With the deadline to “Crossover Day” on March 31 fast approaching, both the House and Senate are in session this week to finish work on their remaining bills.

The two main budget bills are the top remaining bills in the House. The Senate will clear its docket of more than 49 bills and amendments. The Senate will be in session Wednesday and the House is scheduled for two days, Wednesday and Thursday.

Education Funding Amendment

“Responsibility” is the key difference between the House and Senate versions of a constitutional amendment related to education funding.

An amended Senate proposal, sponsored by Sen. Nancy Stiles (R-Hampton) reads, “the general court shall have the authority, responsibility, and discretion to define reasonable standards for elementary and secondary public education, to establish reasonable standards of accountability therefor, and to mitigate local disparities in educational opportunity and fiscal capacity.” {emphasis added}

The word “responsibility” is absent from the House version of basically the same measure. This causes some to be concerned that merely “allowing” for targeted state aid, as the House version does, won’t get the job done. Gov. John Lynch is among those who wants to see the Legislature’s responsibility for education funding made explicit.

The Senate votes this week on their version of the measure, CACR 14 (the amended version can be read here). The House passed theirs, CACR 12, sponsored by Rep. David Hess (R-Hooksett), March 16.

Payday Loans

Is there a market a for high-interest installment loans? Some senators think so, and don’t believe the Legislature should get in its way.

The Senate votes this week on a measure to revive two types of high-interest, installment loans, including the so-called “payday loans” that lawmakers either banned or modified in 2008.

Sponsored by Sen. Sharon Carson (R-Londonderry), Senate Bill 160 passed the full Senate by a narrow 13-11 on March 16 and was given a second approval by the Senate Finance Committee.

Voter ID

A move to require photo identification from all voters is also making its second trip to a full Senate vote this week.

Republican supporters say the measure will prevent voter fraud, while opponents say it attacks a problem that doesn’t exist and discourages voting. The bill is sponsored by Sen. Sharon Carson (R-Londonderry).

Senate Bill 129 is sponsored by Sen. Sharon Carson (R-Londonderry). It passed the full Senate by an 18-6 vote on March 16 and was given an ‘ought to pass’ recommendation by the Finance committee in a 4-3 vote.

>> Full session of the New Hampshire Senate, the State House, Wednesday March 30, 10 a.m.

This Daily Dispatch was written by Michael McCord, with contributions from Hilary Niles.

The move comes midway through an extended public hearing on one of New Hampshire’s most challenging public policy debates: a constitutional amendment on education funding. The public hearing continues Wednesday in the House Special Committee on Education Funding Reform.

Sponsored by Rep. David Hess (R-Hooksett), CACR 12 would also allow lawmakers to target education funding to smooth financial disparities among different communities. The amendment attempts to move beyond the state Supreme Court’s 1997 Claremont decision. If approved by the Legislature, CACR 12 would go before New Hampshire voters in 2012.

In his January inaugural address this year, Gov. John Lynch, who has long supported a constitutional amendment to allow for targeted education funding, said such a measure would affirm “our responsibility for education; but gives us the flexibility we need to give every child in every town the opportunity for a quality education.”

In The Nashua Telegraph, Kevin Landrigan reported Sunday on the bid to find the right language that will appeal to Lynch and Senate Republicans. In 2007, Lynch and then-House Speaker Terie Norelli (D-Portsmouth) made a hard push for a targeted funding amendment. However, a majority of Democrats balked at taking oversight authority away from Supreme Court, which currently has final say on whether the state is living up to its constitutional obligations on education funding.

>> Wednesday, March 9, House Special Committee on Education Funding Reform, public hearing on CACR 12, Legislative Office Building, Room 207.

This Daily Dispatch was written by Michael McCord.

Our midstream progress report on the N.H. Legislature continues today, checking up on the status of some featured legislation we’ve covered so far this session.

For more background on each bill, click the links to the corresponding dispatches in the bolded heading.

Retirement System Fix

The latest Republican-backed proposal to overhaul the state retirement system has its first public hearing this Friday. Senate Bill 3, sponsored by Sen. Jeb Bradley (R-Wolfeboro), has started its legislative journey in the Senate Executive Departments and Administration Committee.

No Adequacy Change

A bill to redefine education adequacy was rejected by the House Education Committee. Rep. Ralph Boehm (R- Litchfield) proposed eliminating the current statewide requirements for education in the arts, world languages, health and technology. These are among the components of an adequate education that school districts must provide, according to a law passed in 2007 to meet state Supreme Court guidelines.

Boehm, vice-chair of the House Education Committee, had argued that local communities should have the right to determine the definition of an adequate education for their students. On Feb. 24, the House Education Committee voted 15-0 to recommend against Boehm’s bill. House Bill 39 is scheduled for a March 16 vote in the full House.

Members Only

A bill to restrict membership on House study committees to lawmakers is scheduled for a vote Tuesday by the House Legislative Administration Committee. Sponsored by Rep. Laurie Harding (D-Lebanon), House Bill 190 has received bipartisan support.

