This week, my division of Finance met on four bills referred from other committees. HB 241, on insurance coverage of pain management services, had been amended by the previous committee to eliminate the coverage mandates, only requiring an insurance plan to have people with chronic pain able to access treatments other than opioids. The sponsor, a pain management doctor, has found that treatments such as physical therapy, acupuncture, and exercise often have results as good or better than drugs or surgery, obviously at lower cost and often with a better quality of life as well. No opposition, and since it doesn’t cost the state anything, I expect it to pass.
HB 629, raising the cost of a boat decal by $5 for the dam maintenance fund, was mostly about the need for dam maintenance. New Hampshire owns most of the dams in the state, and fewer and fewer of them are used to generate power, while they all are getting older (most are over 100 years old.) Boat decals (aka “licenses”) are currently $21.50, so this is a big jump.
HB 1411, directing the treasurer to withhold payments if the state has lost federal money due to an executive order, had nobody present to explain. We all agreed that it would be impossible to tell the treasurer to hold onto payroll deductions, since that’s specifically a federal crime, and nobody knew what other moneys we send to Washington.
HB 1042, raising the contingent credit limit, had the treasurer explaining her limitations and recommendations; the bill would not be a problem unless it started to crowd out borrowing for capital projects (possible but not that likely.) The Business Finance Authority also showed up and explained they could work with as little as a $150M increase, rather than the $250 in the bill, but they’d be back sooner in that case. The committee was a bit concerned about the size of the increase until we heard that the Senate was about to pass a $300M increase…
Thursday, the full House met in session. We approved 39 non-controversial bills in one vote, then special ordered two bills from Ways & Means (which are at the end of the calendar) to be considered right after lunch. Several chairs used a tabling motion (which is not debatable) to avoid discussion on bills the committee wanted to kill.
HB 1323, defining parental alienation, was debated at some length. The position I found most convincing was that parental alienation is in “case law” – the accumulated court decisions that serve as precedents – but not defined in statute, so its usage is not consistent. It passed, 197-157.
HB 1460, prohibiting the sale of location and other sensitive data regarding children, was debated more on the process than on the content. Opponents insisted it hadn’t had a “proper” public hearing because the sponsor hadn’t appeared to present the bill, but the committee clerk reported that several other people had testified on the bill. It passed, 214-145, as others also found the debate ineffective.
HB 1710, adopting procedures in cases of foreign abductions of children, was debated and passed, 198-161.
HB 1570, requiring local government agreements before law enforcement participated with federal immigration enforcement, was debated and killed, 198-161. This leaves any such participation to be decided by the law enforcement agency. HB 1642, the “red flag” bill to allow confiscation of firearms when a danger to themselves or others is alleged, was debated at some length and killed, 206-153. HB 1715, requiring domestic violence and stalking petitions be filed electronically, was killed on a voice vote, without comment. So many abusers and stalkers monitor their victim’s devices that manual documents are needed to prevent immediate violence.
HB 1701, establishing an incentive fund to keep graduates of New Hampshire colleges in state after graduation, was tabled, 203-155.
HB 1716, changing the academic accountability of education freedom accounts by requiring annual reporting and disqualifying non-public school teachers from assessing portfolios, was debated and killed, 194-166. Public school performance is tested every four years, with an opt-out capability. HB 1808, having the Department of Education hire a data analyst, passed without comment.
HB 1678, requiring the secretary of state to create an online portal for voter registration and accept registration forms directly from voters, was killed on a voice vote because of the cost of developing a parallel voter registration process, without a clear need.
HB 1636, having the Department of Revenue Administration study options for generating state revenues, was actually debated before being killed, 284 -76. State revenue is from taxes and fees, and as you can tell from this report, the legislature is quite capable of imagining options for both. No need for the DRA to hire consultants!
