NH State House Watch

AFSC-NH State House Watch, May 11, 2012

2012 Issue 19

Crunch Time at the State House

Facing a Thursday deadline for all bills to be acted upon by each body, both the House and the Senate will be in session this coming week.  The House is scheduled to begin its work on Tuesday, May 15 continuing into Wednesday and Thursday if necessary.  The Senate will be in session on Wednesday only. 

Tenant Rights Face Severe Threat - Call Your Senator Now

Despite what we thought was compelling testimony from members of the United Valley Interfaith Project, Granite State Organizing Project, NH Legal Assistance, Housing Action NH and responsible property owners, the Senate Judiciary Committee voted Thursday to approve a slightly amended version of HB 1263, relative to the termination of tenancy and repealing the requirement that landlords of restricted residential property provide service of process information.  This bill has two parts, both bad.  The first makes the expiration of a lease grounds for eviction.  This is a major blow to existing landlord-tenant law.  (Click here for further explanation.)  The Committee voted 2-1 to approve this provision, after tweaking the bill slightly to say this would only apply to leases signed on or after January 1, 2013.  The second part undoes a reasonable statute that requires commercial landlords to register with municipal officials so that they can be effectively informed of building code violations.  The Judiciary Committee voted 2-1 to repeal this statewide requirement but state that municipalities can adopt ordinances if they want.  Senators Jim Forsythe and Fenton Groen voted for the amendment and for the bill as amended, with Sen. Matthew Houde voting in opposition. 

HB 1263 goes to the Senate floor for a vote on Wednesday, May 16.  We urge all State House Watch readers to contact your Senator and ask him/her to vote against this bill.  

Bad news for Immigrants’ Rights…

Despite the Internal Affairs Committee recommendation to regard HCR 2, a resolution in support of Arizona’s repressive immigration law, as Inexpedient to Legislate, and despite the fact that no one, not even the bill’s sponsor, came to speak in its favor at a May 1 public hearing, the Senate voted on Wednesday to pass this resolution.  First, the motion to accept the ITL recommendation was rejected 9 - 15 (click here to see how your Senator voted).  Then Sen. Bradley moved the resolution’s adoption, which passed by Voice Vote.  This ugly statement will be forwarded to the US Congress as an informational item, putting the NH Legislature “on record” in support of the highly-contested law known as SB 1070.

Furthermore, it was announced this week that the federal “Secure Communities” program has been extended into New Hampshire.  Under this controversial program, fingerprints of everyone who is charged with a crime get reviewed by immigration authorities.  The program has been criticized for breaking up families, undermining trust between police and immigrant communities, promoting profiling, and causing the deportation of people who have not committed serious crimes.   With the expansion of this program to all of New Hampshire, progressive policies adopted by police in several New Hampshire cities and towns will be weakened.  (Click here for a statement from AFSC and allies.)  A vigil will be held on Tuesday, May 15 from 6 - 7 pm in front of the Norris Cotton Federal Building at 275 Chestnut Street in Manchester to express concern and call for the program’s termination.    

The proposal to allow communities to impose a one-year moratorium on refugee resettlement will come up for a vote in the House hidden within SB 155, a bill relating to business profits taxes.  As you may remember, the House attached the contents of what had been HB 1405 as an amendment to an un--related bill when the Senate sent it to Interim Study.  After refusing to take testimony on the provision, the Finance Committee voted 17-6 to recommend the bill Ought to Pass As Amended.  The measure is scheduled for a House vote next week.

(Click here for an update on immigration-related measures at the State House.)

Next week in the House

The House will be in session on Tuesday, Wednesday, and possibly Thursday of next week as every effort is made to meet the May 17 deadline to finalize all bills that came from the Senate.  On the Calendar will be several bills (see example above) that were amended in the House two weeks ago when bills that were put aside in the Senate were resurrected as amendments to un-related bills that were seen as favorites of Senate leaders. 

