Contact: Erika Martinez
(505)986-4819
Erika.Martinez@nmlegis.gov
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 7, 2014
Senators Carlos Cisneros and George Munoz Say Gov’s Veto of Judges’ Pay is an Infringement on Legislative Power
Santa Fe, NM – Senator Carlos Cisneros (D-6-Los Alamos, Rio Arriba, Santa Fe &Taos) says his joining a group of New Mexico judges who have asked the state Supreme Court to overturn Governor Susana Martinez’s veto of an 8 percent pay raise for judges is a matter of preserving the separation of powers. According to Sen. Cisneros, his qualms stem from the fact that the governor reduced the raise proposal to 5 percent, as well as her exploitation of executive power to overrule the legislature.
“This is not a question of salary, it’s a question of the executive intrusion into the legislative prerogative of appropriations,” said Sen. Cisneros. “This suit is intended to restore the proper balance of power, and the system of checks and balances created by the New Mexico Constitution.”
The petition to the Supreme Court filed by Sen. Cisneros, Sen. George Munoz (D-4- Cibola, McKinley & San Juan), several judges, the District Judges Association and the Magistrate Judges Association states that because the governor “exceeded the constitutional authority granted to her in N.M. Const. Art. IV, Sec. 22 in vetoing judicial salaries,” she created “a wholly unworkable piece of legislation that could not possibly withstand constitutional scrutiny.”
Sen. Cisneros said that the legislatively approved raises were intended to offset the lack of judicial salary increases during the recession. In 2013 the National Center for State Courts ranked New Mexico the lowest-paying jurisdiction for trial court judges in the country, at $112,746 per year.
“The legislative body is an appropriating body and it is our intent to give our judges a well deserved salary increase,” said Sen. Munoz. “We must be able to keep our salaries in line with other states so that we can retain and appoint the best qualified people in New Mexico.”
According to the Petition for Writ of Mandamus, the governor’s veto essentially eliminated salaries altogether for all district, metro and magistrate judges statewide.
“This suit challenges the governor’s attempt to usurp the powers that are constitutionally conferred upon the legislature,” said Ray Vargas, attorney representing the judges and legislators in the lawsuit. “In order to take politics out of the equation, and prevent one person from having ultimate authority over an entire branch of government, the New Mexico constitution explicitly requires that judicial pay be provided by the legislature. Following that constitutional mandate, the legislature passed a statute which requires that judicial pay be set, by the legislature, in an annual appropriation act. In this case, the governor has improperly exercised her limited, partial veto power. ”
Vargas believes that, should the legislators and judges be successful in the lawsuit, the Supreme Court’s ruling would clearly define the role of the governor, as well as the legislature, in establishing judicial pay.
A hearing for the Writ of Mandamus is scheduled on June 11, 2014 at 9:00 a.m. before the Supreme Court.
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