Lawmaker says NMSU settlement illegal

ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) - She got a big payout to get out.

New Mexico State University's former President Barbara Couture and the school split up earlier this month.  As part of the breakup, NMSU's Board of Regents agreed to pay her the rest of her salary and benefits for 2012 and a $453,092.72 lump-sum payment scheduled to be handed over in January.

That outraged Rep. Bill Rehm, R-Albuquerque, who has been fighting against so-called "golden parachutes" in the Legislature for the past of couple of sessions.

But in addition to introducing a bill, which Rehm plans to do next session, the lawmaker is going after the payout in a different way this time.

In a letter sent to Attorney General Gary King on Wednesday, Rehm says the agreement violates a state Constitution provision against retroactive pay raises.

He cites an Attorney General's opinion from 1944 and a Court of Appeals ruling from 2010.

In the opinion, then Attorney General Edward Chase ruled that a bonus for teachers should not be paid because it was for work already completed and well after a contract had been signed.

The court ruling came in a case between the University of New Mexico Board of Regents and a union representing hospital employees where an arbitrator awarded unionized workers a bonus to make up for a raise that wasn't paid while a new contract was being negotiated. That too was deemed invalid.

Rehm's argument is that the lump-sum payout represents a retroactive pay raise and compensation for work somebody else will be doing. He's hoping the AG will step in before the lump sum is paid out to Couture.

A spokesman for the AG's office says he couldn't give a timeline on when a response would be ready. He did tell News 13 that requests from lawmakers are given priority. An AG's opinion does not set law in and of itself.

New Mexico State declined to comment on the letter Wednesday.