New Mexico legislature this week approved a constitutional amendment that will allow the state to pay its lawmakers. The measure still must be approved by voters in November; if approved it will remove New Mexico as the only state in the nation that does not pay its state senators and representatives. The prohibition against lawmakers’ pay has been in place since New Mexico became a state in 1912.
If approved, salaries will begin in 2029 at the state’s gross median annual income, which was $64,140 in 2024. (New Mexico lawmakers receive a per diem payment currently set at $202 per day, and they can qualify for a pension plan.)
Albuquerque Journal said a group of young female legislators led the push this year to adopt the idea of paying state lawmakers. Journal said the state’s legislature became majority female for the first time in 2024. The 23-19 vote in the Senate was largely along party lines, according to the Journal, with only one Republican voting to support the plan.