It was a landmark year for New Hampshire government in 2009—not only for the size of its budget deficit ($250 million) and the number of state layoffs it induced (200), but also for legislative action on some controversial social issues, like gay marriage, the death penalty and medical marijuana.
Gay marriage was the only clear winner among these debates, as the Legislature’s spring vote to legalize same-sex marriage took effect Jan. 1. The death penalty was nearly outlawed and remains under scrutiny by a special study commission. And Granite State legislators narrowly approved a statewide medical marijuana program—only to have it vetoed by Gov. John Lynch.
But these scores are far from settled, as evidenced in the new round of bills up for debate in Concord’s 2010 legislative session, which officially kicks off on Wednesday, Jan. 6. Both the House and Senate will meet every Wednesday until June, and they’ll be busy. So far, 819 bills have been proposed to create, repeal or otherwise change New Hampshire’s laws.
gay marriage
Last June, New Hampshire became the sixth state to legalize same-sex marriage, and about 200 gay couples were already registered to marry before the new law took effect on Jan. 1.
That’s the same date that House Bill 1590 would retroactively take effect if it’s approved. Sponsored by Rep. Alfred Baldasaro (R-Londonderry), the legislation would repeal the legalization of gay marriage, effectively nullifying the vows taken while the bill is debated.
When gay marriage was legalized in New Hampshire, the civil unions created for same-sex couples just two years earlier were incorporated into the new law. As it stands, current civil unions will automatically become legal marriages on Jan. 1, 2011, and there will be no such thing as “civil unions” after that.
In repealing the same-sex marriage statute, HB 1590 would also effectively reinstate civil unions, according to Rep. Jordan Ulery (R-Hudson). He stresses that, for his part at least, the legislation has nothing to do with discrimination against same-sex couples.
“I don’t care what you do in your bedroom, it’s none of my business,” he says. Ulery takes issue with use of the word “marriage,” which he believes lays the foundation of society by encouraging heterosexual couples to create families, “literally,” he says.
Ulery concedes that same-sex couples can form families in other ways, such as through adoption, artificial insemination or surrogate birth parents. “Certainly they can care for and love a child,” he says, “but there are certain times in your life when someone had to say, ‘You’re feeling this way because.’” If two men are raising a little girl, he says, “A guy has never felt that way, regardless of what his sexual orientation is.”
voters’ veto
In both California and Maine, voter referendums have reversed lawmakers’ actions and undone gay marriage. New Hampshire has no such mechanism, however. The state’s Constitution allows only the Legislature to “suspend,” or veto, a law.
Rep. Laurie Boyce (R-Alton) would like to change that with Constitutional Amendment Concurrent Resolution 25. It would allow citizens to veto specific laws through statewide votes, provided sufficient signatures are gathered in support of a veto ballot question. If passed, CACR 25 itself would require a statewide ballot vote, as does any constitutional amendment.
Boyce could not be reached for comment, and it’s unclear whether her legislation was motivated by a desire to veto gay marriage. But gay marriage opponents would almost certainly start gathering signatures if the measure is approved. Any law on the books would be subject to the voters’ referendum. The N.H. Legislature has historically resisted similar initiatives.
marijuana
Before a bill becomes a law, it’s the governor who holds veto power. Back in July, Gov. John Lynch used that power to stop HB 648, which would have legalized the use of medical marijuana through a regulated statewide program. Sponsored by Rep. Evalyn Merrick (D-Lancaster), the bill enjoyed solid support in the House, but the Senate remained two votes short of the two-thirds majority needed to override the governor’s veto. No medical marijuana bills are proposed in 2010.
Instead, Rep. Calvin Pratt (R-Goffstown) has sponsored House Bill 1652 to legalize one ounce or less of marijuana for people over age 21. He argues that since the 1937 Marijuana Tax Act, pot has been wrongly classified in the same group as drugs like heroin and has been denied legitimate agricultural, industrial or recreational uses.
Today, cannabis remains a Schedule I drug along with LSD, PCP and ecstasy, according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. Pratt believes marijuana should receive legal treatment on par with alcohol.