HB 1584, allowing exemptions from immunization requirements to be submitted in writing, without a specific form, was debated on the grounds that it was inconvenient for school nurses to deal with random pieces of paper; they wanted proper forms! It passed, 197-163.
At this point, we took up a reprimand to Representative Paige Beauchemin from Nashua. She had given the governor the finger during the state of the state address and then bragged about it on social media. Her response was to “sincerely apologize” for disrupting the House, then take ten minutes to brag about her virtue signaling. We listened with proper decorum, then voted 264-89 to complete the reprimand. I doubt her behavior will improve.
HB 1409, modifying the use of revenues from video lottery terminals, was tabled without comment. HB 1596, raising the tobacco tax, canceling premiums for some Medicaid policies, and increasing funding for the university system, was debated and killed, 200-157. This was collection of bad ideas: the cigarette tax would go from $1.78 to $2.80, endangering our lucrative cross-border sales; a permanent appropriation to the university system would eliminate the flexibility we currently have; and canceling the just-created premiums forces other taxpayers to subsidize people on Medicaid even further.
HB 1719, removing Hepatitis B from the list of mandatory vaccinations, was briefly debated and passed, 186-168. HB 1798, covering diapers under the state Medicaid plan, was tabled, 197-158.
HB 1067, creating a full system of mental health courts, was tabled, 182-171. HB 1501, limiting judicial immunity, was briefly debated and killed, 261-94.
HB 1505, requiring documentation of compliance with local tax caps, was discussed and passed, 180-171.
HB 1607, on use and storage of road salt, was tabled by the committee, 188-166, because they had found a fatal error in the committee amendment and wanted the chance to fix it.
HB 1301, increasing mooring fees to pay for cyanobacteria mitigation, passed on a voice vote. HB 1426, requiring the department of environmental services to employ certified personnel, likewise passed without discussion. HB 1530, requiring notice to abutters before disturbing beaver dams, was killed after a few comments, 189-156. HB 1655, creating a fee on lakeside property for the dam maintenance fund, was not tabled, 173-179, then passed, 208-146, all without debate.
HB 1664, removing the Hannah Duston memorial, was actually debated at some length. The committee wanted to kill the bill; opponents also would keep the memorial, but wanted to create an advisory council to mange the site! The vote was 194-156 to kill.
HB 1768, granting free parking and day use at state parks to all resident veterans, passed on a voice vote, as did HB 1837, technical corrections to the marine patrol statute.
HB 1002, repealing the property tax exemption for solar power installations, was debated and tabled, 187-157. I missed the vote due to a call of nature, but would have voted against tabling.
HB 1542, refunding renewable energy fund compliance payments to ratepayers, was not tabled, 160-188, had the usual dull debate about energy regulation, and passed, 189-157. HB 1738, updating references to the regional greenhouse gas initiative, passed on a voice vote.
HB 1176, allowing only one license plate per vehicle, was amended on a voice vote, debated, then not passed, 159-188. A tabling motion then passed, 321-27. Objections to the bill were mostly for the convenience of the police, not the citizens.
HB 1421, updating title exemptions for older vehicles, was briefly discussed and passed on a voice vote.
HB 1580, adding a new property tax to non-primary residences, was debated and killed, 284-55. Besides the constitutional issues, this bill would be very difficult to administer and enforce.
HB 1810, a tax on road salt purchases, was debated and killed, 177-156. It seems the sponsors wanted to subsidize the “Green Snow Pro” certification, which teaches salt applicators to use less salt, more effectively, but the professionals pay for that program with their certification fees (and often made up for it by buying less salt.) Publicizing this program – maybe having municipalities mandate it for their contractors – would be more likely to reduce polluting salt usage at less cost.
Authors’ and Speakers’ opinions are their own and may not represent those of Grok Media, LLC, GraniteGrok.com, its sponsors, readers, authors, or advertisers.
Disagree, agree, Got Something to Say, We Want to Hear It. Comment or submit Op-Eds to steve@granitegrok.com
