AMENDMENT 5: ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT THINGS TO VOTE FOR ON NOVEMBER 4th

You probably haven’t seen anything in the papers or on TV about it yet, but Amendment 5 will make a big difference in how New Mexico manages billions of dollars.

New Mexico is fortunate enough to have$19 billion in permanent funds – one of the biggest of such funds in the country, and top 30 in the world. The income it produces helps fund public schools and keeps your taxes lower – by about $900 per household every year.

The Permanent Funds are endowments managed by the State Investment Council (SIC), and over the past four years the SIC has grown the Permanent Funds by almost $5 billion, while at the same time paying out almost $2.9 billion for public schools and government services.

Since the SIC was reorganized in 2010, it has made many changes for the better. Reformsincludenew Council members, a new Investment Officer,new staff, new investments,and new rules that have vastly improved the way New Mexico manages our fund.

But there are still changes we need to make, and this November, the Council needs your help as a voter, to take another step toward modernizing and improving how we invest these billions on your behalf.

Amendment 5 makes only small changes to the NM Constitution:

  • Adding safeguards to NM’s $13 billion Land Grant Permanent Fund (LGPF)
  • Increasingstandards under which the Council, as fiduciaries, invests the LGPF
  • Eliminating a conflict that exists between statute & the state constitution
  • Removing a dated restrictionthat caps global investments at 15%

These changes will allow our investment professionals to properly manage & diversify the Fund, which should enhance returns and reduce long-term risk.

Remember, growing the fund grows benefits to our schools & to you every year. You can find the exact proposed Constitutional changes of Amendment 5 on the SIC website:

These common sense changes are non-partisan and non-controversial, having been recommended for the last three years by the legislative committee that oversees state investments. This year, by a near unanimous margin (102-5), the legislature voted to make these changes a priority, and put Amendment 5 on the ballot.

We hope you will make it a priority as well. On November 4th, VOTE YES ON AMENDMENT 5.