2023 New Mexico Statutes › Chapter 9 - Executive Department › Article 8 - Health Care Authority Department › Section 9-8-5 - Secretary of health care authority; appointment.

A. The administrative head of the health care authority department is the "secretary of health care authority", who shall be appointed by the governor with the consent of the senate and who shall serve in the executive cabinet.
B. An appointed secretary shall serve and have all of the duties, responsibilities and authority of that office during the period of time prior to final action by the senate confirming or rejecting the appointed secretary's appointment.
History:
1978 Comp., § 9-8-5, enacted by Laws 1977, ch. 252, § 6; 2023, ch. 205, § 5.
ANNOTATIONS
Cross references.
— For executive cabinet,
see
9-1-3 NMSA 1978.
For appointment and removal power of governor,
see
N.M. Const., art. V, § 5.
The 2023 amendment,
effective June 16, 2023, changed the name of the humans services department to the health care authority department, and updated certain language; in the section heading, deleted "human services" and added "health care authority"; and in Subsection A, after "head of", deleted "human services" and added "health care authority", and after "secretary of", deleted "human services" and added "health care authority".
Temporary provisions.
— Laws 2023, ch. 205, § 16 provided:
A. The governor may issue an executive order that further delineates the organizational structure, power and duties of the health care authority department and moves divisions and programs to or from other departments to accomplish the reorganizational goals of this act. The governor shall report the reorganizational changes and recommend statutory changes to the legislative health and human services committee and the legislative finance committee by November 1, 2023 and provide a final reorganization report to the legislature by January 1, 2024.
B. On July 1, 2023, statutory references to the human services department shall be deemed to be references to the health care authority department, and contractual obligations of the human services department shall be binding on the health care authority department. Rules of the human services department shall be the rules of the health care authority department until amended or repealed. As functions of government are transferred to the health care authority department as specified in Section 9-8-4 NMSA 1978, statutory references shall be deemed to be references to the health care authority department, contractual obligations shall be binding on the department and existing pertinent rules shall be the rules of the department until amended or repealed.
C. The department of finance and administration, the secretary of health care authority, the secretary of health, the secretary of general services, members of the governor's staff and other persons assigned by the governor shall develop a transition plan that includes:
(1) what units of the executive department shall be transferred to or from the health care authority department and working and final organizational charts for all affected units of the executive departments;
(2) how and when functions, personnel, money, appropriations, equipment, supplies and other property of the human services department, the department of health, the general services department and other units of the executive department shall be transferred to or from the health care authority department; and
(3) proposed statutory changes, including changes in Chapters 9, 10 and 24 NMSA 1978 and the creation of a new chapter of the NMSA 1978 to include sections of Chapters 9 and 24 NMSA 1978 and other provisions of law pertaining to health care purchasing and regulation.