Labor & Employment in New Mexico

in committee · New Mexico · Senate Mar 24, 2026

SB 71: PERA CHANGES

SB 71 amends New Mexico's Public Employees Retirement Act (PERA) to include public safety telecommunicators (emergency call center staff) as eligible for "police member" coverage under PERA. This change directly affects current public safety telecommunicators employed by local governments, allowing them to elect to join the police member retirement plan instead of their current plan. The bill establishes an election process for these employees to choose whether to adopt the police member coverage plan, which typically offers different retirement benefit structures. The amendment modifies PERA definitions to explicitly cover telecommunicators under the "municipal police member" category (as defined in Section 10-11-2). The bill is currently pending referral to Senate committees.

Topics ✓ Labor & Employment

Sub-Topics Retirement Benefits Tags Public Safety

signed · New Mexico · House Mar 4, 2026

HB 43: DISABILITY & SURVIVOR PENSIONS CHANGES

HB 43 amends New Mexico's Public Employees Retirement Act to clarify disability and survivor pension rules, including removing inconsistencies in survivor pension calculations. It creates a disability review committee within the retirement board to handle disability retirement claims. The bill also allows state fire members and other eligible public safety workers (like police officers) to earn retirement service credit during approved workers' compensation leave if their employer continues paying both employee and employer pension contributions. Technical changes are made to service credit purchase and reinstatement procedures for members.

Topics ✓ Labor & Employment

in committee · New Mexico · Senate Mar 24, 2026

SB 129: ADVERSE EMPLOYMENT ACTION & CANNABIS

SB 129 would expand New Mexico's employment protections for medical cannabis patients by prohibiting employers from taking adverse actions (like firing, demoting, or refusing to hire) based on conduct permitted under the Lynn and Erin Compassionate Use Act. It directly affects medical cannabis patients and employers, with key exceptions: the law does not apply to on-premises use during work hours, safety-sensitive jobs, or situations where federal law would be violated. The bill aims to clarify that employers cannot penalize patients for using medical cannabis outside work hours, as long as they remain qualified patients and comply with state law. This amendment updates existing protections in Section 26-2B-9 of the state code, though the bill was replaced by a committee substitute on February 5, 2026.

Topics ✓ Healthcare ✓ Labor & Employment

in committee · New Mexico · House Mar 24, 2026

HB 115: PROTECTIONS FOR NURSES INVOKING SAFE HARBOR

HB 115 (New Mexico, 2026) adds specific protections for nurses who invoke "safe harbor" when they believe an assignment is unsafe or question a medical order. It requires healthcare facilities to establish clear processes for nurses to formally request safe harbor (including written documentation and supervisor notification), conduct post-occurrence reviews involving other nurses, and prohibits retaliation like demotion or termination for good-faith requests. The bill directly affects nurses and healthcare facilities by mandating structured procedures to address safety concerns without fear of punishment. It focuses on concrete policy changes: standardizing safe harbor requests, documenting them, and explicitly banning workplace retaliation against nurses who use the process.

Topics ✓ Healthcare ✓ Labor & Employment

Sub-Topics Healthcare Workforce

passed · New Mexico · House Mar 24, 2026

HB 132: POLICE OFFICER WORKERS COMP CONDITIONS

HB 132 would create a legal presumption that specific health conditions are work-related for New Mexico police officers, directly affecting commissioned officers (including sheriffs, deputies, and certain missile range civilian police) who meet the eligibility criteria. The bill presumes that PTSD (after 20 years for pre-2013 hires, 25 years for later hires), back pain from wearing a duty belt, and heart issues (same timeframes) were caused by employment. Employers could rebut these presumptions with evidence showing non-work-related causes, but would initially cover medical treatment until a court rules otherwise. If a court finds the condition isn’t work-related, the employer’s insurer would be reimbursed by the officer’s health insurance plan.

