A pay raise for congressional members is to be discussed by congress for the current fiscal year, as members negotiate a spending package ahead of the March 22 deadline.
Lawmakers are supposed to get automatic cost-of-living adjustments every year, but they’ve consistently blocked their own pay bumps every year since their last raise in 2009.
According to the latest U.S. Census Bureau figures, the average personal income level in New Mexico is $32,667. Rank-and-file members of the House and Senate are paid a $174,000 annual salary.
NMBC is a strong supporter of qualifications and job performance being what determines a person’s salary, not government mandates or pre-defined ‘cost of living’ raises. We asked New Mexicans to send their comments to us, letting us know if they would vote yes or no on these raises.
Listed below are comments that NMBC received on this topic:
- “NO to this raise.“
- “I vote NO. ‘We The People’ reward public officials with a raise for a job well-done. The politicians across party lines are representing polarizing interests that divide, ‘We The People’ rather than bring us together and thus, are not doing a good job. NO RAISES FOR politicians. They are small people who meet a small number of people’s needs in our country!“
- “NO to the increase. As a business owner I have not had any income increase since 2018.“
- “Definitely NO PAY RAISE FOR THE 5 NEW MEXICO MEMBERS OF CONGRESS. Most of the US Senate and Congress Representatives have not done their jobs. They have continued to waste the tax payers’ money excessively. They have not Balanced the US Budget in over 20 years, which is their PRIMARY JOB. They continue to spend their time and our money on numerous items that should NOT be on their agenda. They need to address Immigrants / the WALL / US Security / Illegal Voting / the ECONOMY – US CITIZENS Cost of Living- NOT just Theirs. The list is LONG and EVERYONE ALREADY KNOWS IT. Shut the Government Down until they do their jobs! NO RAISES UNTIL THEY DO THEIR JOBS.“
- “Not only no…but hell no! The legislators we have in Congress…have NOT CURBED SPENDING, they have not even attempted to balance the budget! The border is WIDE OPEN…and we are left to deal with the criminals that pouring into our country! As a Veteran, I am ANGRY at how Vets are treated so poorly and the ILLEGAL aliens are given FREE EVERYTHING! These NM Congressional cabal is RESPONSIBLE for the deaths of our military fighting men and women in Afghanistan. Along with EQUIPPING our enemies with 85 BILLION dollars worth of the finest equipment that the enemy will use to kill more of our fighting men and women! They should be prosecuted as traitors to our once Great Nation!“
- “No! None of them represent me!“
- “I definitely disagree with increasing Congressional salaries. Serving as a representative of the people is not intended for legislators to become wealthy. That’s one of the problems with our Congress now is that we have Career Politicians who are just saying what they can to get voted again to keep up their lavish lifestyle. Many of them have never worked on a real job to know what the people they’re representing need nor do they care. I vote a great big NO.“
- “A BIG FLAT NO! NM residents are already struggling economically and financially.“
- “No, they do not deserve a raise. They are not doing their job and are allowing Biden to initiate executive orders that are not in the best interests of our country. They are also allowing him to forgive student debt against the Supreme Court ruling. He (or those actually making the decisions) is putting rulings into practice that are the duties of Congress, not a single person, and Congress is standing by and allowing him to do so. We have the same thing happening in New Mexico. Our Legislators are allowing a single person to make decisions that belong to the Legislature. They are also not doing their job.“
- “When our leaders make 5.3X the average salary in the state and our state is consistently at the bottom of important categories, it becomes very difficult to believe that they are actually helping or doing their jobs. My vote is “NO” for them the have raises. Out of curiosity, how does our average congressional salary compare to other states’ salaries that are doing much better?”
- “No raise.”
- “I do not believe they need a raise. If they are representing New Mexicans then their pay should be on how they are helping our state. I am not naïve and understand they receive money from lobbyists but I think that is unethical and should not be allowed either. It’s time to represent our poor state and our poor citizens. Why when we are the wealthiest nation do we allow our citizens to go hungry and not have adequate housing yet we pay for all of the costs to feed and house people who come to our country illegally? It’s time to stand up for the citizens of New Mexico. They are not being helped by 2 million people a year crossing the southern border and fighting our poor citizens for the inadequate resources we have.”
