AFT News:
Wednesday was another busy day for education-related legislation in the Roundhouse. Discussed Wednesday were issues such as using state funds for private-school vouchers, increases to healthcare coverage, reinstating a state Board of Education, and even legislation attempting to break apart the Albuquerque Public Schools.
AFT New Mexico worked hard to cover each these bills and offer testimony on items that align with our values as educators.
Recap – Tuesday, Jan. 31:
House Labor, Veterans, and Military Affairs Committee
HB 150, carried by Rep. Natalie Figueroa, will increase the contributions to the NM Retiree Healthcare Authority by 0.5%, with a split between employees and employers of 0.17% and 0.33%, respectively. This legislation is critical for our AFT NM Retiree constituency, and if enacted, HB 150 would help to better fund the Authority’s obligations to New Mexico retirees.
AFT NM spoke in support of HB 150, and it advanced with unanimous support from the HLVMC Tuesday.
Wednesday, Feb. 1:
Senate Education Committee
Senate Bill 109, carried by Sen. Craig Brandt, would have utilized public tax dollars to establish “Education Freedom Accounts” that would be used to send students to private schools in New Mexico.
AFT New Mexico opposes the use of public resources for private school tuition. Additionally, we had deep concerns with the application of this bill, which would create disparities between rural and urban students, as many rural communities do not have private schools, further dis-equalizing our system of education. Members of the Senate Education Committee tabled SB 109 on a 4-2, party-line vote. We thank Sens. Bill Soules, Harold Pope, Jr., Shannon Pinto, and Moe Maestas for their strong support for public education in New Mexico.
House Education Committee
House Bill 82/a, the Student Borrowers Bill of Rights, received its second hearing this morning. Sponsored by Reps. Christine Chandler and Patricia Roybal Caballero, this legislation seeks to regulate and license student debt servicers doing business in New Mexico.
The legislation also provides mechanisms for when borrowers are defrauded by lenders through deceptive practices or procedures by establishing a New Mexico ombud as an in-state advocate for defrauded borrowers.
AFT New Mexico strongly supports HB 82/a and spoke in favor of this legislation while in committee. House Bill 82/a advanced with unanimous support from the House Education Committee Wednesday morning.
House Bill 102, carried by Rep. Ray Lara and co-sponsored by Reps. Debbie Sariñana, Natalie Figueroa, and Sen. Harold Pope, Jr., would expand health insurance premium coverage for New Mexico’s K-12 public educators and several New Mexico Public State Insurance Authority-participating higher education institutions (e.g., AFT NM locals Northern New Mexico College and Santa Fe Community College). The legislation would also include those in the Albuquerque Public Schools insurance plan.
Specifically, educators would have their first $10,000 in premiums fully covered, and any healthcare premiums over $10,000 would be covered at a rate of 60% by the employer. For many educators, this would represent 100% coverage for their insurance plan.
A top priority of Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham, AFT NM spoke in strong support of this legislation. It not only represents more money in the pockets of New Mexico educators, but also helps to remedy lower levels of coverage for educators, when compared to other state workers. HB 102 passed the House Education Committee with a bi-partisan vote of 10-2.
House Bill 85, carried by Rep. Bill Rehm, is the annual “Break up APS” legislation. The legislation would force districts serving more than 40,000 students to be divided into smaller districts. (Hint: There is only one district in New Mexico serving over 40,000 students.)
Thankfully, members of the House Education Committee appropriately tabled this legislation on a bi-partisan vote of 10-2.
House Commerce and Economic Development Committee
House Bill 39/a, carried by Rep. Liz Thomson, seeks to align dual-licensed instructional support provides to the existing 3-Tier system of funding currently applied to Level I, II, or III teachers and Level III Counselors.
HB 39/a would not reduce/override union-negotiated bargaining agreements, but rather establish minimum rates of pay for this critical group of educators. HB 39/a also does not institute a cap in earnings for these educators. HB 39/a was amended in committee to fix a small, technical issue.
AFT New Mexico testified in support of HB 39/a, and it was advanced unanimously out of the House Commerce and Economic Development Committee this afternoon. It previously received unanimous support by the members of the House Education Committee.
Senate Rules Committee
Senate Joint Resolution 1, sponsored by Sen. Steven Neville, would re-instate a statewide New Mexico Board of Education. While AFT NM has supported legislation similar in concept to this in the past, we oppose this legislation as written.
Specifically, we are concerned that the bill removes many of the financial and policy responsibilities from the NM Public Education Department. We believe that policy and financial oversight should remain in the purview of the NM PED as they are ultimately responsible for implementing those same policies.
Additionally, the legislation would have the 10 members of the Public Education Commission serve as the initial members of the State Board of Education, with future positions being elected during the general election. We do not believe it is appropriate for the members of the PEC, who were elected to serve a very narrow purpose, be tasked with the responsibility of creating and administering statewide educational policy. We also believe that electing these positions would unnecessarily politicize the Board of Education.
The legislation also unnecessarily restricts future Secretaries of Education to hold a New Mexico teaching license. While we believe a New Mexico educator is likely best suited to this role, we believe this provision is too restrictive.
AFT NM opposes this legislation as currently drafted, and the bill was “rolled” (delayed) based on committee feedback and input. We will continue to monitor SJR 1.
Thursday, Feb. 2:
House Labor, Veterans, and Military Affairs Committee
HB 181, carried by Reps. Joanne Ferrary, Debbie Sariñana, Christine Trujillo, and Sen. Bill Soules, will be heard on Thursday.
The legislation seeks to expand the definition and eligibility of Nationally Board Certified Teachers to receive a differential for their certification. If enacted, HB 181 would extend differential eligibility to NBCT counselors and administrators with a current certification. AFT NM supports this legislation.
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