HOUSE BILL 96
55th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - second session, 2022
INTRODUCED BY
Gail Chasey
FOR THE COURTS, CORRECTIONS AND JUSTICE COMMITTEE
AN ACT
RELATING TO CRIME; ENACTING THE VIOLENCE INTERVENTION PROGRAM ACT; CREATING THE VIOLENCE INTERVENTION PROGRAM FUND; ESTABLISHING APPLICATION AND REPORTING REQUIREMENTS; MAKING AN APPROPRIATION.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO:
SECTION 1. [NEW MATERIAL] SHORT TITLE.--This act may be cited as the "Violence Intervention Program Act".
SECTION 2. [NEW MATERIAL] DEFINITIONS.--As used in the Violence Intervention Program Act:
A. "commission" means the New Mexico sentencing commission;
B. "community-based service provider" means an entity that is eligible to be awarded a contract to provide services that accomplish the purposes of the Violence Intervention Program Act;
C. "department" means the department of health; and
D. "grantee" means a state agency, county, municipality or tribal government that has applied for and received funding pursuant to the Violence Intervention Program Act for the purposes of addressing gun violence and aggravated assaults in a locally focused geographic area.
SECTION 3. [NEW MATERIAL] VIOLENCE INTERVENTION PROGRAM FUND--CREATED--PURPOSE.--The "violence intervention program fund" is created as a nonreverting fund in the state treasury. The fund consists of appropriations, gifts, grants and donations. The department shall administer the fund, and money in the fund is appropriated to the department to administer the provisions of the Violence Intervention Program Act and award violence intervention program grants to state agencies, counties, municipalities or tribal governments that the department finds are disproportionately impacted by violent crimes, including homicides, shootings and aggravated assaults. Expenditures from the fund shall be made on warrant of the secretary of finance and administration pursuant to vouchers signed by the secretary of health. The department may expend no more than three percent of the balance of the fund each fiscal year for administering the Violence Intervention Program Act. No money in the fund may be expended in any way except as provided by the Violence Intervention Program Act.
SECTION 4. [NEW MATERIAL] VIOLENCE INTERVENTION PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS.--A violence intervention program shall:
A. use an evidence- or research-based public health approach to reduce gun violence and aggravated assaults;
B. use focused deterrence, problem-oriented policing and proven law enforcement strategies to reduce gun violence and aggravated assaults;
C. target a population that is at high risk for victimization or retaliation that results from gun violence or aggravated assault through engaging in the cycles of violence in the community;
D. use data-driven methods for program development; and
E. use program funding in a manner that is directly related to the reduction of gun violence and aggravated assaults.
SECTION 5. [NEW MATERIAL] GRANT AWARDS.--
A. On or after July 1, 2022, the department shall receive and review applications for grants from the violence intervention program fund. The department may make grants from the fund to state agencies, counties, municipalities or tribal governments that the department finds are disproportionately impacted by violent crimes, including homicides, shootings and aggravated assaults.
B. The department shall make awards of grants from the fund in accordance with the following limitations:
(1) grant awards shall be made to at least two counties, municipalities or tribal governments with a population of fifty thousand or less according to the most recent annual university of New Mexico intercensal population estimate;
(2) at least twenty percent of the total annual amount appropriated to the fund shall be awarded to counties or municipalities with a population of five hundred forty thousand or greater according to the most recent federal decennial census; and
(3) the department of health shall utilize the funds in accordance with department of finance and administration guidelines.
SECTION 6. [NEW MATERIAL] APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS.--
A. Each application for a grant from the violence intervention program fund shall include:
(1) clearly defined, measurable objectives for a proposal to improve public health and safety through evidence-based violence reduction interventions;
(2) a comprehensive violence reduction strategic plan, including consistent quality improvement and quality assurance measures, and a description of the strategies and tasks developed by a state agency, county, municipality or tribal government describing the goals of the plan, including community-based services or joint community-based services and law enforcement intervention strategies;
(3) a description of how a grant award would be used if awarded; and
(4) a list of community-based service providers in the locally focused geographic area in which the grant funds would be used, including those with an expressed commitment to participating in a violence intervention program.
B. The commission shall provide state agencies, counties, municipalities and tribal governments with data relevant to grant applications.
C. An applicant shall notify the appropriate criminal justice coordinating council established pursuant to Section 31-28-3 NMSA 1978 of its grant application.
SECTION 7. [NEW MATERIAL] CONDITIONS OF GRANT.--
A. As a condition of each grant made pursuant to the Violence Intervention Program Act, the department shall require each grantee to use at least fifty percent of its grant for the purpose of entering into contracts with one or more community-based service providers.
B. Each grantee shall report to the appropriate criminal justice coordinating council established pursuant to Section 31-28-3 NMSA 1978 regarding outcomes of the grant.
C. A grant may be awarded to a county or municipality, but shall not be awarded to both a county and a municipality falling within the county.
SECTION 8. [NEW MATERIAL] RULES.--The department shall adopt rules necessary to administer the provisions of the Violence Intervention Program Act, including standardized rules pertaining to the collection and sharing of data by grantees.
SECTION 9. [NEW MATERIAL] REPORTS.--
A. Each grantee shall report to the department and the commission by November 1 of each year regarding the:
(1) purpose and amount of each grant received by the grantee for the previous fiscal year; and
(2) processes, outputs and outcomes resulting from each grant approved by the department for the previous fiscal year, including relevant data as required by department rules.
B. Each year through 2027, the department and the commission shall report to the legislature by December 1 regarding the awards and outcomes of each grantee.
SECTION 10. APPROPRIATION.--Ten million dollars ($10,000,000) is appropriated from the general fund to the violence intervention program fund for expenditure in fiscal year 2023 and subsequent fiscal years for the purposes of the fund. Any unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining at the end of a fiscal year shall not revert to the general fund.
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