Contact: Erika Martinez
(505) 986-4819
Erika.Martinez@nmlegis.gov
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 5, 2014
Voters in Favor of Constitutional Amendment 5
Sponsor Senator Tim Keller Thanks Public for Investing in State Education
Santa Fe, NM – Voters have said “yes” to Constitutional Amendment 5, lifting the current 15 percent cap on international investments out of the Land Grant Permanent Fund. Constitutional Amendment 5 will allow the State Investment Council to secure more funding for the Permanent Land Grant Fund and help New Mexico increase investment returns. The annual return will increase by approximately .8 percent, as well as increase the Land Grant Permanent Fund by over $1 billion in 10 years.
“I’m very pleased that the people voted in favor of this constitutional amendment,” said legislation sponsor, Senate Majority Whip Tim Keller (D-17-Bernalillo), who also came out victorious in his race for State Auditor this year. “By supporting this amendment, the public is supporting our state educational endowment by enabling more dollars for our schools.”
In a release from early October by the Senate Democrats, Sen. Keller explained that by growing the permanent fund, a stronger case is made for future investments in early childhood education, and new funds will be provided to continue keeping teacher salaries at current levels, while leaving the corpus size unchanged.
“By voting ‘yes’ the public has allowed for more investments to be put into the wellbeing of New Mexico’s current and future generations,” Sen. Keller said. “I just want to thank the voters for getting out there and taking action on such an important issue. Without their votes, our state would not have the opportunity to progress. Every voice counts and I’m grateful New Mexico citizens used their voices when it came to this bipartisan amendment.”
###