As used in the Educational Retirement Act:

A. "member" means an employee, except for a participant or a retired member, coming within the provisions of the Educational Retirement Act;

B. "regular member" means:

(1) a person regularly employed by a state educational institution, except for:

(a) a participant; or

(b) all employees of a general hospital or outpatient clinics thereof operated by a state educational institution named in Article 12, Section 11 of the constitution of New Mexico;

(2) a person regularly employed by a junior college or community college created pursuant to Chapter 21, Article 13 NMSA 1978, except for a participant;

(3) a person regularly employed by a technical and vocational institute created pursuant to the Technical and Vocational Institute Act [Chapter 21, Article 16 NMSA 1978], except for a participant;

(4) a person regularly employed by the New Mexico boys' school, the girls' welfare home, the Los Lunas medical center or a school district or as a licensed school employee of a state institution or agency providing an educational program and holding a license issued by the department, except for a participant;

(5) a person regularly employed by the department holding a license issued by the department at the time of commencement of such employment;

(6) a member classified as a regular member in accordance with the rules of the board;

(7) a person regularly employed by the New Mexico activities association holding a license issued by the department at the time of commencement of such employment; or

(8) a person regularly employed by a regional education cooperative holding a license issued by the department at the time of commencement of such employment;

C. "provisional member" means a person described in Section 22-11-17 NMSA 1978;

D. "local administrative unit" means an employing agency however constituted that is directly responsible for the payment of compensation for the employment of members or participants;

E. "beneficiary" means a person having an insurable interest in the life of a member or a participant designated by written instrument duly executed by the member or participant and filed with the director to receive a benefit pursuant to the Educational Retirement Act that may be received by someone other than the member or participant;

F. "employment" means employment by a local administrative unit that qualifies a person to be a member or participant;

G. "service employment" means employment that qualifies a person to be a regular member;

H. "provisional service employment" means employment that qualifies a person to be a provisional member;

I. "prior employment" means employment performed prior to the effective date of the Educational Retirement Act that would be service employment or provisional service employment if performed thereafter;

J. "service credit" means that period of time with which a member is accredited for the purpose of determining the member's eligibility for and computation of retirement or disability benefits;

K. "earned service credit" means that period of time during which a member was engaged in employment or prior employment with which the member is accredited for the purpose of determining the member's eligibility for retirement or disability benefits;

L. "allowed service credit" means that period of time during which a member has performed certain nonservice employment with which the member may be accredited, as provided in the Educational Retirement Act, for the purpose of computing retirement or disability benefits;

M. "retirement benefit" means an annuity paid monthly to members whose employment has been terminated by reason of their age;

N. "disability benefit" means an annuity paid monthly to members whose employment has been terminated by reason of a disability;

O. "board" means the educational retirement board;

P. "fund" means the educational retirement fund;

Q. "director" means the educational retirement director;

R. "medical authority" means a medical doctor or medical review panel designated or employed by the board to examine medical records and report on the medical condition of applicants for or recipients of disability benefits;

S. "actuary" means a person trained and regularly engaged in the occupation of calculating present and projected monetary assets and liabilities under annuity or insurance programs;

T. "actuarial equivalent" means a sum paid as a current or deferred benefit that is equal in value to a regular benefit, computed upon the basis of interest rates and mortality tables;

U. "contributory employment" means employment for which contributions have been made by both a member and a local administrative unit pursuant to the Educational Retirement Act;

V. "qualifying state educational institution" means the university of New Mexico, New Mexico state university, New Mexico institute of mining and technology, New Mexico highlands university, eastern New Mexico university, western New Mexico university, central New Mexico community college, Clovis community college, Luna community college, Mesalands community college, New Mexico junior college, northern New Mexico state school, San Juan college and Santa Fe community college;

W. "participant" means:

(1) a person regularly employed as a faculty or professional employee of the university of New Mexico, New Mexico state university, New Mexico institute of mining and technology, New Mexico highlands university, eastern New Mexico university or western New Mexico university who first becomes employed with such an educational institution on or after July 1, 1991, or a person regularly employed as a faculty or professional employee of the central New Mexico community college, Clovis community college, Luna community college, Mesalands community college, New Mexico junior college, northern New Mexico state school, San Juan college or Santa Fe community college who is first employed by the institution on or after July 1, 1999 and who elects, pursuant to Section 22-11-47 NMSA 1978, to participate in the alternative retirement plan; and

(2) a person regularly employed who performs research or other services pursuant to a contract between a qualifying state educational institution and the United States government or any of its agencies who elects, pursuant to Section 22-11-47 NMSA 1978, to participate in the alternative retirement plan; provided that the research or other services are performed outside the state;

X. "salary" means the compensation or wages paid to a member or participant by any local administrative unit for services rendered. "Salary" includes payments made for annual or sick leave and payments for additional service provided to related activities, but does not include payments for sick leave not taken unless the payment for the unused sick leave is made through continuation of the member on the regular payroll for the period represented by that payment and does not include allowances or reimbursements for travel, housing, food, equipment or similar items;

Y. "alternative retirement plan" means the retirement plan provided for in Sections 22-11-47 through 22-11-52 NMSA 1978; and

Z. "retired member" means a person whose employment has been terminated by reason of age and who is receiving or is eligible to receive retirement benefits.

