This year marks the New Mexico Legislature’s third attempt to raise the salaries of their coequal branch of government in the judiciary. Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham has vetoed raises for state Supreme Court justices and most lower court judges two years in a row. But a change to this year’s bill may gain the governor’s support.
Last year, the governor said she vetoed judicial raises in part because the bill tied the salaries to those of federal judges, which she said could prove “problematic” in the future. The year before that, she didn’t give a reason for pocket vetoing the bill.
Senate Bill 70 sponsor Democratic Sen. Joseph Cervantes (D-Las Cruces) told his colleagues on the Senate Finance Committee Thursday that, against his better judgment, he took that provision out of this year’s version.
“The earlier way was superior,” he said. “And I’ll just tell you we’re trying to get the governor satisfied.”
The raises would amount to a 21% bump, according to the Administrative Office of the Courts. New Mexico Supreme Court justices’ pay would become equal to federal district court judges at $232,600.
“We’re kind of taking just about the lowest level of the federal system and making that essentially equivalent to the highest level of our state,” he explained.
The concern about not indexing the amount to the federal rate is that state lawmakers will have to come back to the table to bump the pay again in the future.
Lower court judges other than magistrates would also get a raise since they make a percentage of what the justices do.
Cervantes said the raises could help the New Mexico judiciary better compete for talent.
“We’re trying to get more experienced judges on the bench,” he said. “Right now, if you’re a public defender or district attorney, you’d see a pretty significant salary increase. But if you’re in private practice, we’re not attracting people with experience.”
Sen. George Muñoz (D-Gallup) took issue with the bill not tying judicial pay to performance, which he said is lacking.
“We’ve got a big problem with crime and performance for judges is going to be top of my list,” he said. “Maybe I’ll put it somewhere in another statute or bill that will come across, but performance needs to happen.”
Cervantes warned against painting New Mexico judges with a broad brush, offering to work with Muñoz to take up the issue of performance in the interim session when there is more time.
Meanwhile, Sen. Jeff Steinborn (D-Las Cruces) pointed out after the vote what he called “the disconnect” of lawmakers not being paid a salary at all.
“This branch of government continues to be given the short shrift,” he said of the Legislature. “And I would ask the question, do we have a hard time getting good people?”
A bill to create an independent commission to set legislative salaries for the only unpaid Legislature in the country is being heard this session.
The judicial raises proposal passed unanimously out of committee and now goes to the full Senate for consideration. If approved, it will start the process over again on the House side, where a similar bill is already working its way through. Another that would tie the raises to inflation has yet to be heard.