Topics ✓ Labor & Employment

Sub-Topics Workers' Compensation

in committee · New Mexico · Senate Mar 24, 2026

SB 95: PROHIBIT ANTISEMITIC DISCRIMINATION

SB 95 prohibits antisemitic discrimination across New Mexico by amending the Human Rights Act. It defines "antisemitic" as hatred toward Jewish people (including verbal or physical acts against them or those perceived as Jewish, their property, or Jewish community spaces) and explicitly includes this form of bias under existing anti-discrimination protections. The bill applies to all entities covered by the Human Rights Act, including employers, public accommodations, government bodies, and their employees or contractors. It ensures individuals harmed by antisemitic discrimination can file claims through the established Human Rights Act process, without creating new enforcement mechanisms.

Topics ✓ Criminal Justice ✓ Labor & Employment

Sub-Topics Civil Rights

in committee · New Mexico · Senate Mar 24, 2026

SB 188: PAID PARENTAL LEAVE FOR SCHOOL EMPLOYEES

SB 188 creates a new law requiring New Mexico public school districts and charter schools to provide up to 12 weeks of paid parental leave to full-time school employees who have worked for 52 consecutive weeks. The leave covers birth, adoption, or foster care placement of a child, is paid at the employee’s regular rate, and must be used within a 52-week period. School districts will be reimbursed by the state for costs like substitute staff, and schools must report on employee demographics and leave usage annually. This law directly affects school employees and ensures job protection during leave without impacting retirement benefits or requiring leave exhaustion.

Topics ✓ Budget & Taxes ✓ Education ✓ Labor & Employment

Sub-Topics Teachers Paid Leave

in committee · New Mexico · Senate Mar 24, 2026

SB 120: LOCAL JOURNALIST EMPLOYMENT TAX CREDIT

SB 120 creates a tax credit for New Mexico local news organizations that employ journalists. It allows qualifying owners (individuals or businesses) to claim a credit equal to 30% of wages paid to each eligible journalist, capped at $50,000 per journalist annually. The credit applies to taxable years before 2031, with a total annual limit of $4 million across all credits. To qualify, a journalist must work at least 25% of the year for a local news organization that meets specific content, ownership, and audience requirements (e.g., publishing local stories or serving New Mexico audiences).

Topics ✓ Budget & Taxes ✓ Labor & Employment

Sub-Topics Business Taxes Income Tax Tax Credits

in committee · New Mexico · House Mar 24, 2026

HB 145: HIGH-WAGE JOB TAX CREDIT DATES

HB 145 extends the deadline for businesses to apply for New Mexico's High-Wage Jobs Tax Credit. The bill amends the existing tax code to require annual applications to be filed by December 31 of the year following the qualifying period, instead of the previous deadline. This credit allows eligible employers to claim 8.5% of wages for new high-wage jobs (capped at $12,750 per job), directly affecting businesses creating qualifying positions in New Mexico. The change simplifies the filing timeline but maintains all other eligibility rules, such as wage thresholds, occupancy requirements, and restrictions on jobs created through business mergers.

Topics ✓ Budget & Taxes ✓ Labor & Employment

Sub-Topics Business Taxes Tax Credits

signed · New Mexico · House Mar 4, 2026

HB 255: PUBLIC SAFETY WORKFORCE BUILDING PROGRAM

HB 255 creates a dedicated state fund to help counties and public safety agencies recruit and retain workers in law enforcement, firefighting, corrections, and public defender offices. The program provides competitive grants for recruitment bonuses, training, cross-jurisdictional collaboration, and equipment tied to workforce development - *not* for base salaries or new positions. Grant applicants must demonstrate how their initiatives address local staffing gaps, with priority given to areas with high vacancy rates or crime. All funds must be spent within two years, and grantees must submit annual progress reports to the state.

Topics ✓ Budget & Taxes ✓ Criminal Justice ✓ Labor & Employment

Sub-Topics State Budget Law Enforcement Public Employees Workforce Development Tags Public Safety

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