NH House Highlights

Our society is one of rules and laws which guide our existence within this democracy. Our government operates by rules, procedure, and tradition. The NH House is no exception. Last evening the House met in special session until late in the evening. All the rules and process which have long guided the way we do business were changed by a vote of the Democratic majority. During a special session Democrats voted to require a simple majority (rather than a 2/3) vote to pass legislation. Further the new rules circumvented the committee process. The result was a proposal to bond $100 million was pushed through the system in just 4 hours time with no public hearing.

Special sessions have occurred in the past. In 1989 a session was called to deal with the bankruptcy of PSNH. There were two examples which occurred during my tenure when bills were passed to deal with changes to the Federal Medicare/Medicad program, and to deal with Low Income Fuel Assistance. These two sessions were coordinated with the minority and both parties in agreement.

This session was certainly not one where all parties were working together. The Democrats, insistent on erasing the budget deficit prior to the end of the fiscal year were going to use borrowing to close the gap. The whirlwind started at 10 .m. when the committee met to recommend rules, the bill was received after 1 p.m. during our regular session, and we started deliberation at 7 p.m. A passionate plea was made to the House by the Deputy Republican to accept an amendment to require the bill go through an expedited committee process. This was narrowly rejected. All other attempts to divide the question, to use the “Rainy Day” fund instead of borrowing, and to adjourn were also rejected. This Democratic majority was going to have their way, and they prevailed. Those with twenty plus years experience say they have never seen such an abuse during their tenure in the legislature.

This is likely the start of a slippery slope—there will be future attempts to penalize the other side. We are governed by rules, when the rules were set aside we deteriorate, our society breaks down. As we enter the filing period it is important for us to recruit good candidates to re-take the House and restore our rules, tradition, and process.

Final negotiations are ongoing in Concord this week as the House and Senate meet in Committees of Conference. The goal is to try to reach a compromise on bills of importance. It is necessary for all parties to agree on the compromise. The usual makeup is three members from the Senate, and four from the House. There is usually representation from both parties on the Committee. There are occasions, on bills of importance, when a member will refuse to sign the compromise and is replaced by either the Speaker or the Senate President.

Some of the bills of importance being negotiated this week include changes to the Retirement System, the “mini-budget” which makes a number changes to address the deficit and includes the potential cigarette tax, and the bill proposing classification levels for sex offenders.

The Senate made a number of significant changes to the House position in each of the above bills. Often the negotiations can be lengthily, with frequent recesses and caucuses by the members of each body. I will update you on the progress of the negotiations.

The House met in session to take up Committee recommendations on bills amended by the Senate. The day was non-controversial with most recommendations supported by the majority in the House. There were a few bills which were debated. There were debates on bills relating to non-renewal of a teachers contract, another regarding the definition of a cigarette which would include small cigarettes in products subject to taxation, and finally debate on changes to the retirement system. The majority of the House concurred with first two bills. The retirement bill will go to a Committee of Conference.

A bill which received a good deal of attention, and communication from a number of you, is the “evergreen clause” bill, HB1436. This bill will continue the terms of a collective bargaining agreement until a new agreement is signed. The Senate amended the bill to exclude cost of living increases. However, some have communicated that the largest increases can result from the “steps” in the contract. This provision is still part of the the bill. The House voted to concur on a roll call vote of 186-128.

The House did affirm revenue estimates yesterday. The revenues were reduced by almost $200 million ($65 million in FY08, and $130 million in FY09). One provision which is being watched very closely is the Governor’s attempt to bond $80 million in school construction costs which traditionally have been paid in cash. After the House sent this section to study, the Senate amended it back onto the Ten Year Highway Plan. It will go to a Committee of Conference. It is disturbing that we are resorting to borrowing to continue the massive increase in spending. This leaves the bill to our children. The use of borrowing appears to be a trend because the Governor’s budget included $60 million in bonding to cover highway costs (such as paving) another line item which had always been paid in cash. Committees of Conference will meet next week. The House will meet on June 4th to take up the Conference reports.

