SENATE BILL 144
56th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - second session, 2024
INTRODUCED BY
Roberto "Bobby" J. Gonzales and Leo Jaramillo
AN ACT
RELATING TO ALCOHOL; INCREASING THE AMOUNT OF THE LOCAL DWI GRANT FUND THAT MAY BE USED FOR ADMINISTRATION OF THE LOCAL DWI GRANT PROGRAM.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO:
SECTION 1. Section 11-6A-3 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1993, Chapter 65, Section 3, as amended) is amended to read:
"11-6A-3. LOCAL DWI GRANT PROGRAM--FUND.--
A. The division shall establish a local DWI grant program to make grants to municipalities or counties for:
(1) new, innovative or model programs, services or activities to prevent or reduce the incidence of DWI, alcoholism, alcohol abuse, drug addiction or drug abuse; and
(2) programs, services or activities to prevent or reduce the incidence of domestic abuse related to DWI, alcoholism, alcohol abuse, drug addiction or drug abuse. B. Grants shall be awarded by the council pursuant to the advice and recommendations of the division.
C. The "local DWI grant fund" is created in the state treasury and shall be administered by the division. Two million five hundred thousand dollars ($2,500,000) of liquor excise tax revenues distributed to the fund and all other money in the fund, other than money appropriated for distribution pursuant to Subsections D and E of this section and money appropriated for DWI program distributions, are appropriated to the division to make grants to municipalities and counties upon council approval in accordance with the program established under the Local DWI Grant Program Act and to evaluate DWI grantees and the local DWI grant program. Money in the fund may be used for drug courts. An amount equal to the liquor excise tax revenues distributed annually to the fund, less [five million six hundred thousand dollars ($5,600,000)] six million one hundred thousand dollars ($6,100,000), is appropriated to the division to make DWI program distributions to counties upon council approval of programs in accordance with the provisions of the Local DWI Grant Program Act. No more than [six hundred thousand dollars ($600,000)] one million one hundred thousand dollars ($1,100,000) of liquor excise tax revenues distributed to the fund in any fiscal year shall be expended for administration of the grant program. Balances in the fund at the end of any fiscal year shall not revert to the general fund.
D. Two million eight hundred thousand dollars ($2,800,000) of the liquor excise tax revenues distributed to the local DWI grant fund is appropriated to the division for distribution to the following counties in the following amounts for funding of alcohol detoxification and treatment facilities:
(1) one million seven hundred thousand dollars ($1,700,000) to class A counties with a population of over three hundred thousand persons according to the 1990 federal decennial census;
(2) three hundred thousand dollars ($300,000) each to counties reclassified in 2002 as class A counties with a population of more than ninety thousand but less than one hundred thousand persons according to the 1990 federal decennial census;
(3) two hundred thousand dollars ($200,000) to class B counties with a population of more than thirty thousand but less than forty thousand persons according to the 1990 federal decennial census;
(4) one hundred fifty thousand dollars ($150,000) to class B counties with a population of more than sixty-two thousand but less than sixty-five thousand persons according to the 1990 federal decennial census; and
(5) one hundred fifty thousand dollars ($150,000) to class B counties with a population of more than thirteen thousand but less than fifteen thousand persons according to the 1990 federal decennial census.
E. Three hundred thousand dollars ($300,000) of the liquor excise tax revenues distributed to the local DWI grant fund is appropriated to the division for the interlock device fund.
