SANTA FE — A proposal to tie annual increases to New Mexico’s $12 an hour minimum wage to inflation has hit a dead-end at the Roundhouse.
The House Commerce and Economic Development Committee voted 6-4 on Monday to table the measure, with two Democratic lawmakers joining the panel’s four Republicans in voting to stall the proposal.
While it could still be revived before the 60-day legislative session ends next month, the bill’s sponsor, Rep. Miguel P. Garcia, D-Albuquerque, said in an interview after the vote that it’s likely dead.
“The votes aren’t there,” Garcia told the Journal. “I don’t see this initiative moving forward this session.”
New Mexico’s minimum wage increased to $12 an hour last month under the final step-up mandated by a 2019 bill. Before that bill took effect, the state’s minimum wage had been set at $7.50 per hour for roughly a decade.
But two separate measures filed during this year’s session authorizing additional wage increases have encountered opposition from business groups, who have argued they would represent another body blow after the COVID-19 pandemic and last year’s enactment of a paid sick leave requirement.
In an attempt to blunt those concerns, Garcia proposed an amendment to his bill, House Bill 28, limiting annual adjustments to no more than 4% — even if inflation increased by greater than that amount in a certain year.
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