The House will meet in session today to take up Committee recommendations on bills amended by the Senate. The Committee’s can concur and the bill proceeds, they can non-concur and the bill dies, or they can non-concur and request a Committee of Conference. Our rules require that the Committee of Conference can only consider material which is in either the House or Senate version; no new language can be added. The Senate has made a number of changes which need to be carefully monitored. One of the most notable is the amendment of the proposal to bond $80 million in school funding onto a bill. The House deleted this provision in the “mini-budget” bill passed last week.

The House has yet to review updated revenue estimates. It is tradition that revenues are updated in the spring (approximately 9 months into the budget). A resolution with the updated figures is presented to the House in March for review, and then lay on the table. The resolution is removed from the table the next month and either updated again, or left as is. The House votes on the resolution to affirm the estimates which were used in the budget. Today is May 20th and we have not yet reviewed a revenue resolution. A resolution was in our seat pockets last week but not taken up. The projected budget deficit is well known and it is irresponsible not to officially affirm the shortfall. I will update our progress after session.

The House defeated all versions of a constitutional amendment on education today. The compromise amendment from House Finance was defeated 140-222. The breakdown was 108 Democrats and 32 Republicans. Republicans offered an amendment which Mike Whalley, our former Republican Leader, developed through consensus last year. This was defeated by a 124-213 vote. Three Democrats joined 121 Republicans to support this version. After a few other amendments which were also defeated the bill, as passed by the Senate was defeated 97-238. Republicans felt that it did not do enough to reduce the role of the courts. Democrats felt that it left the state off the hook by not paying the full cost of education.

There was a move to table the bill during the process of hearing the amendments. The move came when Republicans offered the version which had the most support in our caucus. This occurred last year and we were never able to vote on our version. Fortunately this failed. The majority has the ability to silence the voice of the minority if they so choose. This is not the way a democracy should operate. The majority governs, but the minority should be heard. The Republican minority was heard today and showed that they will support a properly worded amendment. Some members, me included, did support other versions believing that there was some benefit from the language. In the end, the divide was never able to be closed.

The House was unable to finish our business and we return to session tomorrow.

The House votes today on the Constitutional Amendment. The amendment requires 237 votes to be placed on the ballot this fall. Republicans have advocated for an amendment since the Claremont decision. Last term Governor Lynch recognized the need for an amendment. He has advocated for one within the Democratic caucus and for the first time the Democratic leadership supports one. The challenge is to reach a compromise on language. Democrats believe that the state is not paying its share of education costs. Republicans believe that funding of education costs is a partnership with local communities and state money should be targeted to needy communities, provided that each community receives some money. Proponents of this amendment say that the authority and discretion granted the legislature will reduce the court review. Opponents have two objections–that it fails to define the full obligation of the state, and that it contains many vague words which will open a new round of lawsuits. The deep rooted philosophical differences between the parties are evident in the objections to the amendment. Today should prove to be a long session.

House Finance has reached a compromise on a constitutional amendment for education funding. The language noted below passed the Finance committee on a 20-5 vote. The bill will go to the full House next week. A constitutional amendment requires 237 votes to be placed on the ballot, 60% of the membership. This will be a challenge because on any given day the attendance is approximately 330 to 350 members. This means approximately 70% of those in attendance will have to approve of the language. This is a high bar, but changes to the constitution should not be easy.

This is the proposed language:
“The legislature shall provide every child the opportunity for a public school education in fulfillment of the legislature’s duty with respect to public education provided for in Part I, Article 83. The legislature shall have the responsibility to define the content of an education adequate to prepare the student to become a productive and contributing citizen and to determine the total statewide cost of providing that education to all public school students. The legislature shall have the authority and responsibility to raise the funds that total the statewide cost of this education and to distribute these funds in a manner that alleviates local disparities in educational opportunity and fiscal capacity, provided that every school district shall receive a meaningful share of these funds.”

