Results tagged “Legislative Update” from Belknap County Republican Committee

—P. J. O’Rourke

At 1:05 a.m. on Friday, June 19th, following several days of wrangling over the state budget, the Committee of Conference on HB1 and HB2 finally arrived at a budget—but not before creating a lot of heartache for the people of our state in the way of some serious tax increases. At one point early in the day on Thursday, the deficit had grown to as much $197.7M thanks to additional spending that had even exceeded spending in the Senate version of the budget. But after revising the revenue estimates, raising several taxes, and instituting a handful of cuts, the conferees came to an agreement on an $11.6B budget.

The state budget does not include a tax on refinancing mortgages, a much-publicized entertainment tax, a capital gains tax, an estate tax, or an attempt to eliminate the BET credit against the BPT. But what the budget DOES include—and perhaps the most devastating aspect of it all—is more than $600M in one-time money that simply will not be there when the legislature crafts the next budget in two years. According to Rep. Norm Major, one of our alternate conferees, in order to offset the reliance on the one-time money, the committee should have looked toward as much as a 10% cut in spending, or $500M over the next two biennium.

When we return to the majority in two years, we will face a gargantuan task in trying to balance a budget that relied heavily on one-time money and in undoing the many wrongs of the previous four years. When our constituents or the members of the state’s business community face a reduction in income, they do not expand their business or increase family spending, they cut back — and the State of New Hampshire should have done the same! The budget will go to the Senate first, on Wednesday, before we get the opportunity to vote up or down on both HB1 and HB2. Given the increase in taxes, the use of one-time money and the lack of serious spending cuts, we will OPPOSE the budget as written and we ask you to vote no.

We have included some of the major points of this budget and, of course, we will have much more information for you at the forum on Tuesday (see box). We will also hold a Republican caucus at 8:45 a.m. on Wednesday as usual, prior to the House session.

Rooms and Meals Tax—raised to 9%, even higher that the House and Senate versions and now includes camp grounds, who alone will be taxed over $9M!

School Building Aid—For the second biennium in a row, the Democrat majority has bonded school building aid ($90M), once again passing on operating costs to the credit card, leaving our children’s children picking up the tab. This is an unnecessary and aggressive approach given the current economic climate.

Boat Fees—Fees for all boats have been doubled for what is supposed to be six years, at which time they would return to their current levels—but we all know that sunsets are actually repealed in one line item in subsequent bills.

Limited Liability Corporations (LLC)—They will take a big hit in this budget by being subject to the Interest and Dividends tax, regardless of whether or not they have transferable shares.

Gambling winnings—The conference committee reinserted the 10% tax on gambling winnings, collected inside or outside New Hampshire. We will be taking a further look at this tax because of the fact that non-profits in the state will have to become tax collectors for NH.

Retirement system—The system remains on the verge of bankruptcy, this time by having new state employees contribute more to their share of retirement, while teachers and Group II members do not—ensuring continued disputes and financial insolvency for our fledgling system.

Tobacco Tax—They increased the tobacco tax by another $.48 per pack, the fourth increase in five years, bringing the total tax to $1.78 per pack.

Registration fees—They increased registration fees by $30-$75, depending upon the weight of the vehicle. This tax hurts the elderly who may only occasionally use their vehicles.

Charter Schools—While they were funded at Senate levels, an amendment was adopted by the committee which would ask the commissioner of DOE to find a way to see how enrollment laws could be changed without risking federal dollars—the conference committee all week discussed its dismay over having to increase enrollment at public charter schools and did discuss ways to eventually roll back the enrollment once the stimulus dollars disappear.

Spending reductions—Republicans on the committee offered several spending reductions over the week of negotiations, some of which were adopted and some not, including: cutting USNH budget, reducing HHS incentive funds, reducing judicial branch, reducing the state’s share of municipal retirement contributions, ordering additional layoffs or cuts to personnel related costs, reduce family resource center, cutting the CCSNH budget by $1.5M a year and several others.

Concealed Weapons—They increased the fee for out-of-state concealed weapon permits from $20 to $100. One final note to be aware of, a lawsuit has been filed by a coalition of more than 200 health care agencies and doctors who have been insured by the state Joint Underwriting Association (JUA) seeking to stop the state from taking more than $100M of the $150M held in the state-established medical malpractice fund for use in balancing the budget.

If there is an injunction forthcoming that prevents the state from using that money in its budget, it could be back to square one. We will keep a close eye on this story.

I would also like to remind everyone that the NH State Republican Committee will host Gov. Haley Barbour of Mississippi for a fund-raiser on Wednesday, June 24, from 5:30 p.m.until 7 p.m.at C.R. Sparks in Bedford. Contact the state committee at 225-9341 for details.

Have a great weekend. I look forward to seeing you at the Budget Forum.

-Sherm

A message from the Republican Leader.....

