AN ACT

RELATING TO PER DIEM AND MILEAGE; ALLOWING SPECIAL HOSPITAL DISTRICTS TO ESTABLISH MILEAGE REIMBURSEMENT RATES; AMENDING SECTIONS OF THE NMSA 1978.

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

Section 1. Section 4-48A-9 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1978, Chapter 29, Section 9, as amended) is amended to read:

"4-48A-9. BOARD OF TRUSTEES--POWERS.--The board of trustees may:

A. acquire, construct, operate or maintain one or more hospital facilities in the special hospital district for the purposes for which the special hospital district was created;

B. receive and expend all funds accruing to the special hospital district pursuant to any provision of the Special Hospital District Act through the sale of bonds or the levy of taxes, paid from any source on account of patients accommodated at the hospital, from any gift or bequest or from any federal, state or private grant;

C. enter into contracts, including contracts with the federal government and the departments and agencies thereof or the state government and the departments, institutions and agencies thereof, for the treatment of or the hospitalization of patients under the jurisdiction of such entities;

D. adopt and use a seal to authenticate its official transactions;

E. sue and be sued;

F. adopt rules and regulations for the governing of the special hospital district;

G. employ and fix the compensation of an executive director of the special hospital district and such other staff and clerical personnel it deems necessary;

H. employ a hospital administrator for hospital facilities under its control and approve or disapprove the recommendations of such administrator pertaining to compensation and employment benefits for hospital employees;

I. fix the mileage reimbursement rate for travel on official business in a privately owned vehicle by employees of hospital facilities under its control, provided that the rate shall not exceed the internal revenue service standard mileage rate for use of a vehicle for business;

J. exercise all powers necessary and requisite for the accomplishment of the purposes for which the special hospital district is created;

K. issue bonds in the manner provided by law for the issuance of special hospital district revenue bonds for the construction, purchase, renovation, remodeling, equipping or re-equipping of hospital facilities under its control and purchasing the necessary land therefor;

L. charge for hospital services rendered;

M. lease a hospital to any person, corporation or association for the operation and maintenance of the hospital upon such terms and conditions as the board of trustees may determine, provided that the lease may be terminated by the board of trustees without cause upon one hundred eighty days' notice after the first three years of the lease;

N. enter into an agreement with another county or counties, another county or counties and another political subdivision or any other person, corporation or association that provides that the parties to the agreement shall join together for the purpose of making some or all purchases necessary for the operation of hospitals owned or operated by the parties; and to designate one of the parties as the central purchasing office, as defined in the Procurement Code, for the others, to make purchases for the parties to the agreement as they shall deem necessary and to comply with the provisions of the Procurement Code; and

O. expend public money to recruit health care personnel to serve the sick of the special hospital district."

Section 2. Section 10-8-6 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1971, Chapter 116, Section 5) is amended to read:

"10-8-6. APPLICATION OF ACT.--

A. The Per Diem and Mileage Act shall not apply to the members of the legislature unless the legislature by specific reference to the act makes it applicable to the members and such application does not thereby exceed the per diem and mileage rates fixed in the constitution of New Mexico.

B. The provisions of Subsection D of Section

10-8-4 NMSA 1978 pertaining to the mileage reimbursement rate for travel in a privately owned vehicle shall not apply to employees of a hospital facility under the control of the board of trustees of a special hospital district created pursuant to the provisions of the Special Hospital District Act, if the board of trustees has fixed a mileage reimbursement rate for those employees."

Section 3. EFFECTIVE DATE.--The effective date of the provisions of this act is July 1, 2003.