In other news, I understand that the state Senate has approved the education funding plan which the House passed on Wednesday. The plan costs $64 million more per year than the current plan. The legislature will not “fund” this plan until next session. This means that we have no idea how we are going to pay for the extra $128 million in the next two year budget. This is irresponsible. The Union Leader today called it the “Whimpy” plan, after the cartoon character in Popeye. Whimpy’s favorite phrase was “I’ll gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today.” We get the education funding plan today, payment to be made later. This legislature is surely leaving a large hole for the next legislature to fill. The public deserves to know how this will be paid for before the fall elections.

Next week will be a busy week. I will keep you updated.

House Finance held hearings Tuesday on SB321, the Governor’s proposal to deal with the budget deficit. This bill has been amended to include a number of proposals to raise revenue and increase borrowing. The bill proposes a 25 cent increase in the cigarette tax, a reduction in the discount given to the large retailers who buy alcohol from the state, and bonding of the state’s portion of school construction costs. Most disturbing is the bonding proposal because the state has always paid for these projects with cash. Last year the budget included bonding of $40 million in road projects which also had always been paid in cash. This is a disturbing trend—massive increases in spending, over-inflated revenues, projected significant deficit, interim search to raise, increased use of borrowing to cover spending.

Today’s the House will vote on a bill requiring insurance coverage for bariatric surgery. This is the medical procedure performed on morbidly obese individuals. This procedure is very expensive and has significant risks. Health insurance is already unaffordable for most. Mandates only push the cost higher. The Committee is recommending that this bill be sent for further study by a 13-5 vote. This legislature has passed a number of mandates this session and it will be interesting to see if they accept the committee recommendation or pass yet another cost driving mandate.

One positive note-the Senate committee has recommended that the “evergreen” clause bill be killed by a 5-1 vote. This is the bill which would continue the terms of a collective bargaining agreement until a new agreement is signed. The full Senate votes on this bill tomorrow. House Finance will continue work on the Constitutional Amendment on Thursday. I will keep you updated.

As we near the end of session things are moving at a rapid pace in Concord. House Finance has the Constitutional Amendment under consideration. An amendment will need 237 votes to be placed on the ballot. This is a high bar, but amendments to the Constitution should not be easy. The committee will make a recommendation by Thursday and will be voted on by the full House next week. The House session calendar for Wednesday includes the bills on Kindergarten and the Cost of an Adequate Education.

The Senate has recommended that the evergreen clause bill be killed. This would continue the terms of the terms of a collective bargaining contract until a new contract is signed. The full Senate will vote on this on Thursday.

I have gotten a few emails asking if it is possible to pass a voter ID law prior to the November elections. Our rules allow filing of legislation during a specific time period, usually September and December. A bill is not allowed outside of this time period unless something comes up that was not known during the filing period. The intent is emergencies, like floods, which require some appropriation. The Supreme Court decision would not be enough to warrant an exception to the filing period. I would expect a number of bills on this subject next year. I will update as the week proceeds.

As we near the end of session, things are moving fast and furious. There were two reports from the State House today which bear repeating here. First, the Governor asked House Finance for an additional 25 cent increase in the cigarette to provide additional revenues. As I have repeated noted here, we have a spending problem in this state. We increased spending by 17.5% this past biennium. Revenues are ahead of the comparable period last year, by approximately $40 million. We need to cut spending. That is what the Governor should be aggressively doing, not looking to new sources of revenue.

Second, the state Senate Judiciary committee rejected some changes to a Sexual Predator bill which has passed the House. The Senate weakened sections of the bill. They require an adult who sexually assaults a 13 year-old to register on the Sex Offender Registry for only 10 years instead of the recommended life registration. They also have refused to require a convicted offender from giving a sample of their DNA. Apparently 48 other states already require this. What is it about Sex Offenders that is acceptable? I have no sympathy for those who prey on children. This bill will likely go before the full Senate next week.

Finally, the House Finance committee today received an additional change to the proposed Constitutional Amendment. We are weighing the impact of the amendment. Republicans would support a properly worded amendment. More on this next week.