It was great to see such a good turnout at the House Republican spring social last Wednesday at the Upham Walker House. It was a good opportunity for us all to get together in a casual setting and discuss many of the issues that we have been dealing with during the last few months—and issues still facing us in the weeks ahead.

I have continued to meet with Republicans on a committee-by-committee basis and the feedback that I have been receiving has been valuable in planning our strategy. I still have a handful of committees to meet with and our office will attempt to schedule these meetings around your committee schedule to make it as convenient as possible for you. If for some reason, you cannot attend, please feel free to stop by my office for a chat. Your input is very important to me.

The House Session will start at 1 pm again this week. There are only 19 bills on the Consent Calendar and only 11 on the Regular Calendar. We will be working on this week’s White Sheet and you should receive it via email by Tuesday afternoon. If you are not receiving either the White Sheet or the Republican Report via email, please contact our office to make sure that we have your correct email address. This is the only way that the “sheet” will be sent out prior to our caucus. Please be assured that all personal email addresses are kept confidential. Of course, hard copies of the White Sheet will also be available at our Wednesday caucuses. The response to these new sheets has been very positive and we will continue to “fine tune” them. Our goal is to give members of our caucus as much information as possible as to how Republicans on the committee voted on a bill and where leadership stands on the issue.

Recently there have been some cases where House members were not recognized to testify at public hearings because of a large turnout by our constituents...

We return to the House on Wednesday and, unlike the first week of April when we had a couple of marathon sessions featuring a number of highly controversial bills, this week’s calendar is very light. In fact, there are only 20 bills on the consent calendar and three bills on the regular calendar. The session will begin at 1PM and the speaker has left the morning open for executive sessions. I would like once again to impress upon our members how very important it is to attend your committee executive sessions. If you cannot make it for any reason, please let leadership now in advance. If it is for medical reasons, we have the option of replacing you on the committee for the executive session.

I have scheduled a caucus for Wednesday at 12:30 PM (Rooms 305-07, LOB) in case something should come up between now and session day. I want to maintain an open flow of information between the caucus and our leadership team and our caucuses are a good platform to do this.

Crossover time is a good time for leadership stand back and take a good look at the first half of the legislative session—at things that we did right and at areas where we can improve—and we can always improve upon our methods and process. There area a couple changes that we will be instituting for the balance of this session.

Last week I began meeting with Republicans, committee by committee, to get their input on what we can do help members do their jobs, not only in committee but on the House floor as well.  I intend to continue these meetings over the next couple of weeks until I have met with Republicans on everyone of our standing committees. The first get together last week was extremely helpful in gathering information from members of our caucus and beginning to develop strategy for the remainder of this session.

One of the changes that we plan on making concerns the white sheet that we issue on session day. Beginning with the next session, the white sheet will include every bill that is listed on the regular calendar, regardless of whether or not Republican leadership has taken a position on the legislation. Additionally, the white sheet will provide you with a breakdown of the Republican vote total on each bill. If a bill passes out of committee, 12-8 for example, we will let you know where the eight Republicans stood on the issue. Our goal is to give you an even better idea of where Republicans stood on every bill in helping you to be more informed when voting. This information will be gathered by our Republican Policy Leaders and the Committee Whips and will be passed along to the House Republican Office for use on the white sheets.

There has also been some concern when it comes to strategy on the floor, especially when parliamentary maneuvering results in a series of additional votes that may not necessarily show up on the white sheet. As a result I intend to name a House Republican Floor Leader who will be in charge of all floor debates, parliamentary inquiries and etc. Leadership also intends to be far more aggressive on the floor when it comes to the debates. I want to make sure that all of our members know exactly where leadership stands on every single issue that comes up for a vote. We should also all be on the same page when it comes to roll call votes because there are times when a number of Democrats will join us on an issue provided there is no roll call vote on the bill.

It is also important that we continue working together with the Republican State Committee, as well as our colleagues in the Senate to keep our constituents well informed as to what is happening at the State House. We have received some excellent press of late and we certainly don’t want to wait until November of an election year to start educating our constituents. This should be an ongoing process. Jim and Paul from our office have been meeting on a weekly basis with representatives from both the State Committee and the Senate. This has proved very useful in keeping everyone on the same page when it comes to getting the message out on important issues. Ryan Williams has done a great job in taking information provided to him by both the House and Senate and turning it into press releases, op-eds, etc.

If we keep our constituents well informed now about what the Democrats are doing in Concord, when the elections roll around, the voters will have a clear choice at the polls: that of taxing and spending or the Republican alternative that reduces spending and ensures that we live within our means.