F. In awarding DWI grants to local communities, the council:
(1) may fund new or existing innovative or model programs, services or activities designed to prevent or reduce the incidence of DWI, alcoholism or alcohol abuse;
(2) may fund existing community-based programs, services or facilities for prevention, screening and treatment of alcoholism and alcohol abuse;
(3) may fund new or existing innovative or model programs, services or activities of any kind designed to prevent or reduce the incidence of domestic abuse related to DWI, alcoholism or alcohol abuse;
(4) may fund existing community-based programs, services or facilities for prevention and treatment of domestic abuse related to DWI, alcoholism or alcohol abuse;
(5) shall give consideration to a broad range of approaches to prevention, education, screening, treatment or alternative sentencing, including programs that combine incarceration, treatment and aftercare, to address the problem of DWI, alcoholism or alcohol abuse; and
(6) shall make grants only to counties or municipalities in counties that have established a DWI planning council and adopted a county DWI plan or are parties to a multicounty DWI plan that has been approved by the council and approved pursuant to Chapter 43, Article 3 NMSA 1978 and only for programs, services or activities consistent with that plan. A DWI plan shall also comply with local DWI grant program rules and guidelines.
G. The council shall use the criteria in Subsection F of this section to approve DWI programs, services or activities for funding through the county DWI program distribution. Sixty-five percent of the DWI grants awarded to local communities shall be used for alcohol-related treatment and detoxification programs."
SECTION 2. Section 11-6A-6 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1997, Chapter 182, Section 2, as amended) is amended to read:
"11-6A-6. DISTRIBUTION OF CERTAIN LOCAL DWI GRANT PROGRAM FUNDS--APPROVAL OF PROGRAMS.--
A. An amount equal to the liquor excise tax revenues distributed to the local DWI grant fund for the fiscal year less [five million six hundred thousand dollars ($5,600,000)] six million one hundred thousand dollars ($6,100,000) shall be available for distribution in accordance with the formula in Subsection B of this section to each county for council-approved DWI programs, services or activities; provided that each county shall receive a minimum distribution of at least one-half percent of the money available for distribution.
B. Each county shall be eligible for a DWI program distribution in an amount derived by multiplying the total amount of money available for distribution by a percentage that is the average of the following two percentages:
(1) a percentage equal to a fraction, the numerator of which is the retail trade gross receipts in the county and the denominator of which is the total retail trade gross receipts in the state; and
(2) a percentage equal to a fraction, the numerator of which is the number of alcohol-related injury crashes in the county and the denominator of which is the total alcohol-related injury crashes in the state.
C. A county shall be eligible to receive the distribution determined pursuant to Subsection B of this section if the board of county commissioners has submitted to the council a request to use the distribution for the operation of one or more DWI programs, services or activities in the county and the request has been approved by the council. The request shall also comply with local DWI grant program rules and guidelines.
D. No later than April 1 each year, each board of county commissioners seeking approval for the DWI program distribution pursuant to this section shall make application to the division for review and approval by the council for one or more local DWI programs, services or activities in the county. Application shall be made on a form and in a manner determined by the division. The council shall approve the programs eligible for a distribution no later than July 1 of each year. The division shall make the annual distribution to each county in quarterly installments on or before each September 10, December 10, March 10 and June 10, beginning in September 2004. The amount available for distribution quarterly to each county shall be the amount determined by applying the formula in Subsection B of this section to the amount of liquor excise tax revenues in the local DWI grant fund at the end of the month prior to the quarterly installment due date and after [one million three hundred twenty-five thousand dollars ($1,325,000)] one million five hundred twenty-five thousand dollars ($1,525,000) has been set aside for the DWI grant program and after the appropriations and distributions pursuant to Subsections D and E of Section 11-6A-3 NMSA 1978.
E. If a county does not have a council-approved DWI program, service or activity or does not need the full amount of the available distribution, the unused money shall revert to the local DWI grant fund and may be used by the council for the local DWI grant program.
F. As used in this section:
(1) "alcohol-related injury crashes" means the average annual number of alcohol-related injury crashes during the period from January 1, 2000 through December 31, 2002, as determined by the traffic safety bureau of the [state highway and transportation] department of transportation; and
(2) "retail trade gross receipts" means the total reported gross receipts attributable to taxpayers reporting under the retail trade industry sector of the state for the most recent fiscal year as determined by the taxation and revenue department."
SECTION 3. EFFECTIVE DATE.--The effective date of the provisions of this act is July 1, 2024.
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