Work and Save – New Mexico State Treasurer’s Office

2024 Update

In 2020, House Bill 44, sponsored by Sen. Bill Tallman, Sen. Michael Padilla, Rep. Tomás Salazar, Rep. Christine Chandler, and Rep. Gail Armstrong, passed in the legislature and was signed into law by Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham. This legislation created the non-compensated New Mexico Work and Save Board which gives them powers and duties; allows for a voluntary savings program for private-sector employees, nonprofit employees, and self-employed individuals via a Roth Individual Retirement Account; allows for a web-based “retail” Retirement Savings Plan Marketplace; provides protection for covered employers; provides for confidentiality of participants and account information; and requires annual reports. The program is voluntary for both employers and employees.

A Request For Proposal was created during the previous administration, but no one expressed interest. It was later stated that in order for the program to be successful, it needed to be mandated to require all business to participate with the option to opt out. Legislation was proposed in 2022 and 2023 to require specific employers to register as participating employers, automatically enrolling their employees in the New Mexico Work and Save IRA Program and allowing employees to opt out of automatic enrollment. That legislation did not move forward. There was also legislation introduced to remove Work and Save from the Treasurer’s Office. That legislation did not move forward either.

Therefore, the New Mexico Work and Save program is not currently operational and has been delayed.

Overview

When it comes to saving for retirement:

62% of private-sector New Mexico workers age 18 to 64 work for businesses that do not offer a retirement plan.
67% of private-sector workers in New Mexico have $0 saved for retirement, which is a larger percentage than the national average.
More than 50% of all older New Mexicans rely on Social Security income for more than 50% of their family income.
Approximately 33% of New Mexicans aged 65 or older rely on Social Security income for more than 90% of their family income.
Social Security benefits average only about $1,160 per month in New Mexico, so many workers rely on employer-sponsored retirement plans to supplement their income as they age.
The number of New Mexicans 60+ years old who’ve saved less than $10,000 for retirement will increase by 111,500, to 469,000, by 2040.

State Treasurer Tim Eichenberg, along with trusted advisers like AARP New Mexico and Think New Mexico, realized that this was not healthy for our citizens nor sustainable for state government.

In 2020, House Bill 44, sponsored by Sen. Bill Tallman and Rep. Tomás Salazar, along with Rep. Christine Chandler, Rep. Gail Armstrong, and Sen. Michael Padilla, created the New Mexico Work and Save Act. This legislation creates the non-compensated New Mexico Work and Save Board, and gives them powers and duties; allows for a voluntary savings program for private-sector and nonprofit employees and the self-employed via a Roth Individual Retirement Account; also allows for a web-based “retail” Retirement Savings Plan Marketplace; provides protection for covered employers; provides for confidentiality of participants and account information; and requires annual reports. The program is voluntary for both employers and employees. Another component of the New Mexico Saves Act is financial education for both employees and employers. You can read that legislation here. https://nmlegis.gov/Sessions/20%20Regular/final/HB0044.pdf

In the 2021 Legislative Session, Sen. Tallman carried Senate Bill 129, which was enacted. SB 129 contained revisions to the original Work and Save Act. Among the revisions is an extension of time for the Board to design and implement the Marketplace and the IRA program. The new deadline is July 1, 2024.

Board Members

Cindy Bryan—Board Chair

Cindy Bryan is a forward-thinking small business consultant with a demonstrated history of partnering with businesses to find unique solutions that blend familiar tasks with the speed and convenience of modern technology. During her nearly 30 years of experience in public accounting, she has partnered and led a full range of accounting, tax, consulting, audit, and client accounting services.

Ms. Bryan’s passion is serving a client base of oil & gas industry support services companies, working interest owners, small operators, and a wide range of local businesses to meet their goals. She is the immediate past chair of the Hobbs Chamber of Commerce Executive Committee. She uses this industry knowledge in her client and internal training. In addition to training on taxation, accounting, and auditing, she holds general leadership classes for a number of professional associations and business executives, including the Economic Development Corporation of Lea County, chambers of commerce, and local boards of realtors. She has also written articles for various trade publications.

