A. The department of finance and administration shall prepare, by December 1 of each year, an exempt salaries plan for the governor's approval. The plan shall specify salary ranges for the following public officer and public employee positions of the executive branch of government:

(1) members of boards and commissions appointed by the governor;

(2) heads of agencies or departments appointed by the governor;

(3) heads of agencies or departments appointed by the respective boards and commissions of the agencies;

(4) directors of department divisions;

(5) employees in the governor's office;

(6) positions in the state militia and the commissioned officers of the New Mexico state police division of the department of public safety;

(7) assistants and secretaries in the offices of each official covered by Paragraphs (2), (3) and (10) of this subsection;

(8) positions of a professional or scientific nature which are temporary in nature;

(9) state employees whose positions the personnel board has classified as policy-making positions and exempt employees of elective public officials; and

(10) secretaries of departments appointed by the governor.

B. Excluded from the provisions of this section are employees of the commission on higher education and employees of state educational institutions named in Article 12, Section 11 of the constitution of New Mexico.

C. The exempt salaries plan for the ensuing fiscal year, as prepared by the department of finance and administration and approved by the governor, shall be published as a part of the executive budget document presented to the legislature at its next regular session following the preparation of the plan.

D. Upon the governor's approval, the plan shall take effect at the beginning of the subsequent fiscal year.

History: 1953 Comp., § 5-4-31.1, enacted by Laws 1978, ch. 96, § 1; 1979, ch. 6, § 1; 1979, ch. 202, § 7; 1987, ch. 254, § 16; 1989, ch. 204, § 11.

Repeals and reenactments. — Laws 1978, ch. 96, § 1, repealed 5-4-31.1, 1953 Comp. (former 10-9-5 NMSA 1978), relating to annual exempt-salaries plan for public officers and employees in the executive branch, and enacted a new 10-9-5 NMSA 1978.

Am. Jur. 2d, A.L.R. and C.J.S. references. — Validity of statutory classifications based on population, governmental employee salary or pension statutes, 96 A.L.R.3d 538.

67 C.J.S. Officers and Public Employees § 226.