Governor Lujan Grisham Signs
Minimum Wage Bill
On Monday, Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham signed legislation to raise the statewide minimum wage considerably.
The state’s new minimum wage will go from $7.50 an hour today to $9 next January.
In her State of the State speech, Lujan Grisham made raising the minimum wage to $12-an-hour a priority and two proposals were put forward, one in the House and one in the Senate. NMACI supported an initial bill put forward by Sen. Clemente Sanchez.
Albuquerque, Las Cruces and Santa Fe already have minimum wages higher than the state’s minimum wage, and the new bill does not preclude home-rule cities from creating a higher wage.
The bill signed Monday raises the minimum wage on a fixed schedule annually:
Jan. 1, 2020: To $9
Jan. 1, 2021 to $10.50
Jan. 1, 2022 to $11.50
Jan. 1, 2023, to $12
Tipped employees will retain their tip credit, but their wages will also rise incrementally. An employer may consider tips a part of wages, but the tips and wages can’t equal less than the overall statewide minimum wage.
Through 2019, the wage will be $2.13.
After that, it will raise:
On Jan. 1, 2020, to $2.35.
On Jan. 1, 2021, to $2.55.
On Jan 1, 2022, to $2.80.
Eventually, it will reach $3 on Jan. 1, 2023.
Teens who are looking to gain work experience will also see a raise, though a much smaller one. Teens will see a raise to $8.50 an hour on Jan. 1, 2020.
