Bill > HJR8

This Joint Resolution proposes to amend the New Mexico Constitution to establish an independent "citizen commission on legislative salaries" composed of nine public members appointed by various legislative leaders and the state ethics commission, with specific diversity requirements and restrictions on who can serve to ensure impartiality. This commission will be responsible for setting, adjusting, and limiting the salaries of state legislators, taking into account factors like state revenue, economic forecasts, and other compensation received by lawmakers, while ensuring salaries are at least the statewide median household income and that any single adjustment does not exceed ten percent. The commission must issue a final report every four years, which, if approved by at least five members, will take effect unless rejected by voters through a process similar to the existing referendum on laws, requiring a significant percentage of signatures from across the state. This resolution also amends existing constitutional provisions to allow for this public disapproval process to apply to the commission's salary determinations and to clarify that legislators will receive a salary set by this commission in addition to per diem and mileage for legislative sessions and interim committee meetings, and no other compensation.