A number of you have requested comparative figures for use in discussing the budget with your constituents. According to Rep. Kurk, our policy leader on Finance, the figures for the general funds (not the total budget), including regular and education spending, are $2.4 million for 2010 and $2.5 million for 2011 for a total of $5M for the biennium. This compares with estimated spending (not appropriations) for 2008 of $4.4 million and $2.4 million for 2009 for a total of $4.8 for the current biennium. This is a 3.9% increase. Of course, total spending increased even more, but that includes federal funds, and counts the stimulus and stabilization monies. The Republican budget totaled $4,740.2 for the 2010/11 biennium, a decrease of -2.6% from 2008/09 spending.

Once again, if you need assistance in getting out your message, our office can help you organize your thoughts and get them to the media in your area. Feel free to use information found in the Republican Report in writing letters and op-eds for your local newspaper.

I look forward to meeting with all of you over the next couple of weeks so we can formulate our strategy for the rest of the session together.

-Sherm

Important Dates

Wed., April 22 Republican Caucus—12:30 PM  Rooms 305-307, LOB

House Session—10:00 AM

Thurs., April 30 Last day to report Senate bills going to a second committee.

Thurs., May 7 Last day to act on Senate bills going to a second committee.

Thurs., May 28 Last day to report all remaining Senate bills.  Last day to report list of retained Senate bills.

I am extremely proud of the way our Republican Caucus stayed together on a number of crucial votes throughout a very hectic (46 roll calls) two-day session this past week. While I realize that there were a number of “conscience” votes that members felt that they had to make, when it came to the budget and taxes, Republicans did what we promised our constituents we would do when we were elected last November—we voted “no” on any attempt by the Democrats to increase spending and taxes. While we fell short on each count, we must make sure that the voters of the state will not forget.

I have said all along that our caucus had to remain solidified when it came to votes on important fiscal matters and this week we far exceeded any expectations. In fact, on 14 crucial roll call votes dealing with HB1 and HB2 and their various amendments, House Republicans stayed together 98% of the time! As a matter of fact, on six of those crucial votes I am proud of the fact that we had 100% Republican support! That is the type of unity that will pay off in the next election. The voters of this state are watching and listening and, in November 2010, they will hold House Democrats accountable for what they have done this week.

Despite being faced with the worst recession in recent memory, House Democrats continue to ignore the current economic crisis. Instead they voted to unfairly raise numerous taxes while creating several new ones. What they have done this week will hurt our families and negatively impact the New Hampshire Advantage with the region for many years to come.

Their answer to this recession, which has lasted for 17 months, was to impose a capital gains “income” tax that will remove $75M out of the New Hampshire economy; impose an increase in the rooms and meals tax that will take $39M out of the economy; increase the tax on tobacco and take $57M out of the economy; impose a new estate (“death”) tax and remove $10M from our economy; create a tax on gambling winnings and take $16M out of the economy; nearly double the gasoline tax and, over the biennium, take $76M out of our economy; fail to fund school building aid and impose an $83M local property tax increase and take that amount out of the economy; and failed to fund municipal revenue sharing that will result in taking $50M away from local property tax payers.

If you add up all of their moves to raise taxes and downshift the financial burden to the local municipalities you are talking about more than $350M taken out of the New Hampshire economy. How will this effect NH families? A family of four, over the next biennium, will pay more than $1,000 in additional taxes. This is just not good public policy. House Democrats have adopted a budget that spends more than we can afford with our existing tax structure—the majority’s position of raising and spending more money is not only bad public policy but is irresponsible in the middle of a recession. In fact, it is just the opposite of what’s being done in Washington. We should not be acting contrary to the national position in trying to work our way out of the recession.

The Democrats “spin” is that whatever we pass over to the Senate, it would get “fixed.” But what they failed to mention is that, when we square off against the senate in a committee of conference, we are bound to defend the house position—a position of excessive spending and higher taxes. The right thing would have been to suspend the necessary rules, recommit the bill to the finance committee and instruct them to produce a budget that could be balanced without additional taxes. That would have been the right thing to do for the people of this state.

Once again, I cannot tell you all enough how much I appreciate your hard work and the fact the we remained together in our attempt to defeat the majority’s budget. We certainly will have a lot of fodder for future campaigns when we will hold the Democrats accountable for what they have done this week. With no session next week, we will not be holding a Republican caucus. The Senate bills will start coming over following crossover and we will be taking a closer look at many of the issues that we will be voting on in the coming weeks. I am hoping that our caucus will continue to remain solidly together.

Thanks again!

