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. Reforms include new
Council members, a new Investment Officer, new staff and new rules that have vastly improved the
way New Mexico manages our fund.
But needed changes remain to be made, 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:
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Adding safeguards to NM’s $13 billion Land Grant Permanent Fund (LGPF)
Increasing standards under which the Council, as fiduciaries, invests the LGPF
Eliminating a conflict that exists between statute & the state constitution
Removing a dated restriction that 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:
http://www.sic.state.nm.us/PDF%20files/HJR%2016%20scan.pdf
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, and on November 4th, and VOTE YES ON
AMENDMENT 5.