By Diego Lopez Reporter
CIBOLA COUNTY, N.M. – In 2015, in an attempt to streamline retirement salaries, several different divisions of the New Mexico State Police were merged. This merger changed the classification of several of NMSP officers from “police officer” to civilian. In the 2021 New Mexico State Legislature, State Senator George Munoz (D – Cibola, McKinley, San Juan) and State Representative Antonio Maestas (D – Bernalillo) sponsored Senate Bill 315 that corrected this issue.
SB315 was a bill designed to correct the fumble in 2015 that switched up the designations of more than 100 NMSP officers in the Department of Public Safety Motor Transportation and Special Investigations divisions from a “police officer” retirement plan, to a “civilian” retirement plan.
According to Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham’s office, the NMSP alerted the governor to this bill proposed by Sen. Munoz and Rep. Maestas and urged for the governor’s support. The governor helped steward the bill though both chambers of the legislature. The 2021 session was a 60-day session, giving the legislature time they needed to properly consider the bill that would affect the state’s budget.
On March 11 SB315 was considered by the New Mexico State Senate where it passed the chamber with a vote of 41-0 with one absence.
On March 19, the bill was considered by the New Mexico State House of Representatives where it passed with a vote of 67-0 with three absences.
Having passed both chambers of the legislature, the bill made its way to the governor’s desk where it was signed into law on April 5. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, a ceremony to celebrate the passage of the bill was delayed until June 23 where social distancing and other COVID-precautions were in place.
The bill will go into effect on July 1, changing 90 percent of the affected officers from the “civilian” classification they’ve been in, back to an “officer” classification for their retirement.
“I am deeply grateful to every single law enforcement representative in our state – but especially to the State Police officers who went so far above and beyond in protecting New Mexicans throughout the pandemic, working with local governments, delivering food and water, helping stand up and protect vaccination sites and so much more,” said Governor Lujan Grisham, “These men and women are clear about their duty. So, we need to be clear about our support for them. There are far too many examples in government where people get left behind – a glitch, a paperwork problem, someone isn’t paying attention somewhere else. We can’t allow those bureaucratic issues to ever prevent us from delivering first responders and public servants the benefits they work for and deserve. We made 90 State Police families whole with this bill. This is an important example of not messing around and simply fixing what needs to be fixed.”
NMSP Chief Robert Thornton said, “We all wear the same uniforms, we drive the same units, and we wear the same badge,” the chief added, “Now all of our officers will receive the same benefits they are entitled to. I’m grateful to the governor, I’m grateful to the Legislature, and I’m proud to lead a group of men and women who simply step up and do their duty for New Mexico communities every single day.”
Senator Munoz represents the western half of Cibola County in the NM Senate.