Joanna Bartlett, Lenore Pardee, David Hamilton, and Beth Lehman, Petitioners v. Mary Lou Cameron, Russell Goff…

Summary

The New Mexico Supreme Court denied a petition for a writ of mandamus seeking to compel the Education Retirement Board to apply the pre‑2013 cost‑of‑living adjustment (COLA) formula to retirees. The Court held that the state constitution does not grant retirees a vested property right to a COLA calculated under the formula in effect at the time of retirement, and therefore the legislative amendment reducing COLA is constitutional. The decision rests on the distinction between the underlying retirement benefit and the separately provided COLA, which the Court treats as a legislative tool, not a protected property interest.