NM
New Mexico Senate Bill SB173

New Mexico 2025 Regular Session

New Mexico Senate Bill SB173 Compare Versions

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2828 SENATE BILL 173
2929 57
3030 TH LEGISLATURE
3131 -
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3333 STATE
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3535 OF
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3737 NEW
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3939 MEXICO
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4242 FIRST SESSION
4343 ,
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4545 2025
4646 INTRODUCED BY
4747 David M. Gallegos and Antonio Maestas
4848 AN ACT
4949 RELATING TO PUBLIC EMPLOYEE RETIREMENT; INCLUDING PUBLIC SAFETY
5050 TELECOMMUNICATORS AS POLICE MEMBERS UNDER THE PUBLIC EMPLOYEES
5151 RETIREMENT ACT; PROVIDING FOR ELECTIONS PERTAINING TO THE
5252 ADOPTION OF THE POLICE MEMBER COVERAGE PLANS FOR CURRENT PUBLIC
5353 SAFETY TELECOMMUNICATORS.
5454 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO:
5555 SECTION 1. Section 10-11-2 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1987,
5656 Chapter 253, Section 2, as amended) is amended to read:
5757 "10-11-2. DEFINITIONS.--As used in the Public Employees
5858 Retirement Act:
5959 A. "accumulated member contributions" means the
6060 amounts deducted from the salary of a member and credited to
6161 the member's individual account, together with interest, if
6262 any, credited to that account;
6363 .228867.1 underscored material = new
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9090 B. "affiliated public employer" means the state and
9191 any public employer affiliated with the association as provided
9292 in the Public Employees Retirement Act, but does not include an
9393 employer pursuant to the Magistrate Retirement Act, the
9494 Judicial Retirement Act or the Educational Retirement Act;
9595 C. "association" means the public employees
9696 retirement association established under the Public Employees
9797 Retirement Act;
9898 D. "coverage plan funded ratio" means the ratio of
9999 the actuarial value of the assets of a coverage plan to the
100100 actuarial accrued liability of the association for payments
101101 from the coverage plan, as determined by the association's
102102 actuaries;
103103 E. "disability retired member" means a retired
104104 member who is receiving a pension pursuant to the disability
105105 retirement provisions of the Public Employees Retirement Act;
106106 F. "disability retirement pension" means the
107107 pension paid pursuant to the disability retirement provisions
108108 of the Public Employees Retirement Act;
109109 G. "educational retirement system" means that
110110 retirement system provided for in the Educational Retirement
111111 Act;
112112 H. "employee" means any employee of an affiliated
113113 public employer;
114114 I. "federal social security program" means that
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143143 program or those programs created and administered pursuant to
144144 the act of congress approved August 14, 1935, Chapter 531, 49
145145 Stat. 620, as that act may be amended;
146146 J. "final average salary" means the final average
147147 salary calculated in accordance with the provisions of the
148148 applicable coverage plan;
149149 K. "form of payment" means the applicable form of
150150 payment of a pension provided for in Section 10-11-117 NMSA
151151 1978;
152152 L. "former member" means a person who was
153153 previously employed by an affiliated public employer, who has
154154 terminated that employment and who has received a refund of
155155 member contributions;
156156 M. "fund" means the funds included under the Public
157157 Employees Retirement Act;
158158 N. "member" means a currently employed,
159159 contributing employee of an affiliated public employer, or a
160160 person who has been but is not currently employed by an
161161 affiliated public employer, who has not retired and who has not
162162 received a refund of member contributions; "member" also
163163 includes the following:
164164 (1) "adult correctional officer member" means
165165 a member who is employed as an adult correctional officer or an
166166 adult correctional officer specialist by a state correctional
167167 facility of the corrections department or its successor agency;
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196196 (2) "adult probation and parole officer
197197 member" means a member who is employed as a probation and
198198 parole officer by the corrections department or its successor
199199 agency;
200200 (3) "juvenile correctional officer member"
201201 means a member who is employed as a juvenile correctional
202202 officer by the children, youth and families department or its
203203 successor agency;
204204 (4) "juvenile probation and parole officer
205205 member" means a member who is employed as a probation and
206206 parole officer by the children, youth and families department
207207 or its successor agency;
208208 (5) "municipal detention officer member" means
209209 a member who is employed by an affiliated public employer other
210210 than the state and who has inmate custodial responsibilities at
211211 a facility used for the confinement of persons charged with or
212212 convicted of a violation of a law or ordinance;
213213 (6) "municipal fire member" means any member
214214 who is employed as a full-time nonvolunteer firefighter by an
215215 affiliated public employer, other than the state, and who has
216216 taken the oath prescribed for firefighters;
217217 (7) "municipal police member" means any member
218218 who is employed as a:
219219 (a) police officer by an affiliated
220220 public employer, other than the state, and who has taken the
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249249 oath prescribed for police officers; or
250250 (b) public safety telecommunicator by an
251251 affiliated public employer, other than the state;
252252 (8) "state fire member" means any member who
253253 is employed as a nonvolunteer firefighter of the state and who
254254 has taken the oath prescribed for firefighters; and
255255 (9) "state police member" means a member who
256256 is:
257257 (a) an officer of the New Mexico state
258258 police division and who has taken the oath prescribed for such
259259 officers and shall include a member who is an officer of the
260260 New Mexico state police division and who was certified and
261261 commissioned in the former motor transportation division or the
