HOUSE BILL 243

54th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - second session, 2020

INTRODUCED BY

Patricio Ruiloba and Dayan Hochman-Vigil and G. Andrés Romero and Patricia Roybal Caballero and Melanie Ann Stansbury

 

 

 

 

AN ACT

RELATING TO LOCAL GOVERNMENT; CREATING A MENTAL HEALTH AUTHORITY IN BERNALILLO COUNTY; PROVIDING POWERS AND DUTIES; PROVIDING REPORTING REQUIREMENTS; MAKING AN APPROPRIATION.

 

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO:

     SECTION 1. [NEW MATERIAL] MENTAL HEALTH AUTHORITY--CREATED--MEMBERSHIP--POWERS AND DUTIES--REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.--

          A. The "Albuquerque-Bernalillo county mental health authority" is created. The membership of the board of directors of the authority consists of nine members or designees, as follows:

                (1) one representative from the office of the mayor of the city of Albuquerque;

                (2) one city councilor from the Albuquerque city council;

                (3) one county commissioner from the Bernalillo county board of county commissioners;

                (4) one representative from the Bernalillo county manager's office;

                (5) one representative from the university of New Mexico health sciences center;

                (6) one representative from the interagency behavioral health purchasing collaborative;

                (7) one representative from law enforcement to be appointed by the city of Albuquerque;

                (8) one representative from fire and rescue to be appointed by the Bernalillo county manager; and

                (9) one representative from the second judicial district court.

           B. A city councilor member may designate another city councilor to serve in the member's absence. City councilors shall serve one-year terms at the Albuquerque city council president's discretion. County commissioners shall serve one-year terms at the Bernalillo county commission chair's discretion. The authority is subject to the Procurement Code and other applicable state laws.

          C. The authority is a public body politic and corporate, separate and apart from the city of Albuquerque and Bernalillo county. The authority is a political subdivision of the state.

          D. The authority:

                (1) shall coordinate, oversee and develop policies related to the delivery of mental and behavioral health services, including at facilities that utilize public funds, in Albuquerque and Bernalillo county; 

                (2) shall review the mental and behavioral health system in Albuquerque and Bernalillo county;

                (3) shall identify issues with the current mental and behavioral health system in Albuquerque and Bernalillo county and identify potential solutions to those issues;

                (4) shall develop data-driven policies and evidence-based best practices designed to improve mental and behavioral health services;

                (5) is granted all powers necessary and appropriate to carry out and effectuate its public and corporate purposes, including the authority to adopt procedural rules; and

                (6) is authorized to use city or county procurement processes or to contract with the city or county to further its public and corporate purposes.

          E. The authority may adopt resolutions and rules necessary to exert the power conferred by this section.

          F. The authority shall report no later than November 1 of each year to the interagency behavioral health purchasing collaborative on the authority's findings regarding the mental and behavioral health systems in the city of Albuquerque and Bernalillo county.

     SECTION 2. APPROPRIATION.--Five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000) is appropriated from the general fund to the local government division of the department of finance and administration for expenditure in fiscal year 2021 and subsequent fiscal years for Bernalillo county to form and fund the Albuquerque-Bernalillo county mental health authority. Any unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining at the end of a fiscal year shall not revert to the general fund.

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