Sponsor Insight
 
Well, here we are at "cross-over" for the legislative session or in March Madness parlance, it is halftime.
 
Crossover in the legislature is essentially that stage in the process where the Senate has acted on all of its bills introduced by its members and the House has acted on all of its bills that its members introduced for consideration this year.  Those bills that were passed in some form by its original chamber now crossover to go through the public hearing process and deliberation by our solons in the second chamber.
 
Most of the bills that survive to be crossed over to the second chamber are issues that have not been heard by that second legislative body and thus are given a fresh look and further scrutiny.  This heightened level of scrutiny is especially true because there are now fewer bills to review and therefore more time is given to ensure what is being considered is necessary and is not fraught with unintended consequences.
 
There are several initiatives that are receiving the lion's share of attention this session and most of them will be debated during the second half of the legislative session.  And not surprisingly, many of these issues focus around revenues and expenditure levels.  
 
On the revenue side of the ledger, pending are the LLC tax, gambling atthe racetracks with a couple of casinos, and what is reasonable compensation for a business owner.  First the LLC tax:  the State Senate has passed a reform to this tax that is more comprehensive than what the House considered.  However, the House sent its version of an LLC tax reform to study.  Now with the House considering what the Senate has passed, we can expect considerable debate as to whether the House agrees with the manner in which the Senate has passed and its impact on state revenues.  The House will not act hastily to rubber stamp the Senate bill.
 
Gambling and the proliferation thereof:  again, the State Senate has passed a bill that allows for legal gambling in the style of Las Vegas and Atlantic City.  While this issue has been considered and passed by the Senate in the past, never has such an expansive proposal for gambling been proposed and passed by one chamber.  Even Governor Lynch, who has been mum on gambling as a revenue fix until his Gambling Commission has completed its work, says this bill goes too far.  Now the House will consider this measure and historically, the House has been the death knell for expanded gambling but this year may be different as some Representatives who have opposed gambling in the past now say that they are giving it a second look as a result of the state's dire fiscal condition.  This issue, one way or another, will go along way towards determining how NH addresses its fiscal quagmire
 
Reasonable Compensation:  while each chamber has passed some version of reform of this issue that helps to determine whether the Department of Revenue believes a business owner is receiving too much in compensation, they have passed different methods of attacking the issue.  The House set a $50,000 threshold per entity (not person, partner, or co-owner) that would be a "safe harbor" while the Senate attempts to match up the state requirements to those that are administered at the federal level by the IRS.  This issue and the previous two, will all likely end up in a committee of conference at the end of the session to try and iron out differences between the Senate and House that address not only the business community's concerns but also the state's fiscal condition.  Whether those two audiences can both be satisfied is a question that will go unanswered today.

On the expenditure side of the ledger, again, the Senate and House are not on the same page in terms of how they are addressing it.  The primary reason for this difference is driven by the revenue options discussed above.  The Senate chose not to make cuts and will fund the shortfall through the anticipated gambling revenue while the House has identified some cuts but chose to "table" them until they have a better handle on revenues.
 
So as the reader may determine, the state's fiscal status is about as clear as mud and about as clear as anyone's college basketball brackets after all of the unexpected upsets in the early rounds.  Welcome to March Madness.

Bruce Berke

Sheehan Phinney Capitol Group

With legislative crossover having passed and half of the session in the books, here is a rundown of key legislation the Chamber is monitoring...
 
Manchester Solar Array Project Moves Forward
 
The Senate approved SB 334 as amended last week, paving way for the Manchester Solar Array project to move forward. SB 334 allows Public Service of New Hampshire to access and leverage funds it pays into the Renewable Energy Portfolio fund which it will use to invest in a solar array at the capped Manchester landfill. The GMCC strongly supports this amendment as it will create new jobs, and benefit the ratepayers, and put Manchester on the map nationally as a green City.
 
LLC & Reasonable Compensation
 
SB 497, which "modernizes" the Interest and Dividends tax and addresses reasonable compensation, was passed unanimously by the Senate. While the bill is not a strict repeal of the language included in last year's budget which created the "LLC tax," the bill creates a new "safe harbor" in determining reasonable compensations for businesses. The GMCC supports as more robust safe harbors are needed in New Hampshire's tax laws. Next up for SB 497 is the House Ways & Means committee which has passed a reasonable compensation bill of its own, HB 1607. HB 1607 features a smaller safe harbor than SB 497 and will not dramatically improve New Hampshire's tax laws for the business community.

 
Several Healthcare Initiatives Move Forward
 
Three key healthcare initiatives were approved by the Senate last week. SB 505, the Healthcare cost review commission, was approved but stripped of its power to set rates. Instead, a "cost containment commission" will study the issue and make recommendations for the next legislative session. SB 390, dealing with health insurance cafeteria plans and employers of 5 or more employees, was amended and passed after the mandate within the bill was removed. SB 408, relative to purchasing alliances, was also approved unanimously by the Senate. All three bills are fairly significant reforms and will be interesting to see how the House handles them.
 
NH's Top Politicos at GMCC Legislative Dinner
 
On April 5th the Chamber will hold its annual Legislative Dinner. The event will be held from 5 pm to 8 pm at the Bedford Village Inn.  The program this year will once again feature Democratic State Party Chair Ray Buckley and Republican State Party Chair Governor John H. Sununu in a "crossfire" moderated debate run by former WMUR political director Scott Spradling.

With 2010 being an election year, expect sparks to fly as each chair will attempt to argue why their party will succeed on Election Day. Several members of the region's legislative delegation are expected to attend along with of course business and community leaders. Please join us for a fun evening with New Hampshire's top politicos!

 

To reserve a seat at either event, call the Chamber today at (603) 792-4122. Hope to see you there!
 

Michael Skelton
Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce
michaels@manchester-chamber.org