“We need to … point out the failure of our current policy,” Pratt says. The bill itself claims that decades of law enforcement have failed to prevent people from using the drug. “We keep doing the same thing and expect a different outcome,” Pratt says, “and that’s how you measure insanity.”
By legalizing marijuana use for the majority of the population, he surmises, the energy and resources of police, courts and penal systems can be spent more effectively enforcing the ban for minors.
Money is also a factor. “Rather than spending millions of taxpayer dollars arresting marijuana users, the state of New Hampshire should instead generate millions of dollars by taxing and regulating marijuana,” the bill states. Part of this revenue could then be earmarked “to prevent and treat the abuse of marijuana, tobacco, alcohol and other drugs.”
Given that Gov. Lynch vetoed a medical marijuana bill only months ago, it’s not likely that a bill legalizing pot will make it past his desk. Pratt admits that it actually has a “less than 50-50” chance at succeeding.
But, the legislative process teases out people’s legitimate concerns and builds clarity on how to address potential problems, Pratt says. For now, he’s happy just to keep the conversation going.
death penalty
The death penalty is another ongoing conversation. Of five related bills considered in 2009, House Bill 520, sponsored by Rep. Jim Splaine (D-Portsmouth), was the only one to pass. It created a special commission to study the death penalty in New Hampshire.
A public hearing was held on Dec. 4 to compare the cost of prosecution for life sentences versus execution. Several more points remain to be addressed, including whether the death penalty is “consistent with evolving societal standards of decency”; if prosecution for capital punishment cases is discriminatory in any way; if the crimes that make convicted perpetrators eligible for the death penalty should be maintained, expanded or narrowed; and whether alternatives to the death penalty would sufficiently address both penal interests and the desires of victims’ families.
More information on the commission can be found at www.gencourt.state.nh.us/statstudcomm/committees/2009. The commission’s final report is due by Dec. 1, 2010, and the next public hearing is scheduled for Feb. 5 at the State House in Concord.
budget
If social issues continue to be big news in 2010, they’ll likely pale in comparison to headlines about the state budget and its shortfalls.
New Hampshire operates on a two-year budget cycle, meaning that plans for how to raise and spend all of the state’s money must be approved every two years—the same cycle on which representatives and senators are elected. We’re entering the second year of this two-year term, and the $11.6 billion budget that narrowly passed last June is facing several challenges from the recession, lawmakers and, possibly, the courts.
According to Rep. Steve Vaillancourt (R-Manchester), who sits on the House Local and Regulated Revenues Committee, six-month revenues (July through December) will be about $50 million below projections. About half of that shortfall comes from lower than expected business taxes.
This gap could more than double in the second half of the fiscal year, Vaillancourt says, since the first half of the year typically only accounts for 42 to 43 percent of overall funding. If that holds true, it could put the state up to $118 million in the red by June.
That figure is almost matched by the contested surplus funds of the NH Medical Malpractice Joint Underwriting Association. The JUA is a private, statewide insurance pool created with the help of the N.H. Insurance Department in 1978 for doctors, hospitals and other healthcare providers.
Last year, faced with a major budget deficit in the midst of the national economic crisis, the N.H. Legislature laid claim to $110 million of the JUA’s surplus funds. Policyholders sued, saying that the funds, collected from their premium payments, were not the state’s to claim. A Superior Court judge sided with the plaintiffs and froze the money. The state has appealed the case to the Supreme Court, which is still in deliberation.
In the meantime, $110 million is missing from the state’s operating budget, and State Treasurer Cathy Provencher doesn’t know if she’ll get it back.
New Hampshire could be left with three choices, Provencher told the Josiah Bartlett Center for Public Policy in a December interview. “It’s the same thing in our homes,” she said of budget shortfalls. “You have to cut. You have to … get more income. Or you have to borrow,” she said. “And I don’t think borrowing is going to be a viable option.”
