The Legislative Audit Committee authorized the state auditor to draft a bill that would investigate 17 nonprofit community mental health centers that were granted “non-compete contracts and a privileged rate status for nearly 60 years, without meaningful oversight.”

The audit was requested in January by Reps. Dafna Michaelson Jenet, D-Aurora and Colin Larson, R-Littleton, and Sens. Robert Rodriquez, D-Denver and Julie Gonzales, D-Denver, all members of the audit committee.

In December, the Colorado News Collaborative reported that the centers “collectively have treated fewer clients during the pandemic than before it, despite skyrocketing mental health needs. At the same time, more than half the centers have been sitting on liquid reserves of $10 million or more. Denver’s center kept more than $40 million in liquid reserves while its clients faced record-long wait times for care,” the report said.