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Brad Cook
Sheehan Phinney
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Bruce Berke
Sheehan Phinney 
Capitol Group
 
Sheehan Phinney 
Capitol Group

 

Sheehan Phinney 
Capitol Group

 

Sheehan Phinney 
Capitol Group
  
Will Stewart 
Greater Manchester
Chamber of Commerce

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A Look at the Year Ahead

Brad Cook, Sheehan Phinney Bass + Green 

 

Once again, it is an honor for the attorneys at Sheehan Phinney Bass + Green and the legislative representatives at Sheehan Phinney Capitol Group to sponsor Capitol Insight with the Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce to report to our fellow members' developments in Concord during the legislative session. Each week, you will receive updates on events in general, in-depth analysis of specific issues, and reports on the progress of those legislative proposals of interest to the Chamber.

 

2013, as with all odd numbered years, is a budget year, and the state's biennial budget will be the primary item on the legislative agenda. This year, new Democratic Governor Maggie Hassan, sworn in just last week, already is hard at work on her budget proposal that will be presented to the legislature in a few weeks. Insufficient revenue for all the requests, along with her pledge to veto broad-based taxes, present the Governor with the same problem her predecessors have faced. The Democratic majority in the House and slim Republican majority in the Senate will seek to craft their own budgets, with different priorities. The Governor's call for increased spending on education and a freeze on tuition at institutions of higher education will add complexity to the mix. Local governments will watch carefully to see if spending is being downshifted to local budgets. It should be a long and painful process as competing needs seek limited funds. Observers will watch to see if there are revenue proposals such as increases in the gas tax or business taxes during this process.

 

Elsewhere, environmental concerns about the Northern Pass project and increasing number of wind generation facilities promise a score or more of proposals to control or discourage them. Business groups traditionally oppose bills of general applicability really intended to affect specific projects, so such bills will be examined through that lens. There will be many other environmental proposals as well.

 

Education already has produced proposals for another attempt to fashion a constitutional amendment allowing targeted school aid, yet another reaction to the so-called Claremont cases. This time the effort appears bi-partisan and less controversial, but the sponsors have indicated the probability of postponing this discussion until 2014, due to the press of budget business.

 

New Hampshire is not immune from national issues, and gun control, safety in schools, healthcare reactions to the Affordable Care Act, and many other matters will come before the legislature. Already, the House of Representatives has reinstituted its gun ban, causing headlines.

 

As the hundreds of LSR's (reserved titles filed by legislators) begin to turn into actual bills, they will be examined by sponsors, legislative representatives, and affected parties. We shall read them all and report to you on those of interest and concern.

 

Stay tuned-all this affects you, your state, your business, and often your pocket book!
New Year, New (and Old) Challenges 

Will Stewart, Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce 

 

Happy New Year and welcome to another year of Capitol Insight! The Chamber would like to once again extend its thanks to Sheehan Phinney Bass + Green and the Sheehan Phinney Capitol Group for its sponsorship and support of this program. Without member support, programs like Capitol Insight would simply not be possible.

 

Capitol Insight keeps you abreast of the critical issues happening in the state legislature that impact your business. Each week the government relations professionals from the Sheehan Phinney Capitol Group will provide a recap of the week's critical legislative activities. The Chamber will also provide an update on our legislative activities and priorities.

 

A rail revival?

 

This week, the action in Concord centered (for the Chamber, anyway) on a request by the New Hampshire Department of Transportation (NH DOT) to use $190,000 in turnpike toll credits for a required state match for the federally-funded New Hampshire Capitol Corridor Transportation Alternatives Study, which will look at the feasibility of alternate transit options, including passenger rail, along Route 3, from Nashua to Concord.

 

The aforementioned credits are allocated by the U.S. Department of Transportation to the state to "reimburse" the state for turnpike funds spent to improve those portions of the turnpike system that are also federal highways (portions of I-93 and I-95) that the federal government would otherwise have maintain. The state currently has $160 million in such credits, which it uses as the state's match on a wide variety federally-funded transportation projects that require a state match.

 

To use the credits on anything other than road or bridge projects, however, requires the approval of the Capital Budget Overview Committee, a hybrid committee made up of both House and Senate members. Unlike other committees, in which each member has a vote, the rules of this committee stipulate that the House and Senate must vote as blocs, meaning each body has one vote. And in the case of a tie, the motion in question fails.

 

Such was the possibility on Wednesday, when the committee took up allowing toll credits to be used for the Transportation Alternatives Study. The House bloc, which is controlled by Democrats but also includes Republicans, voted unanimously to support the use of toll credits for the study. The question mark was the Senate bloc, which is controlled by Republicans by a 3-1 margin. With Sen. Sylvia Larsen, D-Concord, in support, and Sen. Jim Rausch, R-Derry, in opposition, the fate of the study came down to the swing votes of Sen. David Boutin, R-Hooksett, and Sen. Nancy Stiles, R-Hampton.

 

To their credit, both Sen. Boutin and Sen. Stiles voted in favor using the toll credits to let the study proceed. While they both expressed reservations about the fiscal sustainability of rail, the pair expressed a desire to "see the numbers" so that any future decisions on rail or any alternative form of transportation will be based on facts. And for that, we thank them.

 

Before the studies can commence, however, the contracts authorizing them must first be approved by the Executive Council. As you'll recall, the Council voted down the study contracts last March by a 3-2 vote. But the November elections brought about a major change in the Council's makeup, and it's thought the current Council will be much more receptive to the study contracts. As such, the Chamber has been told that Gov. Hassan recently asked NH DOT to bring the contracts to the Council on or before the Council's second meeting in February.