HM 61

                                1  HOUSE MEMORIAL 61
                                2    57TH LEGISLATURE - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - SECOND SESSION, 2026
                                3  INTRODUCED BY
                                4  Raymundo Lara
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                                10  A MEMORIAL
                                11   REQUESTING THE LEGISLATIVE EDUCATION STUDY COMMITTEE TO STUDY
                                12   COMPENSATION FOR CLASSIFIED PUBLIC SCHOOL AND SCHOOL DISTRICT
                                13   EMPLOYEES, STATEWIDE COSTS OF LIVING AND HOUSING AVAILABILITY
                                14   AND OPTIONS TO IMPROVE COMPENSATION.
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                                16        WHEREAS, the success of public schools depends on the hard
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                                17   work and dedication of all school employees, including
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                                18   educational assistants, instructional support providers, bus
                                19   drivers, food service providers, custodians, security personnel
                                20   and many others; and
                                21        WHEREAS, school districts and charter schools face
                                22   challenges staffing all critical public school positions and
                                23   report concerns about salary compaction for existing school
                                24   employees; and
                                25        WHEREAS, New Mexico state university's 2025 New Mexico
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                                1    educator vacancy report identified more than three hundred
                                2    vacancies in classified classroom positions in public schools
                                3    statewide, with disproportionately high vacancy rates in
                                4    classified special education positions; and
                                5  WHEREAS, the 2025 New Mexico educator vacancy report does
                                6    not include data on vacancies in classified non-classroom
                                7    positions, but other research suggests high vacancies in these
                                8    positions; for example, a 2023 report by the legislative
                                9    education study committee noted regional bus driver shortages
                                10   related to competition with higher-paying private sector
                                11   positions for licensed commercial drivers; and
                                12        WHEREAS, according to the Massachusetts institute of
                                13   technology, the minimum living wage in New Mexico is twenty
                                14   dollars ten cents ($20.10) per hour for a single-person
                                15   household and twenty-four dollars fifty-one cents ($24.51) for
                                16   a four-person household with two working adults and two
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                                17   children; provided that in some New Mexico counties with higher
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                                18   costs of living, the minimum living wage is higher; and
                                19        WHEREAS, in 2023, the legislature increased salaries for
                                20   educational assistants and instructional support providers to a
                                21   minimum of twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000) per year, but
                                22   according to the United States census bureau, these salaries
                                23   are still below the national average of nearly thirty-four
                                24   thousand dollars ($34,000) per year; and
                                25        WHEREAS, some full-time classified public school employees
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                                1    have reported to legislators that the employees have needed to
                                2    take on second jobs, have experienced housing and food
                                3    insecurity and have resorted to selling blood plasma to
                                4    supplement inadequate incomes; and
                                5  WHEREAS, over the past several years, the legislature has
                                6    increased salaries for teachers and other certified public
                                7    school employees, and those salary increases have notably
                                8    decreased vacancies in certified positions and improved
                                9    retention rates for those positions;
                                10        NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF
                                11   REPRESENTATIVES OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that the legislative
                                12   education study committee be requested to study:
                                13  A.   compensation for classified public school
                                14   employees, including classified school district employees who
                                15   provide transportation, food or custodial services;
                                16  B.   statewide costs of living and housing
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                                17   availability; and
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                                18  C.   options to improve compensation, including
                                19   opportunities for career advancement or salary differentials
                                20   based on experience, credentials or staffing needs; and
                                21        BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the study include input from
                                22   the legislative finance committee, the public education
                                23   department, local school districts, charter schools and public
                                24   school employees' unions; and
                                25        BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the legislative education
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                                1    study committee's research, findings and recommendations be
                                2    reported to the governor and the legislature on or before
                                3    October 31, 2026; and
                                4  BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be
                                5    transmitted to the legislative education study committee, the
                                6    legislative finance committee and the public education
                                7    department.
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