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

SPONSOR King

ORIGINAL DATE

LAST UPDATED

02/15/07

HB 721

SHORT TITLE Tribes in County Maternal & Child Health Act

SB

ANALYST Geisler

ESTIMATED ADDITIONAL OPERATING BUDGET IMPACT (dollars in thousands)

FY07

FY08

FY09 3 Year

Total Cost

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

Total

.01 See

narrative.

Recurring General

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

Department of Health (DOH)

Health Policy Commission (HPC)

Human Services Department (HSD)

SUMMARY

Synopsis of Bill

House Bill 721 proposes to amend the language within the County Maternal and Child Health

(CMCH) Plan Act to include Native American tribes and to change the title of that act to

Maternal and Child Health Plan Act.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

DOH notes that since FY 04, DOH has set aside $2,822,708 for councils eligible under the

CMCH Plan Act. FY 08 Funding for councils currently under the CMCH Plan Act will be held

harmless. FY 08 funding for Native American Health Councils will continue to be provided

through the separate item, including funding generated from a Joint Powers Agreement between

DOH and Human Services Department. New health councils generally receive a funding level

of $30,000 - $40,000. Future Legislative funding requests (2009 and beyond) will be based on

funding needs for all health councils and may need to increase to address the concern of some

constituents that inclusion of Native American communities will reduce the level of available

funds for county based health councils.

House Bill 721 – Page

2

SIGNIFICANT ISSUES

DOH notes that as currently written, the CMCH Plan Act does not contain language authorizing

funding for health councils within Native American tribes/communities. Funds for these

councils have been identified and maintained under a separate Public Health

Division/Department of Health (DOH) line item in the budget.

New Mexico tribal communities transcend county geographical boarders. One tribe may be

physically situated within multiple state counties, making it difficult for a county health council

to adequately address the needs of the Native American communities that may lie within county

boundaries. As currently written, the CMCH Plan Act would require approval of health councils

by a board which is defined as a board of county commissioners. HB 721 would amend the Act

to include tribal leadership in the definition of a board.

Since 2004, DOH increased the number of Native American Community Health Councils by

one. Additional tribal-based health councils would be phased in through a strategic approach

based on input from existing health councils, the availability of funding and demonstration of

tribal community readiness. Growth in the number of tribal health councils is anticipated at a rate

no more than 1-2 new tribal councils per fiscal year.

OTHER SUBSTANTIVE ISSUES

HPC provided background on the CMCHPA:

The County Maternal and Child Health Plan Act (CMCHPA) was passed by New Mexico State

Legislature in 1991. The act provided funding to New Mexico counties for the planning and

implementation of comprehensive maternal and child health (MCH) priority projects. Each

county was eligible to appoint an MCH Council to represent a broad spectrum of interests and to

reflect the constituency of the individual county's population. The responsibility of the MCH

Council was to conduct an assessment of local maternal and child health needs and resources and

to develop a plan to respond to the priorities established by the council. Administration of

CMCHPA resides in the Maternal and Child Health Bureau, Public Health Division of the

Department of Health. According to the Department of Health (DOH), its mission is to provide a

statewide system of prevention, health promotion and education, community health improvement

and other public health services for the people of New Mexico. DOH’s goals are to:

•

Promote positive maternal, child, adolescent, and family health outcomes in New Mexico

using evidence-based strategies and programs;

•

Promote positive growth and development of children and adolescents;

•

Promote health, enhance quality of life, and prevent and manage infectious and chronic

disease; and

•

Promote comprehensive health improvement processes to improve health status in

communities, counties and Tribes.

AMENDMENTS

DOH suggest that on page 8, Line 5, after the word, “a" and before the word, “update", delete

the word “county" and replace with the word, “council".

GG/nt