-Sherm

	% of Reps		Dem.	% of Dems
	Voting	Rep.Votes	Votes	Voting
Bill	With Us	Lost	Gained	Together
“Bathroom” Bill	98%	4	24	88%
HB 1-Majority Amend	99%	1	9	96%
School Building Aid Amend	100%	0	14	93%
Revenue Sharing Amend.	100%	0	11	95%
HB 1-Minority Amend	97%	4	2	99%
HB 1-OTP/A	100%	0	16	92%
HB 2-Majority Amend.	100%	0	13	93%
Capital Gains Tax	100%	0	16	92%
Rooms & Meals Tax	100%	0	20	96%
Insurance Premium	98%	3	7	96%
Tobacco Tax	97%	5	13	93%
“Death” Tax	99%	2	9	95%
Gambling Winnings Tax	97%	5	13	93%
HB 2-OTP/AM	99%	1	14	93%

“Look to the sky when you do revenue estimates, because we need more money.”

—Rep. Marjorie K. Smith (D-Durham), Chair, House Finance Committee

It was only a matter of time before the Democrats in the NH House began playing games with the state budget, and once again it is being done through the Ways and Means committee.

You may recall, it was during the last session when Rep. Marjorie Smith, Chair of the House Finance committee, told members of the House Ways & Means committee to, “look to the sky when you do revenue estimates because we need more money.” The result was a 17% increase in spending and 23 new taxes and fees.

The problem clearly began two years ago with changes in the way the House was allowed to review the revenue estimates. This not only threatened the system of checks and balances, it also prevented the legislature from playing its proper role in shaping the state budget. Now, just two years later, the people of the State of New Hampshire are paying a heavy price.

In each of the previous three budget cycles that occurred under Republican leadership, the Ways & Means committee prepared estimates of expected state revenues for the upcoming two year budget cycle before the governor presented his or her budget. This also gave guidance on spending levels to the budget writers on the House Finance committee. For some reason the process was changed for the last budget cycle and the Ways & Means committee received revenue estimates after the governor delivered his budget. With agency heads already committed to the governor’s revenue numbers, an independent legislative estimate was difficult, if not impossible, to produce.

As a result, there was a less reliable check on the revenues estimated by the governor to balance his budget. The legislative process only works when there is an open, free-flow of information.

This week it became clear once again that House Democrats have no plans to cut spending. Instead they continue to look for ways to increase revenue (i.e. taxes) on the backs of our constitutents—and their methods are just plain wrong.

“The nine most terrifying words in the English language are, I’m from the government and I’m here to help.”

--Ronald Reagan

The taxes and fees being passed on the floor of the House just keep on coming! Last session Democrats in the legislature passed along 23 fee and tax increases to the taxpayers of this state. After receiving a mandate from the voters in November to continue controlling both chambers, it appears that the majority party feels that the open season to “tax and spend” can continue for two more years. We hope the voters are paying attention.

House Democrats have already voted to pass no less than eight bills this session, that included increases in taxes and fees. They have targeted everything from boating fees (HB 205) to fees for attraction signs (HB 671), from establishing a recreational saltwater fishing license fee (HB 481) to increasing the gasoline tax (HB 644)—at a time when the federal government is also looking to increase the gas tax.

Last week the “tax onslaught” continued when no less than 11 (tax) amendments were introduced to HB 638, the bill to increase the tobacco tax. It is clear that, if it moves (and even if it doesn’t) state Democrats, led by Gov. Lynch, are trying to tax it. Their targets include charitable gambling winnings; the meals and rooms tax (increase); several filing fees, as well as fees for health facilities and community living facilities; a fee for a driveway permit review and inspection; subdivision fees and environmental services’ subsurface systems programs; and an increase in the motor vehicle inspection fee.

It is clear that the Democrats in the legislature are trying to balance the budget on the backs of our citizens through an increase in taxes and fees when instead they should be looking at cutting spending in the state. It is, and always has been, a spending problem and not a tax problem. Republican Leadership will continue to oppose any increase in taxes and fees. Given the current economic environment, this is not time to be increasing the tax burden on our constituents.

We will be having a number of exec sessions this week and it is very important that all Republican members make every attempt to attend these sessions. We have an opportunity to win some battles at the committee level if we have a strong attendance at these sessions.

We will not have a House Session this week, however the following week will be extremely busy. With more than 300 bills to deal with before crossover, the speaker is planning sessions on April 24th (10 AM), April 25th (9:30 AM), and April 26th (9:30 AM). I am currently planning to hold a Republican Caucus on all three days, however, should that change, we will let everyone know. We will not have a session on April 1, however, the speaker is planning session session days on April 8th and 9th.

The House Finance/Ways and Means “Road Show” will also hold their final public hearing on Monday, March 16 (6 PM) at the White Mountains Regional High School. Democrats have been pretty successful so far in getting their money-seeking constituents to these hearings. If you are able to attend this last hearing it would be helpful.

A message from the Republican Leader.....

Its that time of the year when the House is called upon to affirm the revenue estimates for the current fiscal year as well as the next biennium (2010-2011). Last Wednesday we voted to accept the House revenue projections contained in HR6 which represented the projections put together by the House Ways and Means committee. After reviewing these figures and comparing them to those of Governor Lynch, it is apparent that the governor is once again relying on inflated revenue projections to balance the budget.

