SANTA FE, N.M. – We are just two months away from the start of the 60-day legislative session. It’s becoming clear our state lawmakers will need to do something with New Mexico’s less-than-adequate behavioral health system.

It’s an issue that’s brought up year after year. KOB 4 was in the Roundhouse Monday when lawmakers got an update on the problem.

New Mexico state lawmakers know there’s just not enough behavioral health resources to handle the issues New Mexicans are facing, and it’s clear just throwing money at the system is not making it better.

“I mean, if we had a grade it’d be F, right?” said state Sen. George Muñoz. 

New Mexico state lawmakers seem to be fed up with a well-funded – yet inefficient – behavioral health system.

“The system is failing us, and it’s creating crime, homelessness, a lot of other social issues. So we got to get it fixed, or start that direction really quickly. It’ll be a five to seven year fix, but I mean that amount of money sitting around, not getting used is just unreal,” said Muñoz. 

Analysts with the Legislative Finance Committee revealed between 2020 and 2024, state leaders earmarked more than $660 million for behavioral health resources and initiatives. But only spent around $46 million, roughly 8%, and that’s only part of the funding on the table.

“Out of a billion dollars, can you name one thing that we fixed in mental health?” Muñoz said. 

Lawmakers learned the “Interagency Behavioral Health Purchasing Collaborative,” which was created in 2004 to oversee the statewide behavioral system, has not had a leader in over a year.

“Why is the reason that, with that much funding, we don’t have a director?” said state Rep. Jack Chatfield. 

“We haven’t found the right candidate at this point,” said Eric Chenier, a Legislative Finance Committee analyst.

But even if they did:

“Why would we trust them now to do something that they were supposed to be doing for the last 20 years?” said House Minority Leader, Rep. Gail Armstrong. 

LFC analysts came with a solution though, a proposal to restructure the state’s behavioral health system into several, regional districts that will focus on figuring where the gaps are and how to fix them.

“The reality is, the tailoring of the system needs to be done at the local, regional level. They know what their gaps are, and if they don’t, let’s facilitate them to figure out what those gaps are,” said Adrian Avila, a Legislative Finance Committee analyst.

State lawmakers suggested there’s still a lot of work to be done ahead of the legislative session, but there’s hope two months out.

“I’m very optimistic. We have heard that a number of committees in the interim are working on proposals, very expansive proposals. They’ve had the time to really dive deep into these issues and work together,” said state Rep. Meredith Dixon. 

The 60-day legislative session is scheduled to begin on Jan. 21, and we’ll be watching to see if this proposal actually makes it down to the House or Senate floors.