The measure follows a strong bipartisan House vote last year instituting a rule (not a formal law) that limits membership on House study committees to legislators. Previously, some study committees had invited members of the public, industry experts, or representatives from state agencies to serve.

RGGI Repeal Passes in House

Since December, we have followed a proposal to repeal a 2008 law and remove New Hampshire from the 10-state Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative. House Bill 519 is sponsored by Rep. Richard Barry (R-Merrimack).

After a daylong hearing earlier this month, the bill was recommended for passage by a party line vote in the House Science, Energy and Technology Committee. It then passed the House Wednesday, 246 to 104. Before heading to the Senate, HB 519 will have a second trip in the House through the House Finance Committee.

Rethinking Renewables Gets Rethought

A few days after we wrote the headline “Renewable Energy Could Get a Whole Lot Bigger,” the bill at the heart of the dispatch (House Bill 302) died in its committee at the request of its own sponsor. Rep. Richard Barry (R-Merrimack) said he hadn’t planned on stirring up any controversy when he proposed making large-scale hydroelectric power part of New Hampshire’s renewable energy portfolio.

His proposal, however, drew out critics of the Northern Pass electric transmission line project in the northern part of the state. They were joined by supporters of solar energy development, which would have been impacted by a change in the law. The Renewable Portfolio Standards law also was already up for review later this year.

On Feb. 15, the full House agreed by voice vote with a unanimous House Science, Energy and Technology Committee recommendation to kill the legislation.

Hemp Not

The latest attempt to legalize the growing of industrial hemp was rejected by lawmakers. As we reported in early February, Rep. Derek Owen (D-Hopkinton) has sponsored at least seven similar bills since 1998. This year’s effort met the same fate as previous attempts. House Bill 101 was rejected by an 11-7 vote in the Environment and Agriculture Committee, in part because federal law prohibits the growing of industrial hemp. By a 304-51 roll call vote, the full House voted down HB 101 on Feb. 15.

Sex Registry Study Committee Measure Rejected

A bipartisan proposal to study the effectiveness of the state’s sex offender registry did not get much support in committee or in the full House. House Bill 122 was sponsored by Rep. James MacKay (D-Concord) and Sen. Sharon Carson (R-Londonderry). The House Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee recommended House Bill 122 be killed, and the full House concurred in a voice vote on Feb. 15.

House Votes to Defund NHPTV

The House Finance Committee is again considering a proposal to prohibit any state funds from being sent to New Hampshire Public Television. House Bill 113, sponsored by Rep. Steve Vaillancourt (R-Manchester), already passed the same committee and the full House by a 262-102 vote on Feb. 15.

All bills dealing with spending that pass full chamber votes are sent to the Finance Committee for second consideration — even bills that started there. If, as expected, it passes again through the same bodies, HB 113 will move to Senate.

This Daily Dispatch was written by Michael McCord.

House Bill 593, sponsored by Rep. Edmond Gionet (R-Lincoln) would establish two casinos — “at least 100 miles apart” — offering video poker, slots and table games. The House Ways and Means Committee will consider how the bill proposes permitting the casinos, plus how it would distribute the state’s proceeds to offset the state education property tax and contribute to the highway fund.

According to language in the bill, cities and towns would have to approve a gaming location. A $10 million one-time fee would be assessed to any table game licensee, and as much as $363 million annually would be used to offset the education property tax. That money would come from the state receiving 49 percent of the net machine income. The highway fund would also receive eight percent of all table game revenues. As of Feb. 21, no fiscal analysis of the bill had been provided by the Legislative Budget Assistant.

Sen. Lou D’Allesandro (D-Manchester) is an HB 593 co-sponsor and a long-time advocate for expanded gaming in New Hampshire. In 2010, D’Allensandro led the successful bid to gain Senate approval for the bipartisan bill he sponsored, Senate Bill 489, which supporters said could have raised as much as $150 million in licensing fees alone from six casinos. But gaming foes said the estimated revenues and potential numbers of high-paying jobs were overstated and that out-of-state casino operators would benefit the most. The House defeated the measure by a 212-158 vote.

Last May, Governor Lynch’s Gaming Study Commission released a detailed, long-awaited report on the benefits, costs and consequences of expanding gaming in the state.

“Expanded gaming would generate additional revenues and economic activity, but it would also generate additional societal and economic costs,” the report’s executive summary said. “A fully informed decision about expansion requires a business model analysis that accounts for both benefits and costs. Such an analysis should center on the state’s long-term interests, not just short-term financial or other needs.”

>> Tuesday, Feb. 22, public hearing on HB 593, House Ways and Means Committee, Legislative Office Building, Room 202, 3 p.m.

This Daily Dispatch was written by Michael McCord.

The House Ways and Means Committee will consider House Bill 243, which is sponsored by Rep. Charles Weed (D-Keene) and co-sponsored by committee member Rep. William Butynski (D-Hinsdale).

