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F I S C A L I M P A C T R E P O R T

SPONSOR Gonzales

ORIGINAL DATE

LAST UPDATED

2/3/06

HB 701

SHORT TITLE Taos County Long-Term Drug Abuse Treatment

SB

ANALYST Lewis

APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)

Appropriation

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY06

FY07

198.8

Recurring

General Fund

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

Relates to HB 347 (Taos County Alcohol & Substance Abuse Program).

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

Department of Health (DOH)

Health Policy Commission (HPC)

SUMMARY

Synopsis of Bill

House Bill 701 appropriates $198,800 from the general fund to the Department of Health to con-

tract for long-term drug and alcohol abuse rehabilitation in Taos County.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

The appropriation of $198,000 contained in this bill is a recurring expense to the general fund.

Any unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining at the end of fiscal year 2007 shall revert

to the general fund.

SIGNIFICANT ISSUES

According to the Department of Health (DOH), extensive research shows that long-term treat-

ment has been most effective for persons who are severely addicted to alcohol and drugs such as

methamphetamine.

House Bill 701 – Page

2

The DOH Epidemiology and Response Division reports that, in 2000-2002, Taos County ranked

9th in the state for alcohol- and drug-related deaths (a rate of 85 deaths per 100,000);

7th for alcohol- and drug-related hospitalizations (902 hospitalizations per 100,000);

2nd for state-funded substance abuse treatment admission rates from 2001-2003 (106 admis-

sions per 100,000);

7th in the state for death rates from alcohol-related chronic disease (37 per 100,000);

7th in the state for alcohol-related injury (31 per 100,000);

6th for alcohol-related chronic liver disease death (17 per 100,000); and

5th for alcohol-related motor vehicle crash deaths (13 per 100,000) from 1999-2003.

HB 701 is not part of the DOH executive budget request.

ADMINISTRATIVE IMPLICATIONS

DOH notes that all behavioral health resources are currently being administered through the In-

teragency Behavioral Health Purchasing Collaborative. The resources would be allocated

through coordination with this Collaborative.

ML/mt