The New Mexico Senate Finance Committee narrowly passed S.B. 11 by Sen. Mimi Stewart (D-Bernalillo), which would create “ a 12-week Paid Family Medical Leave (PFML) benefit for nearly all workers in the state,” according to the bill’s fiscal impact report.
“The bill would require employee contributions of 0.5 percent and employer contributions of 0.4 percent of wages into the newly established PFML fund.” However, businesses with five employees or fewer would be exempt.
Sen. George Muñoz (D-Gallup) joined the four Republicans on the panel to reject the bill, although it squeaked by on a 6-5 vote.
According to the Albuquerque Journal, Sen. William Sharer (R-Farmington) said, “We want to be compassionate. We just don’t want to have our hands tied about how compassionate we have to be.”
Terri Cole, the president and CEO of the Greater Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce, said during testimony, “If you pass this bill, New Mexico will become more corporate and less unique.”
The Journal noted, “Specifically, the bill analysis projected the fund could face a $516 million deficit by the 2028 budget year — a figure that could cause the state Workforce Solutions Department to order an increase in the premium amount that businesses and employees would have to pay into the fund.”
Democrat Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham has not yet endorsed the bill, although it is likely she would if it came to her desk.
Leftists have been ramming extreme bills through this session, including proposals to force public bodies to facilitate abortions and transgender surgeries (H.B. 7), new gun bans (H.B. 9), bills to weaken New Mexico elections (H.B. 4), and eco-left bills (H.B. 95), which have already passed the House.
S.B. 11 now heads to the Senate floor for a full vote, and if it is successful, it will need to pass the House in the fewer than four weeks left in the 2023 Legislative Session.
I came from a COS meeting which turned into a discussion of the socialist left in NM going super woke. The word in Santa Fe is supposedly the Democratic Party is using NM as a test ground to push all their woke agenda. what ever sticks they will use the same tactics across the nation. If it does not take they will re work it until it does. NMs need to wake up or NM will lead the nation in wokisms, just like we lead the nation in all most every category in being last. THERE IS A REASON WHY THEY WANT TO PUNISH COUNTIES IF THEY DO NOT COMPLY WITH THIER WOKENESS. NM is taking away our rights to fight back. It is time to fight back or move.
I’ve been fighting this BS going on 4 years now. It’s hard to get through mentally to people still wearing masks and believing the covid stories. I refuse to leave…because that is cowardly. Notice Californians are fleeing that state and coming here? Don’t make it easy for them.
The problem w New Mexico is most of the population is on government payroll or welfare, so they are compliant with any government order. The “conservatives” are cowards who just wait until they can retire and collect pension. They love money more than liberty. I watch them roll over for years now, there are a lot of cowards who call themselves patriots.
The Republican party won’t save us unfortunately.
Your absolutely correct. The STAND UP against Tyranny happened 20 + years ago but the People ridiculed those that did this and tried to teach these Constitutional remedies. After the Republicans rallied to push through the Patriot Act, that sealed america’s fate.
More small business will fold under this bill. They are not addressing any of the important problems this state is facing. We desperately need real voting so we can get real people in elected positions.
We had a real shot to fix a lot of things in this last election. SO MANY people supported Bedonie — who I feel was paid to split the vote and create distraction — because they wouldn’t vote for “Wrongchetti.” IDIOTS!!!!! What they failed to realize is that if we were able to get Ronchetti in, we would have also gotten Ant Thornton. Look at his background and tell me that he wouldn’t have been able to do great things in that office. Audrey Trujillo as SoS would have also fought for election integrity, because she clearly sees the problems and knows how to fix them. Instead, we have Maggie Screwloose Oliver for another term, telling us what is or is not “misinformation.” and also auditing the results of her own election. That fox is guarding the henhouse while she snacks from the feed bag.
Republicans needed to get out and vote! If every registered Republican voted in the last election, we would have defeated all of the shadiness with the mail-ins and machine tampering and NONE of this would be happening. Most of the woke folk would have been voted out. Grisham most of all.
You are correct, Bee. We remain the minority party in a Socialist state because more than 50% of registered Republicans don’t bother to vote. Their claim to conservative ideals, family values and fiscal responsibility means nothing when they don’t care enough to even vote.
This truth hurts…
It does and it will get even more painful!
The Secretary of State who is running elections in conjunction with machines with built-in backdoors amd wireless cellular connectivity… good luck with voting in a Communist State.
The politicians no longer represent us. They are a separate entity working to destroy us. All we do is watch them do whatever they want in Santa Fe. They are criminal communists. We don’t even have a say in our own land. We must stop following lawless orders and criminal laws. Stop obeying.
I am watching legislation from inside the House and I can say from keen observation that the Democrats vote like a hivemind. Rarely do they think for themselves and vote outside their party regardless of how determintal this is for their constituents. I doubt if even a very few Dems research (beyond the mandatory, woke material) and understand the bills they are promoting. I think it is the ones at the very top, like our Governor, who actually do understand the evil they are promoting and, yes, are tipping towards communism, and worse.
Public servants are just that, SERVANTS. The People here are complicit in the obedience and punishment. Just look how they raise their children – with an iron fist! So the people are used to being told what to do, how to do it, and punished for not complying. NM’s will never revolt against the tyranny, unfortunately. Voting either party means nothing – they are placing the people in office and eluding the masses to THINK voting counts. Voting has not counted since JFK.