Santa Fe, NM — This afternoon, the New Mexico Senate passed Senate Bills 1, 2, and3 which collectively serve as the largest behavioral health package the state has ever considered. These bipartisan bills represent investments of over $1.2 Billion in behavioral health across New Mexico, with the first $200 Million funding the immediate delivery of substance abuse treatment, homelessness assistance, and more. The remaining $1 Billion will be saved in a trust fund and will not require additional New Mexico taxpayer investments. The annual interest from this fund, when paired with federal matching funds, will produce future funding of approximately $200 Million per year to be utilized throughout the state for various behavioral health initiatives under the supervision of the Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC).

Senator Bill Sharer (R-Farmington), a primary co-sponsor of SB 3, issued the following statement:

"This package accomplishes two things for New Mexicans: it protects $1 Billion from being squandered by limiting future expenditures to only the interest on these funds, and it makes huge strides in addressing the mental health crisis in our state by establishing important guardrails within which critical services will be delivered." However, the Senator offered an important clarification, saying "Make no mistake, this investment alone does NOT solve our state's rampant crime crisis. Addressing behavioral health is one small piece of our otherwise broad and increasingly worse crime crisis; it is imperative that we also pass accompanying legislation that directly focuses on holding criminals accountable for their actions. To that end, Senate Republicans will soon be announcing a major crime package to address our state's fentanyl crisis, human trafficking, criminal competency, pre-trial detention, and more. While I am pleased that we are finally investing in behavioral health, we will not solve New Mexico's crime epidemic via group therapy alone."