History: 1953 Comp., § 77-9-2, enacted by Laws 1967, ch. 16, § 126; 1975, ch. 306, § 21; 1978, ch. 167, § 1; 1982, ch. 37, § 1; 1991, ch. 118, § 3; 1993, ch. 69, § 1; 1993, ch. 232, § 7; 1995, ch. 148, § 1; 1999, ch. 261, § 1; 2001, ch. 283, § 1; 2003, ch. 39, § 1; 2004, ch. 27, § 26; 2017, ch. 21, § 1.

The 2017 amendment, effective June 16, 2017, revised the definitions of "regular member", "provisional member", and "medical authority" in the Educational Retirement Act; changed "he" and "his" to "the member" and the "the member's" throughout the section; in Subsection B, Paragraphs B(1), (2), (3) and (4), after "employed", deleted "as a teaching, nursing or administrative employee of" and added "by"; in Paragraph B(4), after "boys' school, the", deleted "New Mexico", and after "girls'", deleted "school" and added "welfare home"; in Subsection C, after "means a person", deleted "not eligible to be a regular member but who is employed by a local administrative unit designated in Subsection B of this section, provided, however, that employees of a general hospital or outpatient clinics thereof operated by a state educational institution named in Article 12, Section 11 of the constitution of New Mexico are not provisional members" and added "described in Section 22-11-17 NMSA 1978"; in Subsection R, after "medical doctor", deleted "within the state or as provided in Subsection D of Section 22-11-36 NMSA 1978 either" and added "or medical review panel", after "to examine", added "medical records", and after "report on the", deleted "physical" and added "medical"; in Subsection V, after "western New Mexico university", deleted "Albuquerque technical vocational institute" and added "central New Mexico community college", and after "Luna", deleted "vocational technical institute, Mesa technical" and added "community college, Mesalands community"; and in Paragraph W(1), after "professional employee of the", deleted "Albuquerque technical vocational institute" and added "central New Mexico community college", and after "Luna", deleted "vocational technical institute, Mesa technical" and added "community college, Mesalands community".

The 2004 amendment, effective May 19, 2004, amended Paragraph (4) of Subsection B to change "certified school instructor" to "licensed school employee" and change "state board to "department", and amended Paragraphs (5), (7) and (8) of Subsection B to change "state board" to "department" and to change "standard certificate" to "license".

The 2003 amendment, effective June 20, 2003, added "'Salary' includes payments made for annual or sick leave and payments for additional service provided to related activities, but does not include payments for sick leave not taken unless the payment for the unused sick leave is made through continuation of the member on the regular payroll for the period represented by that payment and does not include allowances or reimbursements for travel, housing, food, equipment or similar items;" at the end of Subsection X.

The 2001 amendment, effective June 15, 2001, inserted "or retired member" in Subsection A; and added Subsection Z.

The 1999 amendment, effective June 18, 1999, deleted "except for a participant" at the end of Subsections B(2) to B(4); added the language beginning "Albuquerque technical-vocational institute" at the end of Subsection V; and in Subsection W(1), substituted the language beginning "the university of New Mexico" and ending "or western New Mexico university" for "a qualifying state educational institution", and added the language beginning "or a person regularly employed" and ending "on or after July 1, 1999".

The 1995 amendment, effective July 1, 1995, added Subsection X and redesignated former Subsection X as Subsection Y.

The 1993 amendment, effective July 1, 1993, inserted "or community college" and substituting "Chapter 21, Article 13 NMSA 1978" for "the Junior College Act" in Paragraph (2) of Subsection B; substituted "New Mexico girls' school" for "girls' welfare home" and "Los Lunas medical center" for "Los Lunas mental hospital" in Paragraph (4) of Subsection B; deleted "or the public school finance division" following "or the board" in Paragraph (5) of Subsection B; added Paragraph (8) of Subsection B; substituted "current" for "present" in Subsection T; substituted "22-11-47 through 22-11-52" for "22-11-46 through 22-11-51" in Subsection X; and made minor stylistic changes throughout the section.

The 1991 amendment, effective July 1, 1991, in Subsection A, inserted "except for a participant"; in Subsection B, divided former Paragraph (1) into Paragraphs (1) through (3) and designated its subsequent paragraphs accordingly, in Paragraph (1), added Subparagraph (a) and the designation for Subparagraph (b) and inserted "a person regularly employed as a teaching, nursing and administrative employee" in Paragraphs (2) and (3); in Subsection C, inserted "but who is"; in Subsections D to F, inserted references to participants; added Subsections V to X; and made minor stylistic changes throughout the section.

Retired legislator entitled to benefits from educational and public employees' retirement systems. — When a legislator is retired and no longer an employee, he is not, pursuant to this section, a "regular member" under the Educational Retirement Act and is not excluded from membership and participation in another state retirement program by Section 22-11-16 NMSA 1978; therefore he may receive benefits from both the educational retirement system and the public employees' retirement system. 1979 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 79-05.

Public Employees Retirement Act (PERA) retiree who returns to employment with a governmental entity whose employees are covered exclusively under the provisions of the Educational Retirement Act (ERA) for retirement purposes may not continue to receive PERA benefits. Such retiree's benefits must be suspended. That retiree is employed by an affiliated public employer and his "membership," within the meaning of that term, is not provided for in the ERA. 1987 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 87-79.