262262 former special investigations division of the department of
263263 public safety; or
264264 (b) a public safety telecommunicator
265265 employed by the state;
266266 O. "membership" means membership in the
267267 association;
268268 P. "pension" means a series of monthly payments to
269269 a retired member or survivor beneficiary as provided in the
270270 Public Employees Retirement Act;
271271 Q. "public employer" means the state, any
272272 municipality, city, county, metropolitan arroyo flood control
273273 authority, economic development district, regional housing
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302302 authority, soil and water conservation district, entity created
303303 pursuant to a joint powers agreement, council of government,
304304 conservancy district, irrigation district, water and sanitation
305305 district, water district and metropolitan water board,
306306 including the boards, departments, bureaus and agencies of a
307307 public employer, so long as these entities fall within the
308308 meaning of governmental plan as that term is used in Section
309309 414(d) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended;
310310 R. "refund beneficiary" means a supplemental needs
311311 trust or a natural person designated by the member, in writing,
312312 in the form prescribed by the association, as the trust or
313313 person that would be refunded the member's accumulated member
314314 contributions payable if the member dies and no survivor
315315 pension is payable or that would receive the difference between
316316 pension paid and accumulated member contributions if the
317317 retired member dies before receiving in pension payments the
318318 amount of the accumulated member contributions;
319319 S. "retire" means to:
320320 (1) terminate employment with all employers
321321 covered by any state system or the educational retirement
322322 system; and
323323 (2) receive a pension from a state system or
324324 the educational retirement system;
325325 T. "retired member" means a person who has met all
326326 requirements for retirement and who is receiving a pension from
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355355 the fund;
356356 U. "retirement board" means the retirement board
357357 provided for in the Public Employees Retirement Act;
358358 V. "salary" means the base salary or wages paid a
359359 member, including longevity pay, for personal services rendered
360360 an affiliated public employer. "Salary" shall not include
361361 overtime pay, unless the overtime payment is required for a
362362 regular scheduled tour of duty as set forth in Section 207(k)
363363 of Title 29 of the United States Code and is made on the
364364 regular payroll for the period represented by that payment,
365365 allowances for housing, clothing, equipment or travel, payments
366366 for unused sick leave, unless the unused sick leave payment is
367367 made through continuation of the member on the regular payroll
368368 for the period represented by that payment, and any other form
369369 of remuneration not specifically designated by law as included
370370 in salary for Public Employees Retirement Act purposes. Salary
371371 in excess of the limitations set forth in Section 401(a)(17) of
372372 the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, shall be
373373 disregarded. The limitation on compensation for eligible
374374 employees shall not be less than the amount that was allowed to
375375 be taken into account under the state retirement system acts in
376376 effect on July 1, 1993. For purposes of this subsection,
377377 "eligible employee" means an individual who was a member of a
378378 state system before the first plan year beginning after
379379 December 31, 1995;
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408408 W. "state system" means the retirement programs
409409 provided for in the Public Employees Retirement Act, the
410410 Magistrate Retirement Act and the Judicial Retirement Act;
411411 X. "state retirement system acts" means
412412 collectively the Public Employees Retirement Act, the
413413 Magistrate Retirement Act, the Judicial Retirement Act and the
414414 Volunteer Firefighters Retirement Act;
415415 Y. "supplemental needs trust" means a valid third-
416416 party irrevocable trust that is authorized by the federal
417417 Social Security Act, as amended, for the sole benefit and
418418 lifetime of a trust beneficiary who is disabled and is created
419419 for the purpose of providing, accounting for or receiving
420420 supplemental assets that do not supplant, impair or diminish
421421 any benefits or assistance of any federal, state or other
422422 government entity for which the beneficiary would otherwise be
423423 eligible; and
424424 Z. "survivor beneficiary" means a supplemental
425425 needs trust or a natural person that receives a pension or that
426426 has been designated to be paid a pension as a result of the
427427 death of a member or retired member."
428428 SECTION 2. TEMPORARY PROVISION--MUNICIPAL POLICE MEMBER
429429 COVERAGE PLAN 5--PUBLIC SAFETY TELECOMMUNICATORS--ELECTION.--On
430430 or before December 30, 2025, the retirement board provided for
431431 in the Public Employees Retirement Act shall conduct an
432432 election to submit to municipal police members currently
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461461 contributing under a municipal general member coverage plan the
462462 question of adopting municipal police member coverage plan 5.
463463 The election shall be conducted in accordance with procedures
464464 adopted by the retirement board, and the retirement board shall
465465 certify the results of the election to the secretary of state
466466 on or before January 1, 2026.
467467 SECTION 3. TEMPORARY PROVISION--STATE PUBLIC SAFETY
468468 MEMBER COVERAGE PLAN 1--PUBLIC SAFETY TELECOMMUNICATORS--
469469 ELECTION.--On or before December 30, 2025, the retirement board
470470 provided for in the Public Employees Retirement Act shall
471471 conduct an election to submit to state police members currently
472472 contributing under state general member coverage plan 3 the
473473 question of adopting state public safety member coverage plan
474474 1. The election shall be conducted in accordance with
475475 procedures adopted by the retirement board, and the retirement
476476 board shall certify the results of the election to the
477477 secretary of state on or before January 1, 2026.
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