Once again we bring you Notes from Concord, a brief review of what’s happening in the New Hampshire Legislature. Many bills have come out of committees and are now making their way to the House floor for a vote up (OTP) or down (ITL).
The Legislature met both Wednesday February 15 and Thursday February 16 to deal with the huge backlog of bills to be considered.
“RIGHT TO WORK”
One bill that has attracted a lot of attention is referred to as “Right to Work” Senate Bill 11 and House Bill 520. This bill would prohibit collective bargaining agreements requiring employees to join or contribute to a labor organization representing them in negotiations. SB 1 1 was passed in the Senate in January. The House voted against SB on Thursday, February 17, 200 to 77, and subsequently voted to indefinitely postpone HB 520 during this biennium.
CONCEALED CARRY
Another bill actively debated and passed in the Senate was SB 12 that repeals the licensing requirement for carrying a concealed pistol or revolver. It was subsequently passed by the House by a vote of 212 to 150 and now goes to Governor Sununu to be signed into law.
EDUCATION
There are several bills coming before the New Hampshire House from the Education Committee such as HB 354, appropriating funds to the Department of Education to provide additional adequate education grant payments to some municipalities. This bill is still in committee.
HB 597, relative to calculating the cost of an opportunity for an adequate education and providing fiscal capacity disparity aid, was killed by the House 186 to 165.
Another child related bill is HB 647 to establish education freedom savings accounts for children with disabilities. This bill is still in committee.
ELECTION LAW
The Election Law Committee submitted HB 203 to establish an independent redistricting commission but it was voted ITL by the House 190 to 164 on February 15.
HEALTH CARE
HB 638 which would repeal the New Hampshire Health Protection Program, known as Expanded Medicaid, was heard in committee on February 14. This program appears to have significantly reduced local welfare costs without using any General Fund Revenue. The bill to repeal the Program is due to come out of committee on March 2.
DRONES
HB 97 to establish standards for the use of drones came from the Executive Departments and Public Safety Administration with an OTP recommendation.
It was passed by the House as amended on February 15 and has been referred to the Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee.
FUNDS FOR TOWNS
HB 413 would require the State to once again contribute 15% of retirement costs for town employees and other employees of the State’s political subdivisions. It was passed by the House, 267 to 83 on February 15 but is now referred to the House Finance Committee.
Senate Bill 192 would reinstate State building aid for schools. It is scheduled to be considered by the full Senate on February 23.
Both of these bills would restore funds to towns and cities which could reduce local property taxes.
TAXES
There was also a bill reported out by the Ways and Means Committee, the Tax Shift Plan, HB 415, which would have reduced business taxes, repealed other taxes, required payment by the State of a portion of retirement contributions to political subdivision employees, and would have established an income tax. This bill was killed by a voice vote of the House on February 15.
Another tax bill was HB 644 that would have extended the interest and dividends tax to capital gains, increase exemptions from the tax, and would have also restored some retirement contributions from the State to our towns. The house voted against this bill on February 15, 200 to 137.
Ways & Means submitted HB 489 that would establish a commission to study the tax structure of the State of New Hampshire with the stated purpose of developing changes in state tax laws to reduce the burden on property taxes under the current tax structure. This bill was passed, as amended, by voice vote on February 16.
DEDICATED FUNDS
Ways & Means HB 569 deals with the long time problem of dedicated funds being diverted to other uses. It would have required that surplus funds first be used to reimburse dedicated funds used for other purposes over the previous biennium before any money is deposited to the revenue stabilization account. This bill was killed by the House 184 to 164 on February 15.
BROADBAND ACCESS
Science, Technology and Energy submitted a bill, HB 238, to establish a committee to study broadband access to the Internet, something that is still not readily available in many of our smaller communities. This bill was passed by the House on February 16, 174 to 162.
HB 191, which would have authorized municipalities to issue bonds for broadband infrastructure, was killed by the House 193 to 168 on February 2.
A similar bill, Senate Bill 170, is still in Committee in the Senate.
WILDLIFE
HB 381 would have outlawed Cruelty to Non-Captive Wildlife. This bill was tabled by the House on a Division vote of 239 to 130 on February 16.
STATE BERRY
The House voted Ought to Pass on HB 262 by voice vote on February 2. This bill would make the Blackberry the New Hampshire State Berry. Fourth graders were behind this bill.