May 2, 2014


     Thank you for your interest in one of our most proud efforts- business advocacy during the legislative session.Our Chamber is very proud of its efforts to represent you and all of our members in Concord. Our work would not be possible without the strong support of our friends at Devine, Millimet & Branch, whose lobbying team serves as our "boots on the ground" in Concord on a daily basis. We thank them for their unyielding support of our advocacy efforts, particularly through the sponsorship of this newsletter.

This weekly newsletter is intended to give you an overview of what has happened at the State House over the past week. Read this every Friday to learn about our Chamber's lobbying efforts relating to those activities, and to preview what we are doing on behalf of our Chamber members. 

House Rejects Gaming Bill - Barely (SB 366)

On Wednesday, the House spent two hours debating SB 366, the Senate's gaming proposal.  At the end of the debate, the House took a roll call vote, the results of which, according to House practice, were posted on the voting screens at the front of Representatives Hall.  Incredibly, the vote came up as 172-172, and then the acting Chair (Representative Naida Kaen, the Deputy Speaker, who was presiding at the time) cast the deciding vote in favor of the motion to kill the bill.  With that, the House voted down SB 366 by a margin of 173-172.  

 

As you would guess from that margin, this one is by no means over.  A representative who voted on the prevailing side of the question asked for reconsideration before yesterday's noon deadline for that action.  That means that another vote will be taken when the House next convenes on Wednesday, and at that point SB 366 will have a second chance at passage.

 

The closeness of the vote is clearly a sign of the concern among members of the House regarding the revenue hole that needs to be filled due to the recent declaration by a superior court judge that the hospital Medicaid Enhancement Tax is unconstitutional.  What happens next week is anybody's guess, because it will really depend on who is present on the floor and who is not.  You can expect to see massive efforts by supporters and opponents of the bill to make sure that their allies are present and voting on Wednesday.  As dramatic as last Wednesday's vote was, everything is really riding on the vote next Wednesday, because House rules only allow one motion for reconsideration to be made.  As a result, whatever the vote is on Wednesday, that vote will be the end of the road.  

 

Almost all of our delegation understands the huge revenue issues that are facing the State and cities with the April revenue numbers coming in $20 million short.  There is more concern in Concord than ever about our fiscal state.

 

We ask every Nashua area House member to attend the House session on Wednesday and vote in favor (yes) of reconsideration and in favor (yes) of the passage of SB 366.

Senate Passes Chamber-Supported Bill On Economic Development (HB 1416)

We were pleased that the Senate yesterday voted unanimously in favor of HB 1416, a bill supported by the Chamber that is intended to establish a state economic development plan, something which New Hampshire has not had since 2001.  HB 1416 contemplates a substantive process for the development of this plan, which is to be a rolling two year plan with an eye toward issues such as needs, demographic and economic trends, and strategically important business sectors.  The entire process is to be overseen by the Division of Economic Development.  

 

One of the most attractive parts of this proposal is that the plan must include economic performance metrics that cover the previous three fiscal years, as well as objectives for the two years that are covered by the plan.  Those metrics are to be made public in a state economic dashboard and they must be updated regularly.  The fact that the plan will include these measurements to gauge success or failure is something that we think sets HB 1416 apart from similar types of projects in the past. We have great hopes for what HB 1416 will produce.

 

Since the Senate passed the bill without amending the language that was passed by the House, this bill now goes straight to the Governor's desk.

Next Week...

As a sign of just how close we are getting to the end of the session, this coming Thursday is the deadline for all committee votes on bills in both the House and the Senate, and May 15 is the deadline for action by the full bodies. That means that, despite the evidence of your own eyes and bodies, summer is really coming!

Sponsored by
Devine Millimet

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April 25, 2014

April 4, 2014

March 28, 2014
A Special Edition - March 25, 2014
March 14, 2014
February 21, 2014
February 14, 2014
January 24, 2014
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Greater Nashua Chamber of Commerce | (603) 881-8333 
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