NM labor secretary Bill McCamley stepping down

Apr. 16—SANTA FE — Bill McCamley, the face of New Mexico's unemployment system during the coronavirus pandemic, is stepping down.

The Governor's Office confirmed that McCamley's last day on the job would be Friday, though McCamley did not immediately provide a reason for his departure.

A former state lawmaker from Doña Ana County, McCamley was appointed as secretary of the Department of Workforce Solutions by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham shortly before she took office in 2019.

"I am grateful to Bill for his work over the last few years and in particular since the pandemic reached our state," Lujan Grisham said in a Friday statement. "COVID-19 affected everyone in New Mexico, and the Department of Workforce Solutions was asked to step up and meet the new and unexpected and ongoing needs of so many of our neighbors."

McCamley's department was swamped in April 2020 after a tsunami of jobless benefit claims related to the COVID-19 outbreak overwhelmed the state's unemployment website and phone hotline and left thousands of state residents fuming.

He apologized for the troubles many New Mexicans were facing, and added more than 100 staffers — many from other state agencies — to help run its unemployment insurance call center, which also expanded its daily hours of operation.

But difficulties accessing the system have persisted, and McCamley acknowledged in recent interviews he has at times personally intervened to ensure state residents get jobless benefits.

He also received praise from some lawmakers during this year's 60-day legislative session for his prompt responses to constituents' issues.

While New Mexico's unemployment rate has improved in recent months, it was still among the nation's highest at 8.3% as of March.

That's despite several rounds of state relief packages aimed at helping businesses and workers hit hard by the pandemic and restrictions imposed in response to it by the Lujan Grisham administration.

The spike in jobless claims has led to the state's unemployment fund being drawn down, and McCamley requested a loan of up to $285 million from the U.S. Labor Department last summer to ensure benefits would keep being paid.

Meanwhile, the Workforce Solutions Department has also struggled in recent years to deal with a huge backlog of wage theft claims connected to the state's minimum wage, which is currently set at $10.50 per hour.

In addition to wage enforcement, the department will also play a key oversight role once a new statewide paid sick leave law takes effect in July 2022.

That measure, which was approved by lawmakers and signed into law by Lujan Grisham in April, will require businesses to allow their employees to accrue and take up to 64 hours of paid leave annually.

Ricky Serna, a former deputy workforce solutions secretary, will serve as the agency's acting secretary until a full-time replacement can be identified, according to the Governor's Office.

Serna is also temporarily serving as director of the State Personnel Office, after the state's former top human resources officer stepped down in February to take a new job with President Joe Biden's administration.