Democratic and Republican New Mexico lawmakers expressed frustration Monday over the slow rollout of a program meant to revive the state’s behavioral health system.
An executive committee overseeing the effort has reviewed plans to rebuild behavioral health infrastructure across the state after Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham in early 2025 signed Senate Bill 3, known as the Behavioral Health Reform and Investment Act, into law.
The legislation sought to identify and address gaps in the state’s behavioral health system after Republican Gov. Susana Martinez accused several providers of fraud and froze their Medicaid payments, prompting many to pull their operations out of New Mexico.
At the outset, the committee carved New Mexico into 13 behavioral health “regions,” mirroring the state’s 13 judicial districts, and asked local governments in each region to file plans that highlight the unique needs and goals in each of their respective communities. To date, the committee has only approved plans for Region 1 and Region 2, which cover the Santa Fe and Albuquerque areas, although several more are anticipated to face votes at the committee’s August meeting.
In the nearly 18 months since Lujan Grisham signed the legislation, local leaders have often expressed confusion as to how they go about drafting their regions’ plans.
State Rep. Elizabeth “Liz” Thomson (D-Albuquerque), who chairs the interim Legislative Health and Human Services Committee, at a Monday hearing said she and other lawmakers have had to occasionally correct the record because of that confusion. She cited constituents who have spoken during public comment periods at recent meetings and falsely stated that the state government, rather than local officials, is mandating the specific expenditures laid out in regional plans.
“It’s a something-show. I’ll just say that,” Thomson said.
Some lawmakers during Monday’s hearing also questioned whether the state should have more involvement. If there are 13 diverse, sprawling regions, shouldn’t there be a statewide plan to keep things on track, they asked?
“Y’all have articulated today exactly my skepticism with Senate Bill 3,” Sen. Larry Scott (R-Hobbs) told presenters during Monday’s hearing. “No strategic plan, no agency or individual ultimately responsible for the development of a statewide program.”
Nick Boukas, who chairs the executive committee overseeing the regional plans and works as director of the state Health Care Authority’s Behavioral Health Services Division, responded that he and his colleagues do plan to create a statewide strategic plan. They are waiting until all 13 regional plans are in place before they create a statewide plan so they can identify areas of common concern across the state, he said.
“It doesn’t make sense, in my opinion, to create a strategic plan when we don’t know what the regions are focusing on,” Boukas said. “If 10 of the 13 regions are identifying crisis and we leave that out, shame on us — we’re not listening to the folks that are creating these plans.”