Ms. Bryan’s audit experience includes local governmental agencies, particularly school districts and municipalities. She has provided the technical review of the financial statements for government entities, banks, hospitals, nonprofits, construction contractors, and SEC registrants. She has also performed desk reviews of financial statements of governmental entities for the New Mexico Office of the State Auditor.

Othiamba Umi, JD—Board Vice Chair

Othiamba Umi is the Associate State Director for Advocacy for AARP New Mexico. He is a licensed New Mexico attorney and has extensive experience in lobbying and policy work. Mr. Umi is passionate about improving the lives of New Mexicans. In his previous role as field director for Think New Mexico, he helped coordinate grassroots organizing and coalition-building efforts, especially regarding retirement security and social mobility issues. Before his advocacy work, Othiamba was an assistant trial attorney with the Second Judicial District Attorney’s Office.

Othiamba holds a degree in psychology and Spanish from the University of New Mexico and is a graduate of the University of New Mexico School of Law. He currently serves as a board member for the New Mexico Lottery Authority and is a member of the Santa Fe Food Depot Advocacy Committee.

Connor Browne, CFA

Connor Browne is a founder and the CEO of City Different Investments, a new investment management firm based in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Previously he led the New Mexico Recovery Fund, L.P., a state-backed emergency lending program run by Sun Mountain Capital. He moved to Santa Fe in 2001 and worked at Thornburg Investment Management until early 2020. He was a portfolio manager on a number of equity funds and strategies while at Thornburg. He has a BA in Economics from Princeton University and is a CFA charterholder.

Mr. Browne has supported many non-profit organizations in New Mexico, especially Big Brothers Big Sisters Mountain Region, where he volunteered as a big brother and served as Board President; and Reading Quest, where he currently serves as Board Chair.

Mr. Browne and his wife, Christina, an emergency room physician at the University of New Mexico, are particularly focused on helping to create better opportunities for at-risk youth. They have four daughters and an adopted son and can’t imagine a better place to raise their family.

Carter Bundy

Carter Bundy has been with the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Political Action Department for almost 20 years, 19 in New Mexico. He is currently AFSCME International’s Political Action Representative for New Mexico, Arizona, and Nevada, and has been involved in retirement security policy and legislation since 2004.

Previously he was a State Director on the Gore 2000 campaign and a lawyer in New York City handling pro bono worker rights cases and commercial litigation. Mr. Bundy graduated from the University of Virginia and Berkeley Law at the University of California, Berkeley.

Mr. Bundy served on the Retirement Income Security Task Force that provided recommendations to the legislature, culminating in passage of House Bill 44, the New Mexico Work and Save Act.

Melissa Coleman

Melissa Coleman assumed ownership and management of La Puerta Originals, Inc., in January 2004 and is the President and CEO. Ms. Coleman held various management positions with the predecessor company, La Puerta Architectural Antiques, from 2000 to 2004. Prior to that she was managing partner of Chance Companies, LLC, an investment and real estate holding company.

Ms. Coleman’s professional career includes Director of Campaign and Development for the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe, New Mexico; Director of Development for the National Museum of the American Indian, Smithsonian Institution, New York; and Campaign and Communications Manager for United Ways in New York, Chicago, and Memphis.

Ms. Coleman holds a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism from the University of Memphis, Tennessee. Her community involvement includes Foundation Board Member for the Institute of American Indian Art, Board President of the Santa Fe Waldorf School, and membership in other non-profit organizations in the Santa Fe community. She is the mother of Chance and Story and wife to Scott.

Eric C. Quintana

Eric Quintana is the CEO of Performance Maintenance, Inc. (PMI) in Española. He and his wife, Celina Urquilla, founded PMI in 1994. The company’s 10,000-square-foot headquarters—soon to be 17,000 square feet—includes a retail warehouse and distribution center and employs 160 employees. PMI provides services regionally and sells supplies across the continental United States. Through its green solution system, PMI uses environmentally certified products, utilizes and sells recycled paper products, and operates equipment with less environmental impact. PMI has developed and distributes its own line of Green-It environmentally safe products.

