2022 Legislative Priorities - Tier 1

 Representative Miguel Garcia has carried this bill for 7 years. He has included Social Workers every year. This year, he specified in the bill that Licensed Clinical Social Workers and Licensed independent Social Workers would be included. NASW-NM has asked Representative Garcia to change the language to all licensed social workers, so LMSW’s would be included. Representative Garcia has declined to change this language. However, we still support this bill as written, because this would still help many rural social workers in New Mexico.

 Representative Anthony Allison would add licensed midwives, chiropractors, nurses, and essential health care workers who provided “assistance” during the pandemic. In the House Health and Human Services Committee, Representatives Allison and Garcia were urged to combine their bills. Representative Garcia has declined to combine the bills. While social workers are considered essential, NASW-NM asked Representative Allison to add specific language to include social workers, he has since agreed to this proposed change.

 This bill (State Indian Child Welfare Act) is a way to make CYFD recruit Indigenous resource families in New Mexico and to ensure children receive culturally sensitive placements. Additionally a way to leverage more Federal dollars to help pay for these recruitment efforts. In addition, New Mexico is the first state to have a state Indian Child Welfare Court, and this bill would also help pay for the court. It is based on the Federal Indian Child Welfare Act. New Mexico would be the first state in the country to have a state Indian Family Protection Act. 

 This legislation, sponsored by Senator Martin Hickey, wants to analyze what the fiscal impact would be if New Mexico enacted its own Mental Health Parity Act to mirror the Federal Law. Senator Hickey also proposes to look at parity with regards to salaries and comparing behavioral health providers with doctors in the battle of treating mental health conditions. This bill is the first step in enacting a Mental Health Parity Act for New Mexico. During the next sixty-day session (2023) there will be an actual Mental Health Parity bill for New Mexico. 

The New Mexico Legislative website has a tool to find, learn about, and track any bill introduced during the session. Please follow the link below to find more information on bills from recent and past sessions. 

The New Mexico Human Services Department (HSD) has created an online tool to find, learn about, and track behavioral health bills in the state. Please follow the link below to find more information on behavioral health bills in the state.