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SPONSOR: |
House Floor |
DATE TYPED: |
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HB |
CS/585/HFlS |
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SHORT TITLE: |
Aging and Long-Term Care Department Act |
SB |
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ANALYST: |
Hayes |
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APPROPRIATION
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Appropriation
Contained |
Estimated
Additional Impact |
Recurring or
Non-Rec |
Fund Affected |
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FY03 |
FY04 |
FY03 |
FY04 |
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NFI |
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Unknown |
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(Parenthesis
( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)
Relates to various House and Senate Joint
Memorials along with HB 853.
Responses
Received From
State
Agency on Aging
SUMMARY
Synopsis
of Bill
The House Floor
Substitute for the House Appropriations and Finance Committee Substitute for
House Bill 585 permits the governor to reorganize certain agencies by executive
order in 2003 to elevate them to cabinet-level departments after obtaining
legislative approval. In addition, the
bill provides for renaming the National Hispanic Cultural Center of New
Mexico. Here is a summary of the bill’s
provisions:
Section 1. Elevating
cabinet-level departments; Purpose statement.
A. State Agency on Aging: to develop programs and unified public
policies that address the needs of the aging population, long-term care and
related services. This includes implementing
and administering the requirements of the federal Older American Act of
1965. The bill also directs the State
Agency on Aging to develop a comprehensive plan to coordinate, reorganize and
consolidate older adult services by
B. Office of Cultural Affairs: to improve and enhance educational,
historical, archaeological and architectural preservation, collections and
other cultural services for the state.
C. Office of Indian Affairs: to provide a conduit and to ensure
coordination between the State of
D. Veterans’ Service Commission: to address the needs of veterans and their
families along with developing and expanding outreach and educational programs
to improve the quality of life for veterans and their families.
Section 2. Executive
order; Transfers; Legislative approval.
A.
New
names of cabinet-level departments: Aging
and Long-term Care Department
Cultural
Affairs Department
Indian Affairs Department
Veterans’ Service Department
B.
Transfers. Functions, personnel, appropriations,
records, files, furniture, equipment and other property of the four agencies
specified in this bill shall be transferred to the resulting cabinet
department. Contractual and statutory
obligations of the original agency shall be obligations of the resulting
department.
C.
Consolidation
of Adult Services. The
Aging and Long-term Care Department may transfer functions, personnel,
appropriations, records, files, furniture, etc., from other departments into
the Aging and Long-term Care Department if such functions and resources pertain
to adult services, specifically those adult services found in the Human
Services Department, Department of Health and CYFD.
D.
Enactment. If
a bill of the Forty-Sixth Legislature, Second Session, approving an executive
reorganization undertaken pursuant to Section 2, subsection A as outlined above
is not enacted into law, then the reorganization is void.
Section 3. Title;
Reference to
The House Floor Substitute amends Section
of New Mexico. Reference to the state is deleted in the of New Mexico
in Sections
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS
There is no
appropriation associated with this bill. However, it is conceivable that creating four
new cabinet-level departments may result in additional recurring costs to the
general fund, such as associated increases in travel, office space, equipment,
etc., as well as salary increases and associated benefits for each new
department secretary.
On the other hand,
there could be potential savings in administrative and program overlap costs as
a result of reorganization and consolidation of certain functions in
departments such as the State Agency on Aging.
ADMINISTRATIVE IMPLICATIONS
It is assumed that extensive and detailed transition planning will be undertaken by each new cabinet department as needed to identify what programs and services will be administered by the department in accordance with its purpose statement outlined in the bill. The Aging and Long-term Care Department will also need to identify “adult services” in other departments that need to be transferred under its auspices, pursuant to Section 2C of the bill. In addition, each department will need to identify: appropriations, personnel, furniture, equipment, records, files and other property that need to be transferred; laws and regulations that need to be amended; information systems issues and needs; office space issues and needs; additional personnel needs; and other associated administrative issues, if any.
RELATIONSHIP
HJR
7, HJR 10, HJR 12, HJR 17, HJR 15, along with SECS for SJRs 2, 5, 12 and 21 all
propose constitutional amendments to be voted on at the next general election
or earlier special election for creating a cabinet-level “Public Education
Department.”
HB 853 authorizes the
governor to reorganize and elevate certain agencies to cabinet-level departments,
by executive order.
CMH/njw