Update: House Starts to Act on Senate Bills
It’s been a busy two weeks in the New Hampshire House of Representatives. Bills that originated in the Senate (you can identify them by the “SB” prefix instead of the usual “HB”) continue to receive public hearings in House committees. On Thursday, the House met as a body to start voting on them. During this session, we also voted to “concur” with several bills that originated in the House, but were approved with amendments in the Senate. Here’s a quick recap.
Full House Votes on Thursday
By individual voice votes, the House concurred with 16 bills that originated in the House and came back (approved) from the Senate, but with minor amendments. These bills now go to the Committee on Enrolled Bills, which will look them over for clerical imperfections and typos. If they pass muster, the next step in the legislative process is for them to be signed by the House Speaker, the Senate President, and finally, the governor. On Thursday, these bills included:
HB365 raises the cap on energy a customer generating energy via solar or other renewable energy sources can sell back to the grid from one to five megawatts, which is consistent with federal limits as well as limits in other states. Raising the cap broadens consumer choice and options, increases tax revenues, support local jobs, promote investments in renewables, and saves money for ratepayers.
HB692 adds dental care to the list of covered benefits for Medicaid recipients. While children now have access to dental benefits under Medicaid, adults are only covered for emergency extractions. Better dental health promotes better overall health. It can also remove a barrier to getting off of Medicaid. As Craig Thompson pointed out in his February letter to the Concord Monitor: “To become gainfully employed or to build your own business, requires you to succeed in gaining customers or acing a job interview. Try doing that with missing teeth.”
HB736 reestablishes the commission to study environmentally-triggered chronic diseases. The commission has been studying the role of environmental contaminants in New Hampshire’s highest-in-the-nation rates of bladder, breast, esophageal, and pediatric cancer. The commission coordinates data and research from state and federal agencies and recommends policy changes to reduce the risk of illness caused by contaminants.
The House also voted on a flurry of bills originating in the Senate.
SB76 was approved as part of the “Consent Calendar”. (Explainer: at the beginning of each House session, non-controversial bills that receive unanimous recommendations in committee are added to the Consent Calendar, where they are voted on by voice vote all-at-once instead of individually). This bill prohibits offshore oil and gas exploration off the coast of New Hampshire, eliminating the risk of a potential ecological disaster.
SB82 passed by voice vote. This bill ensures that public school students eligible for reduced-priced meals at school are offered breakfast at no cost. While the bill was approved, it was disconcerting to hear so many people on the other side of the aisle shouting themselves hoarse to keep food away from hungry kids who don’t have a say in how “responsible” their parents may be. But these are the times we live in.
SB139, which establishes a committee to study options for lowering student debt, was approved by a mystifying 217-142 vote. At $36,350, New Hampshire has the highest average student loan debt at graduation in the country. Heavy college debt isn’t a character-building experience. It’s a dream-crushing experience. That’s why expert, data-driven recommendations from a New Hampshire perspective can only be helpful.
SB6 passed 272-87. This bill provides funds to the Department of Health and Human Services to hire additional child protective workers. Some of the more inspiring state workers you’ll ever meet are DCYF case workers. They travel all over the state, work long hours, and often put themselves in harm’s way to help families and protect children. More caseworkers means lower caseloads and less likelihood that a bad situation for an innocent child will become even worse.
SB11 passed by voice vote. This bill makes appropriations vital to accomplishing some of the key short-term goals of New Hampshire’s new 10 Year Mental Health Plan, including adding new beds and supportive housing for those with serious mental illness.
SB290, which fine-tunes the work requirement of the state’s Medicaid expansion program, passed 210-150. While this bill doesn’t eliminate the work/community engagement requirement for adult Medicaid recipients, it raises the exemption for parents of children between the ages of 6 and 13. It also would eliminate the work requirement added in 2019 should more than 500 enrollees lose coverage for failing to meet it. The rationale for the bill is simple. Medicaid is a health care program and not a work release program. Its primary goal is to ensure health care needs are being met for the most vulnerable part of our population. While the work requirement may be helpful in incentivizing some enrollees to “graduate” into other forms of coverage, it becomes a problem if a significant number of people lose coverage. This would force many to delay care until emergency room treatment (which must be provided by law) is the only option. The cost of these expenses isn’t eaten by the hospitals. It’s passed on to people with insurance in the form of higher rates for all hospital services. Reducing cost-shifting was one of the primary reasons why expanding Medicaid made sense in the first place. Covering vulnerable people helps them get care earlier, reducing the need for hospitalization. It’s less expensive than NOT covering them. So why make people who are struggling jump through a hoop that appeases our Calvinist ancestors, but achieves surprisingly little beyond that? The bill also makes sense given the fact that federal courts have recently already struck down even less comprehensive work requirements in two other states.
Updates on Bills Still In Committee
This week the Senate Judiciary committee conducted public hearings on three gun violence risk reduction bills: HB109 would close the private sale exemption and require universal background checks for firearms sales. HB514 would extend the waiting period to 7 days for most firearms purchases. HB564 would establish gun-free zones on public school grounds. All three bills will move on the Senate for votes once the committee makes its final recommendations.
At a Senate hearing, Portsmouth Assistant Mayor Cliff Lazenby testified in favor of HB641, a bill that would give municipalities the option of collecting an extra two dollars a night from hotel room rentals in their areas, including Airbnb rentals.
A bipartisan amendment boosted the chances of an independent redisricting commission bill (HB706) passing the Senate and getting signed by the governor.
SB142 cleared a House committee and will now be voted on by the full house. This bill would require school districts to supply tampons in school restrooms for female students unable to afford them. While some legislators have objected to the bill as an “unfunded mandated”, others, like me, wonder if the same people would consider toilet paper in the boy’s lavatory to also be an unfunded mandate.
HB558 and HB560, which would restrict the distribution of plastic straws and single-use plastic bags in New Hampshire, received the support of some very committed school kids during a Senate hearing.
Public hearings are scheduled next week in Concord and in Manchester on HB1 and HB2—the two state budget bills. On Tuesday May 7 from 1:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m., the Senate Finance Committee will hear public comments in Representatives Hall in the State House. On May 8, the scene shifts to Aldermanic Chambers on the 3rd Floor of Manchester City Hall for 7:00 p.m. hearing on the same two bills. (See my earlier post on the merits of the House budget).