Update: Key Legislation Speeds Towards an Uncertain Fate at the Finish Line
In a week where the governor once again chose to wield his veto pen to kill much-needed legislation, the legislature moved dozens of additional bills forward.
Getting the red pen treatment this week from the governor was SB5–a critical element in the state’s 10 year Mental Health Plan that would have spent $3.5 million to raise the rates that Medicaid pays out for mental health services and substance use disorder treatments.
Sustained by a 14-10 vote in the Senate along party lines, this bill would have addressed a long-time problem for New Hampshire mental health service providers by making it possible for them to offer more competitive salaries to attract doctors, nurses, and other caregivers reluctant to take an open position in a state where low Medicaid reimbursement rates have depressed salaries in comparison to adjoining states.
This Week in the NH House
Thursday’s session in the NH House of Representatives saw action on dozens of “boomerang” bills passed earlier this year by the House. These bills were back for an additional vote because the Senate approved them with amendments. (Here is the full list of House bills amended by the Senate) By law, the House and the Senate must agree on the exact wording of a bill before it can go to the governor. So if a previously passed bill is changed IN ANY WAY by the Senate, House committee chairmen review the changes and make a recommendation to either agree (or “concur”) with the Senate’s changes or to disagree (“non-concur) with them. If either the House or the Senate doesn’t concur on a bill, the next stop for the bill is a joint “committee of conference” made up of members from both the House and the Senate where the differences can hopefully be ironed out.
The inside scoop? The reality is that most Senate changes are minor, are easy to agree with, and in many cases result in better legislation. Bills where the House chose to concur with Senate amendments included:
HB-25, the state capital budget bill.
HB109, requiring universal background checks for firearms sales.
HB261, requiring the commissioner of the department of environmental services to revise rules relative to arsenic contamination in drinking water.
HB399, arrests or convictions for possession of 3/4 of an ounce or less of marijuana where the offense occurred before September 16, 2017.
HB514, requiring a 3 day waiting period for most firearms sales.
HB692, adding a dental benefit to Medicaid services.
HB706, establishing an independent redistricting commission to redraw the boundaries of districts for elected office.
These bills now move on to the governor for approval. For more information on next steps and additional bills moving on to the governor, see this article.
So What Happens When the House Doesn’t Agree with the Senate’s Changes?
When the Senate makes changes to bills that are more substantial—and that may clash with the intentions of the bill’s sponsors and/or members of the House majority—committees of conference can help bridge the gap.
Over the next week, committees of conference will meet to resolve differences on dozens of critical bills. Worth noting is that these are public meetings where all discussions are out in the open. Here are some of the ones to watch. (You can view the full list of conference committee sessions here)
HB1 and HB2 comprise two of the three bills that make up the state budget. (HB25–the capital budget—has already been approved and is on the way to the governor.) A key difference between the House and Senate versions of the budget is the Senate’s elimination of the capital gains tax proposed by the House to ease the public school funding situation. Less revenue means $60 million less for public schools than the House version of the budget. However, the Senate version returns more money to cities and towns in the form of revenue sharing. While there are additional differences to be hammered out, looming over the discussion is a threat by the governor to veto any budget that raises taxes or includes funding for the Senate’s paid family leave program, which the governor has already vetoed.
HB494, as passed by the House, declares Coakley Landfill to be an “imminent hazard” and orders the NH Department of Environmental Services to compel the parties responsible for the surface water contamination of Berry’s Brook to start work removing chemicals from the site by September 1. The Senate version weakens the bill considerably, removing the imminent hazard declaration and ordering the responsible parties to create an action plan and a cost estimate for cleaning up the site. The bottom line is a cost estimate is not the same as a cleanup—so this one deserves close attention.
HB564 as passed by the House would ban unauthorized parties from carrying firearms onto school grounds of any public school in the state. The Senate version would give local communities the ability to set firearms policies for their schools.
All committees of conference must be finished with their work in time for the next—and hopefully final—day of the 2019 legislative calendar on Thursday, June 27.
So What About Bills that Have Been Retained by Their Committees?
In addition to moving a bill forward as “Ought to Pass” or attempting to kill it with in “Inexpedient to Legislate” recommendation, a committee can choose to “retain” a bill for additional work before reintroducing it with or without an amendment in the 2020 year of the session. The reasons for retaining a bill usually boil down to a combination of time and input received from constituents and stakeholders during public hearings. Rather than take the time to do significant work on a single bill during a period when a committee might be considering dozens of other bills, it can vote to retain it—which essentially sets it aside so it can be worked on later in the year when there’s more time.
In 2019, dozens of important bills were retained. You can get a complete list by going to the Advanced Bill Status Search tool, selecting “RETAINED IN COMMITTEE” from the House Status field, and selecting the SUMBIT button at the bottom of the screen.
Bills that are duplicates or variations of other bills already passed either by the House or Senate won’t be back as long as the governor signs them. But subcommittees assigned to work on these bills are already being assigned and are starting to meet. As a member of the Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee, I’ve been assigned to subcommittees that will do additional work on two very important bills:
HB687 would create an extreme risk protection order that can be used on an emergency basis to temporarily remove firearms from people posing an immediate danger to themselves or to others. The original bill was retained after it failed on a 10-10 vote in committee after concerns were raised about due process and equal protection for gun owners.
HB201 would increase the penalty for persons engaging in sexual activity with children under the age of 18 who are victims of human trafficking from a class B to a class A felony. The bill was retained because the penalty for this crime was increased during the previous session and committee members wanted more information on whether or not the increase in the severity of the penalty was having a deterrent effect. Members of the committee are now in the process of reaching out to county prosecutors for this information. But with other states generally treating this crime as the most serious type of felony because of the harm done to its young victims, it seems extremely likely the legislature will be considering an increase in the penalty for this crime in 2020.
Other important bills retained for more work over the summer and fall include:
HB385 establishing a maternity care room for members of the general court.
HB412 establishing a committee to study the long-term consequences of decommissioning nuclear power plants.
HB704 relative to the storage of nuclear waste
HB712 relative to a family and medical leave insurance program
HB728 relative to ranked-choice voting.
All retained bills must be reported back with committee recommendations by November 14.
A Quick Word About Bills That Have Been Tabled
Also worth noting is that dozens of bills were “tabled” at the last minute by a vote of the full legislature. Tabled bills can be “taken off the table” (or not) and reintroduced in 2020 with or without amendments that address the issues that led to them being tabled.
An example of a critical bill that was tabled was HB378 which would raise the minimum age for marriage to 18. This was done after concerns were raised that the wording of the law may have had unintended consequences by 1) clouding the ability of young women to engage in other types of contracts and 2) affecting their right to terminate an unwanted pregnancy.