With summer just around the corner, our families are eagerly looking forward to enjoying some fun in the sun. However, if the New Mexico Environmental Improvement Board (EIB) gets its way, our state’s businesses and vital employees aren’t in for much of a vacation. In fact, they’re already feeling the heat. You see, the EIB recently publicized the consideration of yet another regulatory mandate, this time targeting some of New Mexico’s most valuable industries like agriculture, oil & gas, and construction. Not only does this proposed rule unnecessarily complicate operations for these key industries, it also jeopardizes our state’s ability to pursue economic growth.
The EIB’s “Heat Illness & Injury Prevention Rule,” if adopted, would impose a new burden on employers and employees alike, requiring them to painstakingly log outdoor temperatures and adhere to prescriptive rest periods and water intake requirements. In other words, the Governor and the EIB think you’re too stupid to know when you need to take a drink of water and will now require a fellow employee to follow you around the jobsite with a clipboard, thermometer, and lukewarm tap water while you are trying to do your job. These proposed requirements not only reduce productivity, they also exceed the current federal specifications outlined in the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA), which has long been recognized as a strong worker-protection measure.
In addition to mandating compliance with these burdensome practices, the proposed rule also fails to take into account the seasonal deadlines faced by many New Mexico businesses, nor does it recognize the existing union contracts or workplace policies that already address worker safety.
Our state is already notoriously difficult to conduct business in, thanks to an unfriendly regulatory environment. Now, our state is trying to make life more difficult for employees simply trying to do quality work and provide for their families. A ridiculous policy such as this is only going to take time and resources away from employees in order to actually enforce it rather than getting jobs done more efficiently or perhaps improving wages for employees based on their quality work. The agenda of our New Mexico’s progressive leadership is to blame. New Mexico has the potential for strong economic growth, if only these progressives wouldn’t hold us back through over-regulation, unrealistic work environments, and anti-business policies.
Until we change the current leadership in our state and rethink the power we give these unelected boards, our business community will continue to suffer, negatively impacting both employers AND employees. In the meantime, we have an opportunity to weigh in on this ill-advised proposal via written comments or during a public hearing at the State Capitol on July 16, 2025. I urge those reading this to make their voices heard and advocate for a return to common-sense!
Senator Bill Sharer represents New Mexico’s Senate District 1 and currently serves as the Senate Minority Floor Leader.
