Committee recommends $650M transfer to Behavioral Health Trust Fund to reach $1B goal; advocates say long‑term funding will stabilize services

Senate Bill 8, a transfer intended to build the Behavioral Health Trust Fund toward a $1,000,000,000 principal, received a do‑pass recommendation from the Senate Health and Public Affairs Committee with a reported roll call of 7–2–1.

Sponsor Senator Cedillo Lopez said the bill would transfer roughly $650,000,000 from general revenues to approach the full $1B principal that the Legislature agreed upon in 2025. "The appropriation asked for in this bill gets the behavioral health trust fund close to the 1,000,000,000 agreed to in the 2025 session," she said, and argued that a permanent trust is necessary to stabilize behavioral health investments so services are not cut when general revenue declines.

Multiple advocates and county behavioral health leaders testified in support, saying regional plans are ready and early access funds have been used to begin implementation. Jim Jackson of Disability Rights New Mexico and several provider groups urged lawmakers to approve the transfer so regions can plan longer‑term infrastructure and workforce investments; analysts noted that a $1B principal yielding 5% could generate roughly $50,000,000 annually for distribution across 13 regions (about $3.8M per region if equally allocated).

Committee discussion covered prior appropriations (SB3), how house bill 2 provided initial multi‑year funding, and how the trust relates to Medicaid reimbursement and regionally prioritized capital and service investments. Committee members debated trust funds vs. annual appropriations and asked technical staff and sponsors to explain mechanics and expected timelines for regional spending.

The clerk reported a committee recommendation of do‑pass by a vote of 7–2–1; sponsors said the measure is intended to complete the trust over the next two years and enable recurring regional funding for behavioral health services.