Deja Vu—Concord-Style
This coming Thursday, April 4, is the deadline for the New Hampshire House of Representatives to act on non-budget bills originating in the House. If some of them sound familiar, there’s a reason for that. Several have already been voted on—and passed—by the full House.
But wait. There’s more!
Once passed, they were referred to an additional committee for more work. On Thursday, these bills boomerang back onto the House floor with new committee recommendation and the full House must vote on them once again.
Thursday’s boomerang bills include:
HB-564. This bill would allow New Hampshire communities to enforce gun-free zones on public school property. Originally passed by the Education Committee and then by the full House, last week the Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee was given a chance to weigh in on the policy and the penalty and approved it in an 12-8 vote.
HB-481. After sailing through the House in an earlier vote, cannabis legalization and regulation was referred to the House Ways and Means Committee to finalize the taxation approach. The result is an amended bill that changes the way recreational cannabis sales will be taxed and removes regulations concerning hemp (now included in a separate bill). The amended bill includes a 5 percent tax on the wholesale/cultivator sales price; and a 9 percent tax on the retail cannabis store sales price. This approach is estimated to raise up to $30 million, which would be split three ways between treatment and enforcement programs, aid to municipalities, and the general fund.
HB-616. This bill would provide 1.5% cost of living pension bump for any former state worker who retired before July 2014. The amended bill reported out of the Finance Committee limits the 1.5% COLA only to the first $50,000 of pension benefit. Cost of Living Increases can only be authorized by the legislature and many retirees are still receiving the same pension amount they were receiving over a decade ago.
HB-641. Earlier approved by the full House in a 194-151 vote, this amended bill would let cities and towns collect up to a $2/night occupancy fee from operators of local hotel and room rentals. With the share of the state’s rooms and meals tax that goes back to cities and towns having shrunk in recent years, it would give Portsmouth and other communities that serve as hubs for tourism, business, higher education, and healthcare the option to replace some of that lost revenue.
If approved by the full House, all of these bills (which I support) will crossover to the Senate for public hearings, committee votes, and votes by the full Senate.
Coming Up Next Week
The first House vote on the new state budget will be on April 11, just as some of the key details are starting to emerge.