Compromise Lujan Minimum Wage Bill Headed to House Floor

From New Mexicans for a Fair Wage:
Speaker Ben Lujan's $7.50 minimum wage bill (HB258) passed the House Business & Industry Committee yesterday afternoon on a 7-5 vote with Dona Irwin (Luna County) the sole Democrat opposed. The bill now heads to the House floor for passage.

Please call Representative Jose Campos to thank him for the critical motion that got the bill out of committee (986-4242). Then call your representative to urge him or her to pass the Speaker's bill without further amendments. Cick for contact information.

Speaker Lujan and members of the New Mexicans for a Fair Wage met with other B & I Committee members and opponents from the Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday to discuss the opposition's concerns. Consequently, the bill was amended to include a phase-in to $7.50 by January 1, 2008, but it retains indexing, so the wage will rise with the cost of living in years to come. The amendment to the bill also preempts other municipalities, except for Santa Fe, from passing legislation that sets higher local minimum wages. 

Needless to say, these are concessions we were not happy with, but the proposal remains the strongest in the legislature and would get the state's minimum into the top 50% of states with higher minimum wages. 

Some coalition members may continue to fight to remove the preemption language from the bill in the interest of Albuquerque, Las Cruces, and other local wage coalitions that are planning to fight for local increases.

From Carter Bundy, AFSCME:
Now we have to win on the House floor--that means we need at least 35 votes, and your calls can shore up or persuade some of the following to join our fight to give New Mexico workers a $7.50 minimum wage with inflation indexing.  Please call as many as possible, even if you're not from their district. 

It's rare that you'll get through directly to the Representative, so be sure to treat the man or woman answering the phone with respect--they'll get the message to the Representatives, and the Representatives are very aware of how many people call in favor of a bill.  Then get 5 friends to call, too.

Try to call on Friday, because it may be tougher to leave a message over the weekend:

Rep. Ray Begaye (Shiprock) 986-4436
Rep. Joe Cervantes (Las Cruces) 986-4411
Rep. Kandy Cordova (Belen) 986-4243
Rep. Mary Helen Garcia (Las Cruces) 986-4435
Rep. John Heaton (Carlsbad) 986-4432
Rep. Rhonda King (Stanley) 986-4438
Rep. Andy Nunez (Hatch) 986-4233
Rep. Joe Stell (Carlsbad) 986-4423
Rep. Jeanette Wallace (Los Alamos) 986-4452
Rep. Don Whitaker (Eunice) 986-4420