Kintigh Will Try to Reform Lawmaker Retirement...Again

Dennis Kintigh

Alamogordo Daily News - Unpaid legislator is a term closer to fiction than fact. New Mexico's lawmakers, called citizen legislators because they work for no salary, still qualify for state pensions after five years in office. Rep. Dennis Kintigh says the system is a too generous toward those in power. Kintigh, R-Roswell, has filed two bills to reform laws that potentially will provide pensions for himself, the other 111 sitting legislators and the lieutenant governor. One of his bills would raise the minimum age to 62 for legislators to collect state pensions. Currently, a legislator of any age with at least 14 years of service qualifies for a state pension. "I just don't think it's right that people in their 40s or 50s can receive a retirement benefit like that," Kintigh said in an interview. His other bill would increase a legislator's contributions toward his or her pension from $500 to $600 a year. Kintigh is reviving that measure. It cleared the House of Representatives last year before being amended in the Senate and then dying as the session expired. Kintigh, who turns 60 this year, said he is not opposed to legislators receiving a pension at a typical retirement age. He himself is contributing $500 annually to the fund in hopes that he someday will draw a pension check. Read full story here: News New Mexico

Kintigh Will Try to Reform Lawmaker Retirement...Again