Senate committee advances Teresa Padilla to full Senate for State Personnel Board confirmation
February 02, 2026 | Senate, Committees, Legislative, New Mexico
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Teresa Padilla, a retired state personnel director, cleared a Senate Rules Committee hurdle Wednesday when members voted to advance her nomination to the full Senate for confirmation to the State Personnel Board.
Padilla, who told the committee she began state service in 2001 at the Department of Health and retired in 2023 as state personnel director, said her career included payroll, classification, employee relations and benefits work. "I retired in 2023 as the state personnel director," she told the committee.
Senator Trujillo, who introduced Padilla, called her a "proven leader" with deep expertise in workforce planning and labor relations and said, "If you want someone with exceptional customer service, Teresa is the person." Cabinet Secretary Deborah Garcia Y Griego and current State Personnel Office Director Dylan Lang also urged the committee to advance the nomination, citing Padilla’s institutional knowledge and rulemaking experience.
Senators questioned Padilla on employee retention and pay structures. Padilla said retention is a persistent challenge and said the state's recently implemented job architecture (effective July 2023) aims to standardize classifications across agencies and help correct disparities among "haves and have-not" agencies. On remote work, Padilla said she led a return-to-office effort after the pandemic and that remote work should be limited except for medical accommodations.
Committee members also asked Padilla to monitor whether raises are being reflected in retirement-system contributions; Padilla agreed to raise the issue with the board. She told senators she has an HR consulting LLC that she will close after the current tax season and reiterated that she is officially retired.
Senator Duhigg moved to advance Padilla’s appointment to the full Senate; the chair reported the committee would send the nomination forward with no formal opposition recorded in the hearing.
The committee advance does not enact the appointment; final confirmation will be decided by the full Senate.
Padilla, who told the committee she began state service in 2001 at the Department of Health and retired in 2023 as state personnel director, said her career included payroll, classification, employee relations and benefits work. "I retired in 2023 as the state personnel director," she told the committee.
Senator Trujillo, who introduced Padilla, called her a "proven leader" with deep expertise in workforce planning and labor relations and said, "If you want someone with exceptional customer service, Teresa is the person." Cabinet Secretary Deborah Garcia Y Griego and current State Personnel Office Director Dylan Lang also urged the committee to advance the nomination, citing Padilla’s institutional knowledge and rulemaking experience.
Senators questioned Padilla on employee retention and pay structures. Padilla said retention is a persistent challenge and said the state's recently implemented job architecture (effective July 2023) aims to standardize classifications across agencies and help correct disparities among "haves and have-not" agencies. On remote work, Padilla said she led a return-to-office effort after the pandemic and that remote work should be limited except for medical accommodations.
Committee members also asked Padilla to monitor whether raises are being reflected in retirement-system contributions; Padilla agreed to raise the issue with the board. She told senators she has an HR consulting LLC that she will close after the current tax season and reiterated that she is officially retired.
Senator Duhigg moved to advance Padilla’s appointment to the full Senate; the chair reported the committee would send the nomination forward with no formal opposition recorded in the hearing.
The committee advance does not enact the appointment; final confirmation will be decided by the full Senate.
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