Among the bills coming to a vote will be SB 289, the bill requiring voters to show a photo ID.  This has now been heavily amended by the House Election Law Committee, which voted 13-7 this week to recommend it Ought to Pass as Amended.  Although voting rights advocates never liked the bill to begin with, it should be said that the bill as originally passed by the Senate was the product of extensive study and discussion undertaken by the original bill’s prime sponsor, Sen. Prescott, and had the support of the Secretary of State as well as the Town and City Clerks’ Association.  After a series of work sessions, an “eleventh hour” amendment was added at the request of the House Speaker which would require election officials to photograph anyone without a valid photo ID (student IDs would be excluded).  In its amended form this bill no longer has the support of either the Secretary of State or the Town and City Clerks.  America Votes, the NH League of Women Voters, AFSC and other voting rights advocates oppose the amended bill even more strongly than they opposed the original version on the grounds that it would disenfranchise some of New Hampshire’s most vulnerable citizens.

Also on the House agenda is SB 318 which would link voter registration to motor vehicle registration.  The Election Law Committee voted 9-8 to recommend that this bill Ought to Pass as Amended. AFSC also opposes passage of this bill.  It is of some comfort to note that two other bills related to changes in voter registration, HB 1354 and HB 1478, were tabled last week in the Senate.

Another Senate bill that was drastically modified by the House is SB 295, relative to increasing the research and development tax credit against the business profits tax, to which has been attached an amendment strongly resembling what was formerly HB 1659, the “women’s right to know” law.  This would, among other things, impose a 24-hour waiting period for women seeking to lawfully terminate a pregnancy in New Hampshire.  This bill was recommended Ought to Pass as Amended by House Finance Committee on a vote of 17-9.

Also from the House Finance Committee comes the recommendation of Ought to Pass as Amended (vote 14-7) for SB 376, extending and expanding the role of a Legislative Committee charged with developing a plan to privatize the Department of Corrections.  As amended, this bill would allow legislators to review confidential bids from private prison companies and give them until Nov. 1 to submit their report.

Meanwhile, the Corrections Corporation of America -- one of four companies bidding for a profitable contract to operate a massive private prison -- revealed it has its eyes on property in Lancaster and Hinsdale.   (Yes, corporate persons have “eyes.”)  The private prison proposals are under review by the Department of Corrections. 

The House will also vote on SB 409, relative to the legalization and regulation of medical marijuana, which House Finance recommended Ought to Pass as Amended.  The Executive Departments and Administration Committee has voted to support SB 508, proclaiming January 4, 2013 as Granny D Day but makes it clear that this approval should be for a “one time only observance.” They also support SB 339 to establish “Loon Appreciation Day,” but oppose SB 310, designating “Purple Day” as a day to designate support for Epilepsy and Cancer Prevention Awareness. 

Next Week in the Senate

The last of the anti-labor bills that have made their way through the House and into the Senate is HB 1206, which would shift insurance costs to workers if new collective bargaining agreements are not reached, thus giving employers an incentive to avoid agreements.  The Senate’s Executive Departments and Administration Committee voted 2-2 on this bill, but despite the tie vote it goes to the full Senate with a recommendation of Inexpedient to Legislate.

HB 1658, establishing an income and identity verification system for public assistance recipients has been eviscerated by an amendment.  Instead of requiring the State to hire LexisNexis or another data mining firm to search for welfare fraud, it says the State “may” do this.   And if the State goes ahead with a fraud-finding-firm, it would pay on the basis of savings from actual fraud detected. With these changes, and a few more, the Senate Finance Committee voted unanimously to recommend passage. But this is not what Speaker O’Brien had in mind.  We’d rather the Senate vote down the amended bill and put an end to it, but we are optimistic that the gap between House and Senate positions is so large that the bill will go away. 

Re-Districting Lawsuits Consolidated 

This week, as expected, all parties related to the five lawsuits challenging the constitutionality of the newly redrawn voting districts for the House of Representatives agreed, as did Hillsborough Superior Court Justice Kenneth Brown, to certain facts in the case so that these appeals can be expeditiously transferred to the State Supreme Court.  The filing period for candidates for state office remains June 6-15. 

Medicaid Managed Care Contract Approved

This week, the Executive Council voted 3-2 to approve what has been described as the largest state contract ever, totaling $2.2 billion, awarded to three private companies to implement “managed care” for New Hampshire’s Medicaid populations.  These contracts represent a far-reaching change in the way medical and rehabilitative services are delivered to Medicaid recipients throughout the state.  Advocates and consumers have expressed great trepidation as to whether these contracts will provide for continued access to comprehensive medical care and services, particularly for developmentally disabled individuals and others in need of long-term care services.  DHHS Commissioner Nicholas Toumpas offered assurances that the Department staff will continue to monitor the transition.  If the Affordable Care Act (aka “Obamacare”) goes into full effect, more people will have access to Medicaid and would be covered under these contracts.

