimum wage.
Rep. Patricia Roybal Caballero, D-Albuquerque, has proposed raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour starting in 2020.
And Sen. Clemente Sanchez, D-Grants, filed a bill Thursday that would raise the minimum wage but leave it a little lower than Garcia is proposing.
Senate Bill 437 would raise the minimum wage to $9.25 an hour in October and then $10 an hour in April 2020. And it would allow employers to pay a lower minimum wage of $8.25 an hour to high school students.
Moreover, it would keep in place the lower minimum wage for tipped employees.
One way or another, the minimum wage is going up, Democrats made clear Friday.
"It's going to change between now and the governor's desk," Maestas said. But, he added: "House Bill 31 will become law."
Know your minimum wage legislation
Democrats ran on raising New Mexico's $7.50 hourly minimum wage. Here's how they propose to do it:
House Bill 31
Sponsors: Rep. Miguel Garcia, D-Albuquerque, and Rep. Joanne Ferrary, D-Las Cruces
What the bill does: HB 31 calls for the statewide minimum wage to increase to $10 an hour in July and rise annually until it reaches to $12 an hour in 2021. At that point, the minimum wage would be adjusted yearly based on the cost of living. The bill also would eliminate the lower minimum wage for tipped employees.
Sponsor: Rep. Patricia Roybal Caballero, D-Albuquerque
What the bill does: HB 46 would raise the statewide minimum wage to $15 an hour in 2020. The bill would adjust the minimum wage annually based on the cost of living. The bill also would eliminate the lower minimum wage for tipped workers.
Sponsor: Sen. Clemente Sanchez, D-Grants
What the bill does: SB 437 would raise the statewide minimum wage to $9.25 an hour in October and then $10 an hour in April 2020. The bill would allow employers to pay a lower minimum wage of $8.25 to high school students. The bill would keep in place the lower minimum wage for tipped employees.
NM Legislature
Antonio "Moe" Maestas
Bill McCamley
Clemente Sanchez
A cannabis legalization bill passed its first committee Tuesday. The Senate Public Affairs voted 4-3 along party lines to pass SB 115 after hours of public comment and debate between lawmakers. Even though a number of people spoke against legalization, they were largely outnumbered by those in favor of it. For the most part, those who spoke out in opposition said they were concerned about safety and health issues like driving while impaired and addiction. The bill's sponsor and the committee chair, Sen. Jerry Ortiz y Pino, D-Albuquerque, did not present the bill.
'Red flag' gun bill steeped in controversy clears Senate panel
Early ed endowment moves forward (Updated)
View all News articles →
Early childhood education funding boost clears first committee
The state House Commerce and Economic Development Committee gave the green light Friday to legislation calling for a constitutional amendment to tap more of the state's nearly $20 billion Land Grant Permanent Fund, even as the governor is prioritizing an alternate proposal to create a new trust fund for a similar purpose. The committee voted 7-4 along party lines to pass House Joint Resolution 1, which would allow additional distributions of 1 percent from the fund to be used for early childhood educational services.
Lawmakers renew effort to alter practice of diverting federal aid to rural schools
Addressing human trafficking, reproductive justice bills on tap
View all NM Legislature articles →
Agreement on NM probation, parole reforms seems stuck in the mud
Lawmakers and prosecutors appear as far apart as ever on reform proposals for New Mexico's probation and parole systems, despite Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham admonishing them to find common ground in April. That's when the first-term Democratic governor vetoed a reform bill — with significant consternation — that would have shifted the systems away from incarceration as a first resort and likely seen significantly fewer people returning to prison and jail. The disagreements center largely on who should be locked back up for violating their probation and who should not, and a change that would have required the Parole Board to issue detailed, written findings when it denies someone's release after 30 years behind bars.
Children and pregnant women no longer allowed in solitary confinement in NM
Prosecutors oppose parole changes
View all Antonio "Moe" Maestas articles →
Senate panel favors smaller minimum wage hike
A Senate committee on Tuesday snubbed Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham's call to raise New Mexico's minimum wage to $12 an hour over the next several years, advancing instead a more modest bill backed by business groups. Dueling proposals for increasing the wages of New Mexico's lowest-paid workers collided in a packed hearing of the Senate Corporations and Transportation Committee.
Democrats' competing bills aim to boost state's minimum wage
Shutdown spurs state rule change on unemployment for federal employees
View all Bill McCamley articles →
Policymakers say education overhaul will take years
As Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham enters the second year of an education overhaul she promised on the campaign trail — and a state judge mandated months before she took office — she and other policymakers say the changes will come over decades, not within legislative sessions. They point to persistent problems, such as low rates of student proficiency in math and reading and high numbers of high school dropouts, and say solutions will require years of steadily increasing investments in building an education workforce that suffers from a severe shortage.
NM's minimum wage will be $12 per hour (eventually)
Senate rejects repealing currently unenforceable anti-abortion law
View all Clemente Sanchez articles →
With a stroke of her pen, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham set into motion New Mexico's first minimum wage increase in a decade. Lujan Grisham signed SB 437 into law Monday afternoon, bumping the state's minimum wage from $7.50 per hour to $9.00 per hour by the beginning of 2020.
Late-night deal reached on minimum wage
Minimum wage fight continues as session nears end
View all Miguel Garcia articles →
Governor hails bill to lift cap on film incentives
OxyContin maker explored expansion into "attractive" anti-addiction market