During the last budget cycle the Democrats in the Legislature increased spending by 17% and then when the revenue stream fell well short of projections, they were forced to dramatically increase fees and taxes to balance the budget. Are we headed in the same direction?

According to HR 6, the revenue estimates for FY2010 are $62.6M lower than those of Governor Lynch. For FY 2010 the governor’s numbers are $73.1M higher, for a total differential of $135.7M over the biennium. It was just over a year ago that we warned that the governor and Democrats in the Legislature were “out of touch” with the real financial crisis facing the State of New Hampshire by continuing to ignore that fact that our first $10 billion budget was based on inflated revenue projections. The economy has continued its downturn even further since the governor presented his projections so we haven’t even seen the bottom yet. A year ago the economic indictors pointed to trouble the instant the overinflated revenue figures were passed by Democrats. Let’s not let history repeat itself.

This week’s House Calendar is light in comparison to last week. We have 41 bills on the Consent Calendar and only 26 on the Regular Calendar. There are a couple of Election Law bills special ordered to this week that are of concern.

HB 614, pertaining to the domicile of students for voting purposes, is a nightmarish bill that will send us down the slippery slope of loosening our election laws at a time when we should be tightening them. This bill would result in “Drive-By Voting,” where people working in this state on a temporary basis would be allowed to vote. There will be a request to recommit this bill to committee, we ask you to SUPPORT this motion— if that fails, we ask you to OPPOSE the report of OTP/A.

HB 417 would completely change the way we elect our leaders, calling for NH electors to cast ballots based on the national popular vote rather than how the people of our state voted. It would tie the hands of our citizens with no assurance that any other state would fall under the same mechanism. Please SUPPORT the report of ITL.

With Town Meeting on Tuesday, we will not hold a caucus, however please plan on caucusing at 8:45 a.m. prior to the House Session on Wednesday (Rms. 305-07).

Handouts showing the Estimated FY 2010 Change in State Aid; The NH Retirement System Reform Legislation; and the Republican Bill Presentation Improvement are still available in our office. Stop by and pick up a copy of either document.

-Sherm

During the past few days, leadership has signed-in, testified and taken a position on a number of bills being heard in committee. Here is a complete list of those bills:


HB 561—relative to insurance coverage for persons having deafness and hearing loss. (Opposed)


HB 381—prohibiting preferences in recruiting, hiring, promotion or admission by state agencies, the university
system, the community college system, and the postsecondary education commission. (Supported)
HB 673—relative to withdrawal of political subdivisions from the New Hampshire retirement system. (Supported)


HB 496—establishing a limit on the amount of cost recovery for the emissions reduction equipment installed at the
Merrimack Station. (Opposed)


HCR 8—urging the President and Secretary of Defense to withdraw all New Hampshire national guard troops
from Iraq in the absence of a valid and subsisting Congressional mandate for such service, and
withholding the consent of the governor and New Hampshire state legislature from any further
deployment of the New Hampshire national guard to Iraq in the absence of such mandate. (Opposed)


HB 179—requiring automobile insurance to register a vehicle. (Opposed)
HB 639 —relative to mandatory motor vehicle liability insurance. (Opposed)


HB 664—relative to taxation of capital gains under the interest and dividends tax. (Opposed)
HB 166—increasing the beer tax. (Opposed)
HB 584—establishing an income tax for the purpose of paying college tuition for emergency first responders, law enforcement officers, and dependents of emergency first responders and law enforcement officers.
(Opposed)
HB 642—establishing a flat rate education income tax and relative to the statewide enhanced education tax and
certain other taxes. (Opposed)
CACR 1—relating to taxes. Providing that all revenues raised by a state income tax shall be dedicated to funding
public education. (Opposed)

“The States should be left to do whatever they can do as well as the federal government”

—Thomas Jefferson

The House returns from its winter break this week to an extremely busy legislative schedule. I hope that you all enjoyed your time away from the State House and are ready to face a heavy calendar during the House Session on March 4th. In fact the speaker has also requested that we also set aside Thursday, March 5th in case we are unable to act on all early bills. It would be necessary to return the following day because of the deadline to act on early bills. The House will also meet the following Wednesday, March 11th.

There are a number of bills coming before us this week that Republican leadership would like to call your attention to, including the first gambling bills to come to the floor of the House this session.

HB-461-FN-A would establish a state-owned casino to provide funds for public education. It came out of the Local and Regulated Revenues committee with a recommendation of ITL (15-4). This bill proposes to establish two state-owned casinos at least 100 miles apart. However, both the majority of the committee and the sponsor of the bill have admitted that this legislation is not ready for passage at this point in time.

