GMCC Capitol Insight

Sponsors

Editorial Board

Brad Cook
Sheehan Phinney

Bass + Green

Bruce Berke
Sheehan Phinney
Capitol Group

Valerie Acres

Sheehan Phinney
Capitol Group

Henry Veilleux

Sheehan Phinney
Capitol Group

Erle Pierce

Sheehan Phinney

Capitol Group

Will Stewart
Greater Manchester
Chamber of Commerce

Budget talks, paying salaries & liability protection

Bruce Berke, Sheehan Phinney Capitol Group

This week saw the New Hampshire House of Representatives pass its version of the state budget and as such, we now have the first two versions of a state budget from which to further develop the state's revenue and spending priorities. And we are bound to have at least two more versions before the state adopts its spending plan in June for the next two years.

Now the State Senate will have its turn in stating its priorities before the very likely step that will lead to a committee of conference on the budget that will attempt to develop a compromise between the House and Senate before it goes back to the Governor for her signature into law.

This week's vote in the House demonstrated that there are stark differences between the House and the Governor. They include:

Casino gambling: the Governor wants it to be legal; so far the House does not, but will get a chance to vote on it soon.
Level of funding: the Governor's budget spends about $50M more than the budget approved by the House.
Gas tax: the House supports a specific plan to increase it by 12 cents over three years, the Governor has not been as direct as to how the state should fix its infrastructure.
University System of New Hampshire funding: the House proposes to spend $12M less than the Governor.

Similarly, it is expected that there will be stark differences between the Senate proposal and that which passed the House. Some of the likely differences will be:

Casino gambling: the Senate intends to include the anticipated $80M in license revenue to fund the budget that the House said no to.
Gas tax: the Senate will not likely support an increase to the gas tax that the House voted for.
Tobacco tax: the House voted to increase the tax by 30 cents (same as Governor's proposal) but the Senate is not as likely to increase it that much.
Spending levels: overall it is expected that the Senate will propose spending less in the next biennial budget than either the Governor's or House's version.
Business tax credits: the Governor and House suspend these while some in the Senate want them to stay on schedule to take effect on July 1.

So where does this lead us? Very clearly, it requires close scrutiny and involvement by the business community over the next three months and until such time that the Legislature concludes its work for 2013. There will be many debates, meetings, twists, and turns before this session finishes the budget for fiscal years 2014 and 2015. Stay tuned and get involved.

Getting Paid

Did you know there was a law in New Hampshire that basically says if everyone at a business, except one employee, wishes to be paid electronically (e.g. direct deposit), that one person can continue to be paid by another method such as a paper check. State law allows the employee to determine the method in how he or she gets paid. Senate Bill 100 is awaiting a House hearing and this bill would allow the employer to determine how employees are paid. Opponents have raised concerns that the proliferation of payroll cards will take place and be detrimental (read fees) to employees. However, studies have demonstrated that the use of payroll cards is actually less expensive for employees than the use of checks. This bill passed (20-4) the Senate with strong bi-partisanship and will be before the House Labor Committee on April 23rd. Elliott Hospital testified in favor of the bill and indicated that if they did not have to use different methods to pay employees, the hospital would save more than $65,000.

Landowner Liability Protection

So much of our state's outdoor recreation is dependent on landowners who permit the use of their property for trails. Today, those landowners have liability protection when a user (i.e. runner, skier) may become injured on the trail. This bill (SB 108) extends similar protections to the landowner when construction or maintenance is being conducted on the trail system as long as the landowner has no financial benefit from the relationship with the outdoor recreational activity. Without such protections, it is feared that a chilling effect on landowner agreements would take place and significantly diminish the numbers of opportunities for outdoor recreational activity throughout the Granite State. This bill will soon be heard by the House Judiciary Committee.

The post-Crossover landscape

Will Stewart, Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce

Now that Crossover has come and gone, here's a look at where things stand midway through the 2013 legislative session with regard to the Chamber's priorities.

This year, the Chamber has taken a position on 23 pieces of legislation. We have already seen a number of successes, including the passage of Senate Bill 1, doubling the state's Research and Development Tax Credit to $2 million annually. We are also pleased that a number of House bills have been killed or retained in committee, including one that sought to weaken the state's workforce housing law and others that sought to turn back the clock on energy deregulation and target specific development projects with legislation.

Of those bills that have survived Crossover, here are the ones we're watching most closely:

SB 82 - The Senate passed this bill, establishing a commission for the purpose of identifying strategies for developing and implementing competency-based public education, which we believe is one of the best ways to get the business community better and more meaningfully involved public education. We ask the House to pass SB 82 as well.

SB 99 - This amended bill, passed by the Senate, now looks to require a study of the site evaluation criteria used by the Site Evaluation Committee. It is our understanding that a(nother) move might be made in the House or possibly a committee of conference to reintroduce a moratorium of electric generation or transmission projects. We ask the House to oppose any further moratorium attempts.

SB 41 - Recognizing the need to modernize the laws regarding corporations, the Senate passed this bill which modernizes the Business Corporations Act. We encourage the House to pass SB 41.

HB 516 and SB 125 - These bills, passed by their respective bodies, both look to improve development regulations and permitting at the local and state levels. We ask the Senate to pass HB 516 and the House to pass SB 125.

SB 50 - Another locally-focused bill, SB 50 would extend variances granted by zoning boards of adjustment to two years. We believe this bill will help spur economic development and as such ask the House to pass SB 50.

SB 192 - This bill establishes a committee to study the creation of state infrastructure bank, which the Chamber believes has the possibility to be a very creative financing tool to fund needed infrastructure projects at both the state and local levels. We ask the House to pass SB 192.