Home » April 19th, 2011
Entries posted on “April, 2011”
Forget courthouses — New Hampshire’s entire court system may be getting rebuilt from the ground up, starting this summer.
The Senate votes tomorrow on a bill to bring the probate and district courts and the judicial family branch under one umbrella. The reorganization would bring lots of staffing and management changes and reductions, with an overall projected savings of almost $1.5 million in staffing costs in the next four years.
The idea behind House Bill 609, sponsored by Rep. Gary Richardson (D-Hopkinton), can be found in a major report by the Judicial Branch Innovation Commission. The report also called for New Hampshire courts to enter the digital age, and asks for $5 million to help them do it.
April 19th, 2011 | Posted in branches,courts,Government,Justice,state budget,Weekly Briefing | Read More »
A new proposal has emerged to settle much (but far from all) of the legal and political controversy over New Hampshire’s unique medical malpractice insurance fund. Primarily, it would settle the matter of who has a right to the extra money in the fund.
Senate Bill 170 first forbids the state from claiming any surplus funds from the Joint Underwriting Association — either through legislation or taxation. It also orders that any “excess surplus” funds be distributed to policyholders. That excess measures at least $110 million, according to the bill. And that $110 million is at the core of the two-year controversy.
A House committee will hold a public hearing on SB 170 Tuesday.
April 18th, 2011 | Posted in branches,Commerce,costs,courts,Government,Health,health care,hospitals, clinics, nursing homes,insurance,Justice,malpractice,state budget,Weekly Briefing | Read More »
Want to know who voted for what in the N.H. House and Senate?
The Front Door Politics 2011 Bill Tracker now includes links to all roll call votes, as well as links to the text of every bill we’ve covered so far this session.
April 15th, 2011 | Posted in Front Door Politics, NH | Read More »
Tensions are running high in Concord this session, as the following references to demons, jalapeno peppers, and a hostile press in this week’s “They Said It!” reflect.
What do you think: Are there demons in the State House? Should New Hampshire return any federal money for health care reform? Can we all get along?
April 15th, 2011 | Posted in Weekly Briefing | Read More »
Should New Hampshire fight last year’s federal health care reform?
Most state senators and representatives think so. The N.H. House and Senate have both passed bills to get state Attorney General Michael Delaney to join a multi-state lawsuit fighting the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, which President Obama signed into law in March 2010. So far, more than two dozen other states have joined the lawsuit, which challenges the constitutionality of the federal law.
The difference between the House and Senate’s persuasive approaches is the difference between “must” and “should.”
April 14th, 2011 | Posted in branches,Commerce,Constitution,costs,federal government,Government,Health,health insurance,insurance,Justice,Weekly Briefing | Read More »
What happens when two dilapidated courthouses are closed down in New Hampshire, and the money for a new facility can’t be squeezed out of the state budget?
As folks in the Seacoast are learning, you wait.
The long-anticipated Hampton-Exeter District court construction may get put off for another four years. The deadline to choose a permanent location for the combined district court already passed on the first of this year. Senate Bill 36 would extend it further to Jan. 1, 2015.
April 13th, 2011 | Posted in courts,Government,Justice,state budget,Weekly Briefing | Read More »
Can reducing New Hampshire’s tobacco tax actually increase state revenues from tobacco taxes?
Assuming a big increase in sales due to the lower tax rate, that’s the idea behind a bill that’s getting its second public hearing today. House Bill 156 passed the House last month, and is now with the Senate Ways & Means Committee. But the bill’s fiscal note, prepared by the N.H. Dept. of Revenue Administration, predicts a different future.
April 12th, 2011 | Posted in business taxes,Commerce,Government,Health,Money,smoking/tobacco,state budget,taxes,tobacco & cigarettes,tobacco & cigarettes,Weekly Briefing | Read More »
Is the medical marijuana debate about health or law and order?
How lawmakers — and, more importantly, Gov. John Lynch — answer that question could determine the fate of the latest legislative attempt to legalize medical marijuana in New Hampshire.
The proposal passed its first hurdle last month when the House approved House Bill 442 by a veto-proof majority. The question in this legislative session, as in 2009, is whether the measure will have enough support to override another potential veto by Lynch.
April 11th, 2011 | Posted in Commerce,drug law,Health,health care,Justice,marijuana,medical marijuana,substance abuse,Weekly Briefing | Read More »
Before medical malpractice lawsuits go to court in New Hampshire, they get screened. The idea is to weed out frivolous claims and save judicial resources for legitimate cases.
These medical screening panels were established in the Granite State in 2005, based on a similar Maine law. They finally got rolling in 2007 after a challenge to the program’s constitutionality was defeated in court. They’re made up of a judge, a lawyer, and a clinician.
The question is: Are the screening panels working?
April 8th, 2011 | Posted in Commerce,Health,health care,health insurance,insurance,Justice,malpractice,Weekly Briefing | Read More »
In many ways, House Bill 71 is a case study in successful bipartisan legislative work. Ring a bell?
The often adversarial nature of politics — this session in the New Hampshire Legislature being no exception — begs the question of what it takes to find common ground. The reality is complicated. For all their public bickering, lawmakers often do get along, especially at the committee level. But that fact of life doesn’t make many headlines.
Enter the pharmaceutical drug take-back program.
April 7th, 2011 | Posted in cities & towns,Commerce,Environment & Resources,Government,Health,health care,prescriptions,rivers & lakes,substance abuse,Weekly Briefing | Read More »