HB 593-FN-A, authorizing the licensing and construction of destination resorts with gaming facilities including table gaming and video lottery machines, was also voted ITL (12-8) in committee. It would also authorize gaming facilities at existing pari-mutuel licensees, including table gaming and video machines. There will be some movement on the floor to overtun the ITL and retain this bill in order to further study the issue, especially the economic benefits versus any social impact. By doing this, those in favor of retaining the bill believe that the House would maintain a vehicle through which to recommend the implementation of any future findings.

In his Inaugural Address earlier this year, Governor Lynch warned that the state’s financial difficulties could not be solved by “a mythical pot of gold at the end of a magical rainbow.”

“I remain skeptical of expanded gambling and how it will affect New Hampshire’s quality of life. I urge you to give careful and deep thought to any such proposal, and the long-range impacts it may have on New Hampshire.”

—Gov. John Lynch
Budget Address

Passionate arguments can be made on both sides of this issue. There are those who feel that the revenue projections are unreasonably high and that there is no real correlation between a state having casinos and maintaining a low tax burden. At the same time, the minority of the committee feels that, despite hearing hours of testimony, it has not spent enough time scrutinizing the “salient points and implications” of this legislation. It is a topic that we, no doubt, will discuss fuirther at our Republican Caucus.

There have been a number of op-ed pieces published recently, both pro and con, and I urge you to carefully read and study the issue. Once such op-ed piece, crafted by Rep. David Hess, the Deputy Republican Leader and a member of the Local and Regulated Revenues committee, can be found on the home page of our website (www.nhhousegop.com). We will continue to carefully study any gambling solutions that are presented as a solution to our fiscal crisis in the State of New Hampshire.

The Environment and Agriculture committee has voted ITL on a bill dealing once again with the recurring industrial hemp issue. The majority of the committee had several reasons to oppose this bill. There is no law today in New Hampshire that prohibits a farmer from growing hemp, it is a federal prohibition. Secondly, the bill creates yet another dedicated fund. We ask you to SUPPORT the majority committee report of ITL on HB 399 FN-A. Our policy leader on Environment, Rep. Bob Haefner, suggested that while the goal is to send Washington a message, this might be better served through a resolution; he is right—this is a bad bill with long lasting social and fiscal implications.


Rep. John Reagan wrote an excellent blurb on HB 590, regarding the retirement age for Group II members of the New Hampshire Retirement System. We ask you to SUPPORT the bipartisan majority report of OTP on the bill, as it was one of the retirement reforms the House voted to pass last year but then later acquiesced to the Senate during the committee of conference. This bill will save the state dollars and help to rein in a still troubled retirement system. During our Republican Caucus on Tuesday afternoon (3:30PM) in Representatives Hall, we will have a briefing on the Retirement System and the many bills dealing with this subject that have come to the Executive Departments and Administrative committee this session. I urge you to attend, unless you are tied up with committee work. It will be a good opportunity for us all to have our questions answered with regard to the New Hampshire Retirement System.


Two Judiciary bills on PART I of the calendar will cost the state millions of dollars. HB 344 FN establishes new superior court justice positions at a time when there is a hiring freeze across state government and in fact, at the same time the governor is recommending closing several courts across the state in a cost saving measure. This legislation is going to cost the state three quarters of a million dollars in this biennium alone and should be dealt with in one place— the budget. We will OPPOSE the majority report of OTP and I ask you to join us.

Similarly, HB 682 is going to increase the amount of daily fees paid to bailiffs after we just did this during the 2008 session. The fiscal note on this bill is also troubling because it will cost the state many millions in implementation—and we simply just don’t have the money. We will ask you to OPPOSE the majority report of OTP on this bill as well.

Rep. Bob Rowe, our policy leader in Judiciary has also asked that we oppose the committee report of OTP on HB 281-FN, which increaseses the maximum amount of debt or damages for small claims actions and requires mediation for small claims actions exceeding $5,000. Doubling the small claims limits will result in judgments that will create a burden on lower income citizens and the elderly—those among us who can least afford it.

After several weeks of speculation, we finally had the opportunity to see what Governor Lynch would bring forth in his budget address and, quite frankly, there are still many questions still to be answered. The people of NH elected Gov. Lynch by an overwhelming majority and he will have to answer to them for the many cuts, tax increases, and job losses that he has proposed.

As we have been saying all along, we as Republicans are ready to work hand-in-hand with the governor and the Democrats in the legislature to craft a budget, but we do have a number of concerns that need to be addressed. The one thing that the business community has been telling us is, “please don’t hit us again with more taxes and mandates—don’t put additional burdens on NH business.” And yet, through his proposed increase in the Rooms and Meals tax, the tobacco tax and increased tolls, he is trying once again to balance the budget on the backs of our business community.

In his budget, Gov. Lynch has also added to the growing tax burden facing the people of this state — $126M into the General Fund and $32.8M into the highway fund over the next two years. How much longer can we balance the state budget on the backs of the people who can afford it the least?

