After Western New Mexico University issued a $1.9 million severance check to its former president around New Year’s Day, the state Department of Justice and lawmakers collaborated on a bill designed to prevent public higher ed institutions from handing out similar packages in the future.
The chance of that measure, Senate Bill-266, surviving the current legislative session now appears to be in jeopardy, after it was quickly tabled at the close of a Senate Education committee meeting on Tuesday.
Opponents of the measure who spoke during the meeting said it gives too much power to the state and could therefore endanger accreditation at schools and make it harder for them to hire future presidents.
Committee chair Bill Soules underscored that argument near the end of the meeting.
“ This bill, in my opinion, has already caused huge damage and harm to higher education," Soules said.
"Particularly those universities that are looking to hire new leaders. People are going to shy away from New Mexico when they know that who they're negotiating contracts with are not the ones they're really negotiating contracts with when there are these extra review processes that actually have oversight.”
HB-266 would require that some employment, separation, and settlement agreements in public higher ed be subjected to review by the State Board of Finance and, potentially, the Department of Justice.
Linda Siegel, board member at Santa Fe Community College, said that reviewing just settlement agreements could work, but that the hiring decisions should be left completely to college and university boards.
“ To hire a president requires so much thought about what kind of person that we need, where is their experience from? Are they gonna fit in with our cultures?" said Siegel.
"Our fiduciary responsibility as board members is to make sure within that we're within our budget and that we are getting the best person for the job, and the Board of Finance cannot determine that.”
Just before the vote to table, bill sponsor Senator George Muñoz conceded that the bill needs to be quote “tuned up a little bit.”