To find the text of any bill, go to http://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/bill_status/quick_search.html, and type in the bill number with no space between the letters and number (i.e. HB75 or HCR2).

The text of amendments is generally found in the House or Senate Calendar for the session at which it will be voted upon.  You can find the current House Calendar and the Senate Calendar on the General Court web page. 

To find the names of House committee members, go to http://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/house/committees/standingcommittees.aspx and click on the committee of interest.

To find the contact information for any legislator, go to http://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/house/members/memberlookup.aspx.

To find your own Representatives and Senator go to http://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/house/members/wml.aspx.

Committees of Conference

There are eight Committees of Conference which have been established so far, including one dealing with a proposed Constitutional Amendment on education funding.  Each one has four Representatives and three Senators.  The purpose and process of the Committees of Conference is to come to a common recommendation between the House and Senate conferees regarding bills that were passed in both chambers but with differing language due to amendments.  Throughout the Committee of Conference proceedings, the House and Senate conferees must create a unanimous single report or recommendation by meeting jointly, yet voting separately.  The Committee of Conference may not change the title of the bill, and may not add “non-germane” amendments.

Upcoming Events

The Annual Mother’s Day Peace Vigil will be held on Sunday, May 12 from noon - 1 pm in Market Square, Portsmouth.  This event is co-sponsored by Seacoast Peace Response, NH Peace Action, Outreach Associates of South Church, Veterans for Peace, AFSC and others. For more information, contact amyla44@juno.com.

 “Reflections of a Tree Sitter,” a film that tells the story of Julia Butterfly Hill, will be shown, for free, at the Concord Unitarian Church on Monday, May 14 at 7 pm. Click here for more details.

Tuesday, May 15 - Secure Communities Vigil in Manchester co-sponsored by AFSC and the NH Alliance for Immigrants and Refugees, 6 – 7 pm in front of the Norris Cotton Federal Building, 275 Chestnut Street, Manchester. 

NH Citizens Alliance for Action, Granite State Progress and the New England College Sociology and Social Work Department will host the “NH Progressive Summit” on May 19 at NEC in Henniker.  Arnie will co-lead (with Olivia Zink) a workshop on “bird-dogging” candidates and officials.  Maggie will co-lead (with Ben Frost) a workshop on affordable housing. Tickets are $30 with reduced price tickets available for those who need them.   Speakers!  Workshops!  Lunch included with registration!

The NH Labor Unity Table is organizing a series of meetings to highlight the connection between the war on workers’ rights and the broader Tea-Party inspired political agenda pursued by Speaker William O’Brien and his allies in the NH State House.  Meetings will be held in Rochester (May 14), Nashua (May 17), Concord (May 22), Hooksett (May 24), and Hampton (May 30).  For more information or to RSVP please call the NH AFL-CIO at 623-7302.

On Monday, May 21, the Nashua Public Library will host Dr. Lawrence Lessig in a presentation titled, “How Money Corrupts Congress and How to Stop It.”  The program is based on Dr. Lessig’s newly published book, “Republic, Lost” and will begin at 7 pm.   Nashua Public Library is at 2 Court Street, Nashua.

Rabbi Jill Jacobs, Executive Director of Rabbis for Human Rights-North America, and Rabbi David Saperstein, Director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism will lead a discussion on the role of religion in the public discourse on Tuesday, May 22 at 7 pm at Temple Beth Jacob, 67 Broadway in Concord.  Free and open to the public.  For more information contact: office@tbjconcord.org.

Arnie Alpert, Maggie Fogarty, and Sylvia Gale

The AFSC-NH State House Watch Team

AFSC’s New Hampshire State House Watch newsletter is published to bring you information about matters being discussed in Concord including housing, the death penalty, immigration, marriage equality, and labor rights.  We are also following the state budget and tax system, voting rights, trade policy, and perhaps more.  The AFSC is a Quaker organization supported by people of many faiths who care about peace, social justice, humanitarian service, and nonviolent change. 

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