More retirement, less paycheck

State workers and public school teachers might have to pay more than 12 percent of their salaries toward retirement starting July 1.

HB 628, which extends an increase of 1.5 percent and tacks on an additional 1.75 percent to workers and teachers, passed the House in a 43-26 vote Monday. The measure is now in the Senate Finance Committee.

Bill sponsor Rep. Donald Bratton originally proposed a permanent 1.5 percent increase, but said his colleagues preferred a temporary dramatic increase. Next fiscal year, contributions will drop to 10.75 percent, and the year after that, contributions will level out at almost 9 percent.

“They would want it to be temporary,” Bratton said. “They would not want the employee to carry the burden for the employer on a permanent basis.”

State employees already have to make economic sacrifices through mandatory furloughs, and now they will also have a smaller paycheck.

With the 3.25 percent increase, teachers would pay about $49 per week toward their retirement funds, which comes out to $2,548 a year.
No more paddling HB 172 passed the House 36-31 Tuesday. If passed by the Senate and signed into law by Gov. Susana Martinez, the bill would not allow teachers to paddle.

Rep. Rick Miera (D-Bernalillo) introduced the bill, and he said that Republicans and Democrats weren’t divided on the issue.
“It was a bipartisan pass,” he said. “It shows that it was not a political issue.”

The bill is now in the Senate Judiciary Committee. A study found 223,190 students nationwide — including at least 41,972 students with disabilities — were paddled at least once in the 2006-07 school year, according to the U.S. Department of Education.

“I hope the Senate will pass this bill,” Miera said. “There are better ways of dealing with a student other than with physical discipline.”