Mr. Quintana earned an Associate of Applied Science degree in Machine Tool Technology at Northern New Mexico Community College. Under his leadership PMI has received the Entrepreneurial Success Award from the New Mexico Small Business Development Center, the HUBZone Small Business of the Year Award from the U.S. Department of Energy, Business of the Year from the Española Valley Chamber of Commerce. PMI is a successful graduate of the U.S Small Business Administration’s 8(a) program.

Eric and Celina Quintana have two sons, Eric Jr. and Daven, who work alongside their parents and will lead PMI into the future.

Lorin Saavedra

Lorin Saavedra brings to the New Mexico Work & $ave Board more than 15 years of leadership and accounting experience in banking, hospitality, and manufacturing. She is adept at strategic planning, creating efficiencies, and taking a proactive approach to add value for her clients. As an Outsourced Chief Financial Officer at REDW, she serves clients who are seeking more guidance to better plan for the future, helping to bridge the gap between the provision of accounting and tax planning services and the more extensive financial analysis and consulting.

Ms. Saavedra is a native New Mexican who holds a Bachelor of Accountancy from New Mexico State University. She serves as Treasurer on the board of Locker 505 (a non-profit children’s clothing bank), as an Executive Committee member of the American Heart Association’s Go Red for Women initiative, and as a Legislative Review Committee member for Viante New Mexico. She was named a 2019 “40 Under 40” by Albuquerque Business First magazine in recognition of her community service and business influence.

Retirement Savings Symposium

On September 20, 2022, New Mexico Work and Save held the Retirement $avings $ymposium at the University of New Mexico. Here are the agenda plus some of the presentations from that event:

The New Mexico Retirement Savings Symposium Agenda
The Pew Charitable Trusts, New Mexico Presentation, September 2022
UNM BBER Retirement Savings Gap – Updated Research

Meeting Information and Minutes

Canceled: Special Meeting January 5, 2023 | Agenda | Minutes

November 10, 2022 | Agenda | Minutes

September 8, 2022 | Agenda | Minutes

July 7, 2022 | Agenda | Minutes

May 5, 2022 | Agenda | Minutes

March 3, 2022 | Agenda | Minutes

January 18, 2022 | Agenda | Minutes
UNM BBER Presentation
UNM BBER Study
Boston College CRR Presentation
Boston College CRR Study, Part A
Boston College CRR Study, Part B

December 2, 2021 | Agenda | Minutes

November 4, 2021 | Agenda | Minutes
Memorandum of Cooperation between New Mexico and Colorado

August 26, 2021 | Agenda | Minutes

June 30, 2021 | Agenda | Minutes

June 10, 2021 | Agenda | Minutes

May 27, 2021 | CANCELED

April 29, 2021 | Agenda | Minutes

March 25, 2021 | Agenda | Minutes

December 16, 2020 | Agenda | Minutes

November 19, 2020 | Agenda | Minutes

October 28, 2020 | Agenda | Minutes

Board Resolutions and Charters

No. 01-22, Open Meetings Act Resolution

No. 01-20, Open Meetings Act Resolution

No. 02-20, Authority During Legislative Session Resolution

No. 03-20, 2021 Authority to Revise Legislation Resolution

Resolution of Appreciation to DeAnza Valencia, JD

Board Charter

Education and Outreach Committee Charter

Funding and Project Management Committee Charter

Rules Committee Charter

Annual Reports

2021 Annual Report

Contact

If you would like to be informed of any developments with New Mexico Work and Save, please click here to subscribe to our mailing list. We’ll send you occasional updates and board meeting notices.

If you have questions about New Mexico Work and Save, please contact Janice at Janice.Barela@sto.nm.gov, or call (505) 955-1120.

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