Part of the income solution last spring was to broaden or increase a handful of taxes and fees. In all, more than 30 new sources of revenue were created. The three most hotly contested at the time will face formal legislative challenges this year: applying the meals and rooms tax to campsites, bumping that tax from 8 to 9 percent, and subjecting Limited Liability Companies to the 5 percent interest and dividends tax that other businesses pay.
Several bills sponsored by Herbert Richardson (R-Lancaster), Sen. Jeb Bradley (R-Wolfeboro), Sen. Lou D’Allesandro (D-Manchester), and Rep. David Hess (R-Hooksett) will attempt to undo those charges in a variety of ways.
The so-called LLC tax drew a particular outcry, and a series of public hearings on the matter is being held throughout the state by the Dept. of Revenue Administration. The next public sessions are scheduled for Tuesday, Jan. 5 at 1 p.m. at White Mountain Community College in Berlin; Thursday, Jan. 7 at 6 p.m. at Plymouth State University’s Hyde Hall; and Saturday, Jan. 9 at 10 a.m. at Kennett High School Auditorium in Conway. More information on the hearings and proposed rules can be found at www.nh.gov/revenue/laws/proposed.htm.
gambling
Another controversial option for raising revenue is expanded gambling—an initiative that hasn’t yet succeeded in the Legislature, but which may have gained some traction in the governor’s office.
In July, Gov. Lynch established a gaming study commission by executive order, which will continue to meet monthly until delivering its final report in May 2010. An interim report was released in December, focusing in part on the financial and social cost-benefit ratio of new gaming ventures, from full-fledged casino resorts to video slot machines.
The report also explores the implications of potential “first-mover” status if New Hampshire were to lead its neighbors in expanding casino gambling. It may enjoy a temporary boost in revenue, but the move could also trigger a sort of casino boom in New England. Increased social costs along with potential market saturation could both reduce revenue and raise social costs in the long-term.
“No matter what the Legislature decides,” the report states, “revenues from expanded gaming alone will not eliminate long-term fiscal challenges facing the state.”
More information on the commission, including minutes from past meetings, can be found at www.nh.gov/gsc. The commission’s Web site states that UNH’s Carsey Institute will develop and implement a plan for public dialogue sessions about the issue in January, February and March.
retirement system
Part of the state’s structural deficit, as identified by the N.H. Center for Public Policy Studies, is funding of the state’s retirement system. And that system is facing some budget problems of its own, largely due to loss of investment income with the current recession.
A handful of bills approved last year—such as one that temporarily lowers the state’s match of employer contributions—helped balance the state’s books. But the decreased state match simply passed costs down to towns whose budgets are also in peril.
Several bills this year aim to limit benefits the $5 billion retirement trust fund pays out to state employees. House Bill 1576 (Rep. John DeJoie, D-Concord) would no longer allow active employees to receive their retirement allowance while they’re working. House Bill 1530 (Rep. Neal Kurk, R-Weare) redefines “earnable compensation” as only base pay. Holiday, vacation or sick pay, overtime and military differential pay, among other sources of income, would no longer help workers accrue retirement compensation.
On the other hand, House Bill 1512 (Rep. Janet Wall, D+R-Madbury) increases the annual amount of the supplemental allowance that judicial retirees may receive, doubling it from $50,000 to $100,000. Still other legislation (Rep. Charles Weed, D-Keene) would open the retirement umbrella to cover educational support personnel. House Bill 1428 (Rep. Patricia McMahon, D-North Sutton) would extend benefits for a surviving spouse, even when that person remarries.
health care
This year also brings an abundance of attempts to reform, revise and otherwise re-write the statewide health care system and health insurance policies.
They range from Sen. Bradley’s bill to allow the purchase of health insurance policies from out-of-state companies to Rep. William O’Brien’s (R-Mont Vernon) House Bill 1585, allowing health insurance policies to be sold without mandated coverage. Prohibiting the denial of coverage for preexisting conditions is also on the table with House Bill 1597 (Rep. David Hess, R-Hooksett).
Of course, it’s still unclear how any national health care reform, if passed, will affect New Hampshire.
weekly updates resume
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