When New Hampshire legislators return to Concord this month, they might experience a feeling of déjà vu. Many of the issues up for debate this year — including casino gambling, restoring state building aid for schools, decriminalizing marijuana, and raising the minimum wage — are topics that legislators have been talking about consistently during the last few legislative sessions. Lawmakers will also be working on a new two-year state budget, and as talks begin, they’ll be watching revenue projections closely — and potentially eying money in “dedicated funds” as a way to fill in gaps in the state’s general fund.
Unlike last session, Republicans are now in control of both chambers of the legislature. But the GOP has not been unified in its leadership choices. Hudson Rep. Shawn Jasper managed to gather enough votes among Democrats and Republicans to become Speaker of the House after mounting a challenge against former speaker Bill O’Brien (R-Mont Vernon). Many House Republicans weren’t happy about Jasper’s win, and that’s created a rift in the party.
How that rift will play out is just one of the many big questions at the start of the new legislative session.
The budget
The number one topic on legislators’ minds this session will be writing a new two-year state budget.
“The budget conversation will certainly encompass quite a bit,” says Terie Norelli, a Portsmouth Democrat who retired in 2014 after serving 18 years in the House, six of them as speaker.
What that budget will look like is unclear, but there are already signs that lawmakers will have to fill in gaps in revenue. In October, Gov. Maggie Hassan asked state agencies to reduce their budgets by a combined $30 million for the 2015 fiscal year. In a letter to state agencies, Hassan said shortfalls in business tax and interest-and-dividends tax revenue mean state agencies will have to cut back.
In previous years, lawmakers have taken money out of “dedicated funds” to help fill budget gaps. Dedicated funds are set outside the general fund — which funds state government — for a variety of purposes. There are dedicated funds for the state’s Land and Community Heritage Investment Program (LCHIP), renewable energy, drug and alcohol addiction treatment, and more.
Sen. Nancy Stiles (R-Hampton) says she wants to see lawmakers stop “raiding” dedicated funds. Last year, Stiles and Sen. Martha Fuller-Clark (D-Portsmouth) filed a bill for a constitutional amendment that would prevent dedicated fund dollars from being used to balance the general fund; however, the bill died in the House. “My hope is we don’t dip into any of the dedicated funds” this cycle, Stiles says.
Rep. Timothy Horrigan (D-Durham) also expects difficult discussions around the budget. During the last budget cycle, legislators restored $100 million in funding to the state university system; in exchange, the university system agreed to freeze tuition at state colleges and universities.
“If we don’t keep that level of funding where it is, it breaks the deal for the tuition freeze and creates all sorts of havoc … that’s going to affect Durham,” he says.
Budget talks will also turn to Medicaid expansion. Last spring, lawmakers reached a compromise on expanding Medicaid coverage to some 50,000 low-income state residents. However, the expansion expires in 2016 —the last year the federal government will fully fund the approximately $340 million needed to cover it. Federal funding for Medicaid expansion is scheduled to drop by 10 percent in 2017, so lawmakers will be debating if the state should pick up the costs.
As always, legislators will be looking for new, non-tax sources of revenue. During the 2014 session, efforts to bring expanded gambling to the state failed. Gov. Hassan and Manchester Sen. Lou D’Allesandro were among those leading the charge for casinos in the state, and Norelli expects casino proponents to try again in 2015.
Votes for and against casino gambling last year crossed party lines. But Norelli says that this year, if Republicans see gambling as a way to reduce taxes rather than increase revenue, Democrats who previously supported the measure may change their minds.
“What matters, as always is … what does the bill look like, and where does the money go?” Norelli says.
Local bills
While the budget will dominate discussion, bills addressing specific Seacoast issues will also be debated.
Heroin addiction: Sen. Martha-Fuller Clark is co-sponsoring a bill establishing a commission to look at heroin and opioid addiction in the state. It’s a critical issue, Fuller-Clark says, both in the Seacoast and the state in general.
“One of the reasons we’re seeing a rise in heroin (addiction) is that we’ve been quite successful in cutting off access to a lot of the (opioid) medications people were previously able to get,” she says.
And, like most issues, she says heroin addiction and treatment is related to the budget and dedicated funds.
“It’s a funding issue because we have a fund that’s set up to help with drug addiction, but it’s gone unfunded for a number of years,” she says.
School building aid: In 2010, lawmakers voted to halt state funding for new school construction projects. State law allows for $50 million to go to the School Building Aid program each budget cycle; however, much of that allotment has gone toward paying for $540 million in previously approved projects. The moratorium has affected school districts like Newmarket, where residents have been engaged in a years-long debate over constructing a new high school.
Rep. Adam Schroadter (R-Newmarket) thinks this year, lawmakers will find a way to resume funding for the building aid program. At least four bills regarding school building aid have been proposed this session.
Schroadter says he feels better about the bill’s chances this year.
“I’m advocating for it, and I feel like something’s going to give this time around.”
Marijuana decriminalization: Schroadter is again sponsoring a bill that would decriminalize possession of an ounce or less of marijuana. His bill last year passed the House, but the Senate did not hear it.
“We gained quite a bit of ground” with the victory in the House, he says. He hopes the Senate will hold hearings on the bill this year — he points to an October 2014 poll by the UNH Survey Center that found 59 percent of residents support legalizing marijuana for recreational use.
Police body cameras: Another returning bill this session is Rep. Kyle Tasker’s (R-Nottingham) effort to require state police officers to wear body cameras while interacting with the public. The shooting death of Michael Brown by police officer Darren Wilson in Ferguson, Mo., in August spurred a national debate over whether police should wear body cameras while on duty. Tasker thinks that debate will give his bill momentum.
“I don’t think it’s going to have a hard time getting out of (the Criminal Justice and Public Safety) Committee,” he says. “I see this as a very bipartisan issue.”
Minimum wage: Horrigan and Rep. Jackie Cilley (D-Barrington) are among the lawmakers once again sponsoring bills to increase the state’s minimum wage, currently set at $7.25 an hour. With a Republican-controlled legislature, Horrigan says any minimum wage increase is unlikely to pass. “But, I think certain wages at the bottom of the economic scale are too low, and that’s one of the reasons why the economy is recovering as slowly as it is. Regular people don’t have enough purchasing power,” he says.
“I think certain wages at the bottom of the economic scale are too low, and that’s one of the reasons why the economy is recovering
as slowly as it is.”
— Rep. Timothy Horrigan
Rooms and meals tax: This session, Stiles will ask lawmakers to look at how the state disburses revenues from th