I believe that while some of his proposals are taking us in the right direction, questions remain as to how quickly we can accomplish some of the consolidation that he has proposed. Exactly when will we realize the savings? The budget crisis is now....not five years from now. If the governor is going to flat-fund cities and towns, that means cutting $123M in other places. What does that do to the local property taxes? It sounds like he is buying off the school districts while clobbering the municipal, town and city budgets.

We are already beginning to work on the governor’s figures and proposals and, where necessary, we will be ready to bring forth our own suggestions. I have instructed our Republicans on Finance, led by Policy Leader Neal Kurk and Committee Whip, Doug Scamman—who have many years of budgetary experience—to come up with some ideas that we can incorporate into our own Republican budget. We can no longer be the party of “no,” we need to be ready to offer solutions to problems where the Democrats have failed.

The Republican Caucus is off to a great start and I am happy to report that our whipping system is up and running thanks to the efforts of both our Caucus Whip, Shawn Jasper and his Deputy Whip, Andy Renzullo. In the coming months they will be working hand-in-hand with our committee policy leaders and whips to make sure that we all remain on the same page when it comes to legislation affecting our core Republican issues. Of course, we will continue to oppose any new taxes or fees as well as any increase in spending. At any point during this session if you have a concern with a bill, please bring it to the attention of your committee policy leader. I also encourage you to bring any issue with you to our Republican caucus meetings, which will be held on a regular basis during this session.

To that end, I would like to thank all of you who made an attempt to attend our first major caucus of the session on Jan. 21st. It turned out to be a very successful meeting. We had the opportunity to hear from Representatives Neal Kurk and Norm Major on matters regarding both the budget and revenue. In the coming weeks, we will continue to bring in legislators with expertise in areas such as the budget, revenue, education, and the retirement system, among other topics. We will also, of course, give everyone the opportunity to discuss legislation currently in committee. Our next caucus will be held on Tuesday, Jan. 27 at 3:00 PM in Representatives Hall.

The next House Session, on Jan. 28, is not expected to be a long drawn-out affair. We will be asked to vote on a couple of bills, including HB 30, requiring operating budget reductions for fiscal year 2009. Although it passed out of Finance Committee unanimously, 25-0, it clearly—while a good first step—does not go far enough. Rep. Neal Kurk, our policy leader on Finance will brief the caucus on all of the details, both pro and con, during our Tuesday caucus.

Here are some of the key points in HB 30:

• It reduces our current deficit by $16.25M. Accord ing to Rep. Major’s figures, this will leave the deficit at $65M.
• The appropriations for the judicial branch will be reduced by an additional $441,000.
• The operating budget of the legislative branch will be reduced by $700,000.
• $1.75 million of the general fund monies ($6.75M) that were transferred to the highway fund will be returned to the general fund.
• The Finance Committee has “swept” $6.6M in excess monies from several dedicated funds with no serious impact on services.

We will support the decision of the Finance Committee because it does somewhat reduce our deficit. But it is clear that there were no tough decisions made and, although it is a good first step, there is a lot more work to be done. I hope to see a good turnout at our caucus so we can further discuss HB 30 and its impact as well as many other issues facing us this session. Please remember that the door to the Republican Office is always open to you.

During the past few days, leadership has signed-in, testified and taken a position on a number of bills being heard in committee. Here is a complete list of those bills:

HB 131—relative to meetings and reports of the juvenile justice advisory board. (oppose)

HB 198—permitting an insured person injured in a motor vehicle accident to obtain damages under his or her own

uninsured motorist coverage when the insured’s damages exceed the motorist insurance coverage of the
person at fault for the accident. (oppose)

HB 199—requiring motor vehicle insurers to pay benefits to insured persons under their underinsured or uninsured

motorist insurance coverage in cases of bodily injury or death cause by uninsured or underinsured negligent
motorists, except under certain circumstances. (oppose)

HB 200—permitting the stacking of medical payments coverage under motor vehicle liability policies purchased by

members of the same household. (oppose)

HB 202—relative to provisions in insurance policies limiting payment of full benefits.(oppose)

HB 283-FN—establishing a solid waste management fund and assessing a beverage container fee. (oppose)

HB 275-FN—increasing the state reimbursement amounts for payment of bailiffs. (oppose)
HB 285-FN—authorizing the supreme court to establish a fee to be imposed when a court extends the time for

payment of a fine. (oppose)

HB 133—requiring employers to report certain information regarding outsourcing to the department of

labor. (opposed)

HB 91—allowing municipalities to extend the veterans’ tax credit to veterans who do not have service in a war or

conflict, and relative to the definition of veteran. (support the concept)

HB 43—relative to subdivisions and the site plan regulation waivers.(oppose)
HB 92—requiring municipalities to establish volunteer civilian police review boards. (oppose)

HB 205-FN-A—relative to certain boating fees. (oppose)

HB 34—relative to rules of the road. (oppose 2 of 4 parts)
HB 54—requiring vehicle impoundment for driving after revocation or suspension. (oppose)
HB 95—relative to motorcycle equipment and noise levels. (oppose)

A message from the Republican Leader.....

