Legislature explores changes to minimum wage in New Mexico

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — The minimum wage for working high school students would rise by $2 to $10.50 an hour under a bill endorsed by the New Mexico Senate.

The bill won approval Thursday on a 26-15 vote. The state currently provides a lower minimum wage of $8.50 to people 18 and under.

The initiative would guarantee the same statewide minimum wage for adults and youths who stay in school.

Reforms adopted in 2019 gradually raise the statewide minimum wage to $12 by 2023.

A competing bill from a coalition of state House Democrats would raise the minimum hourly wage for students and tipped employees, a mainstay of the hospitality industry.