By FRED NATHAN, JR.
Founder & Executive Director
Think New Mexico

I am writing to commend Rep. Christine Chandler for her outstanding leadership in passing the New Mexico Work and Save Act, which will make it easier for thousands of hard-working New Mexicans to save for their retirement.

During this year’s legislative session, Rep. Chandler sponsored House Bill 44, the New Mexico Work and Save Act, which creates a system of voluntary state-sponsored Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs) that private sector workers can contribute to through their jobs using automatic payroll deductions. Participation is completely voluntary for both businesses and workers.

Today, there are about 336,000 New Mexicans working in the private sector who lack access to retirement savings accounts at their jobs – the lowest rate of access to job-based retirement savings in the nation. This matters because the research shows that people are 15 times more likely to save for retirement if they can do so using automatic deductions from their paychecks.

Thanks to Rep. Chandler, these workers will soon have an easy new way to save for their retirement. The people of Los Alamos are fortunate to have Rep. Chandler representing them in Santa Fe.