Labor & Employment (Public Safety)

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.

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.