I would like to welcome you all back for the 2009-2010 legislative session! A special welcome goes out to our freshmen legislators who will be joining us on the floor of the House for the first time. You will find the legislature to be an exciting and rewarding place to work and the friendships that you make on both sides of the aisle will stay with you for the rest of your life. I would also like to welcome back our successful incumbents as well as those of you who have served the House in the past but for various reasons took some time off from your legislative duties. Your experience as legislators will be of great value to our cause.

As a result of the November election, we have 176 members in the Republican Caucus this session, including 106 incumbents, 22 who have served the House in previous years and 48 freshmen. I would ask that our veteran legislators take time to work with and mentor the freshmen on their committee so that they may be brought up to speed on the legislative process as soon as possible.

I know that we all spent much of the summer working on getting reelected but now that election season is over it is time to focus on the coming biennium. There is no question that we face difficult times over the next two years in the legislature and in the State of New Hampshire. Fortunately we are returning as a larger minority than we had in the previous session and, because of this fact, I believe strongly that if we stick together on our core Republican beliefs of lower taxes, reduced spending and smaller government, we will win some of the battles that we lost over the past two years. With 176 members all working together, we have an opportunity to accomplish some of our goals this session. There is no question that the Democrats have put our state in a precarious position financially and it will be up to us to work together on behalf of the New Hampshire taxpayer to prevent the deficit from growing even larger. I look forward to working with you all in the coming months. I also want you to know that the doors to the Republican Office are always open and our staff is always available to assist you with any issue.

Earlier this month I announced my leadership team for the coming two years and a press release was sent out to our caucus members as well as to the media outlets throughout the state. In selecting this team I attempted to be all- inclusive by making sure that every segment of the Republican Party was represented. I believe that our leadership team is well balanced both philosophically as well as geographically. Combined, the Republican leadership team brings over 125 years of legislative experience to the table. I know that they are all looking forward to working with you toward a successful legislative session.

During the past week, leadership has signed-in, testified and taken a position on a number of bills being heard in committee. Here is a complete list of those bills:


SB 530—relative to kindergarten aid. (testified in opposition and offered an amendment)
SB 539—relative to the cost of an adequate education and provision of fiscal capacity disparity aid. (oppose)


SB 317—relative to the retail sale of tobacco products. (oppose)
SB 519—imposing a per diem fine on dam owners and operators for failure to repair damage. (oppose)

SB 312—relative to insurance coverage for obesity and morbid obesity. (oppose)
SB 500—relative to certain insurance fraud, relative to workers’ compensation for employee leasing companies,

and establishing a task force on employee misclassification.(oppose)

SB 374—relative to the process for nonrenewal of teacher contracts. (oppose)

SB 210—relative to making various changes to the regulation of plumbers and water treatment technicians by

the board of licensing and regulation of plumbers. (oppose)

During the past week, leadership has signed-in, testified and taken a position on a number of bills being heard in  committee. Here is a complete list of those bills:

SB 389—relative to privileged communications between health care providers and minor children.(oppose)

SB 495—prohibiting Internet solicitation and exploitation of children. (support)

SB 530—relative to kindergarten aid.(oppose)
SB 539—relative to the cost of an adequate education and provision of fiscal capacity disparity aid.(oppose)

SB 329—relative to payment of members of screening panels for medical injury claims. (oppose)

SB 501—relative to workers’ compensation on certain state projects and penalty collection powers of the department
of labor. (support)
SB 502—relative to unemployment compensation. (oppose)

SB 352—relative to shoreland protection.(oppose)
SB 384—relative to the repair of septic systems prior to the sale of waterfront property. (oppose)

SB 412—establishing the office of technology development and telecommunications planning and the position of
director of telecommunications in the department of resources and economic development. (oppose)

During the past week, leadership has signed-in, testified and taken a position on a number of bills being heard in committee. Here is a complete list of those bills:


HB 1195—relative to health care provider reimbursement for services to patients without health insurance. (oppose)
HB 1602—relative to dependent health insurance coverage. (support)
HB 1608—requiring insurance coverage for colorectal screening for adults in New Hampshire.(oppose)


CACR 29—relating to education. Providing that the recognition of local control of education in the New Hampshire
constitution is reestablished. (support)
HB 1281—prohibiting public schools from requiring health insurance as a condition of enrollment. (support)


HB 1643—relative to medical benefits payment by the retirement system for eligible group I teachers and political
subdivision employees in the retirement system. (support)