As written, Weed’s proposal would allow “towns and cities to adopt an alternative revenue tax or program for the funding of its local government costs beginning with the 2013 property tax year. The local revenue option shall be in lieu of the property tax used to fund general government, local school, and county costs.”

Those revenue sources could include income, sales or value-added taxes with the goal being, according to the bill, “the tax or revenue program is applied proportionally and reasonably within the taxing district, and is designed to replace the revenue derived from property taxes.”

The committee will also consider two bills which would turn back the clock on scores of taxes and fee increases enacted since 2006 (House Bill 646) and 2007 (House Bill 645) and would impact every generating office in state government. The repeals would:

• Cut the hazardous waste operator fee from $7,500 to $5,000.
• Cut the tobacco tax from $1.78 per pack to .80 cents per pack.
• Reduce the fee for a weapons carry license for out of state applications from $100 to $20.
• Reduce the cost of vanity motor vehicle plate sets from $40 to $25.
• Reduce initial and annual fees for mortgage servicing companies from $500 to $100.
• Reduce the pesticide use registration fee from $120 to $80.
• Cut the fee for an application for a low hazard potential dam from $3,000 to $250.

Ways and Means will also consider six other bills today. Executive session may follow.

>> Thursday, Feb. 17, public meeting of the House Ways and Means Committee, Legislative Office Building, Room 202, beginning at 10 a.m.

This Daily Dispatch was written by Michael McCord.

Democratic majorities in both the N.H. House and Senate have been replaced by Republican super-majorities, and the state’s budget crisis has deepened. The next two-year budget hasn’t even been crafted yet, and deficit estimates range from $400 million to the $1 billion figure claimed by Republican leaders.

Lynch told business leaders in Manchester last week that he will present a balanced budget, a “tough budget” without any new taxes or tax increases, according to the Union Leader. His budget proposal would also benefit the business community and keep education funding level.

When the current biennial budget (2010-2011) was written, Lynch and Democratic budget writers projected the state would bring in a little more than $4.5 billion in revenue. Republicans have already lowered that figure, projecting $4.4 billion in revenue over the next two years. It’s lower, in large part, because Republicans want to be asking for less.

In addition to bringing down the tobacco tax and rooms and meals tax, for example, the evolving Republican budget plan also targets recent tax and fee increases passed under Democratic control. They propose repealing the $30 car registration fee hike, eliminating the gambling winnings tax, and reducing fees for auto inspections, marriage licenses, vital records, builder applications, pet store licenses, and license renewals for restaurants and lodging facilities.

Republicans also challenge the very integrity of the process used by Democratic leaders when they crafted the current budget. “Revenue estimates contained within the Governor’s previous budget were artificially inflated,” said House Majority Leader D. J. Bettencourt (R-Salem).

It’s a charge the Lynch administration has disputed. In 2009, Lynch said projected revenues would remain flat — nearly the same as the previous biennium (2008-2009).

Lynch’s budget address from 2009 (which you can see here) also presented budget-cutting proposals that led to an estimated 300 state employees being laid off, and proposed closing one-quarter of the state’s district courts. That budget also suspended revenue sharing to cities and towns and cut the state’s contribution to public employee retirement plans to provide an additional $123 million in education adequacy aid for communities — and called for a one percent decrease in spending from the previous budget.

>> Tuesday, Feb. 15, Gov. John Lynch’s budget address to the Legislature, Representatives Hall at the State House, 10:00 a.m.

This Daily Dispatch was written by Michael McCord, with contributions from Hilary Niles.

The House Education Committee is expected to make a recommendation today on House Bill 631, sponsored by Rep. Jonathan Maltz (R-Hudson). The bill would both repeal a provision of the 2007 adequate education law for public kindergarten and exempt school districts that eliminate public kindergarten from having to repay the state aid they’ve gotten to add it.

Hudson was the final district to offer kindergarten in 2009 and is one of six districts that have received extra money from the state to establish the programs. According to the bill’s fiscal analysis, those districts have received a total of $2 million, will receive another $2 million for 2011-2012 and have requested $12 million for 2012-2013.

The fight over mandatory public kindergarten has gone on for decades in New Hampshire, a battle pitting educator recommendations for childhood education against advocates for local control. When Gov. John Lynch signed the adequate education bill into law in 2007, New Hampshire became the 50^th and final state in the country to mandate public kindergarten. At the public hearing Tuesday, Maltz said mandatory kindergarten was an unconstitutional unfunded mandate by the state, according to a Concord Monitor story.

In written testimony to the committee, Lynch opposed HB 631, saying he doesn’t want the state to return to pre-2007 standards. “The independent research is clear about the importance of kindergarten to the education of our children and the contribution it makes to ensuring later academic success,” Lynch said. “By ensuring all of our children have the opportunity to attend kindergarten, we are laying the foundation for success, and providing an equal opportunity for all students to begin their education on sure footing.”

Though the adequate education measure establishing public kindergarten (House Bill 927) had some bipartisan support from Sen. Robert Odell (R-Lempster) and Sen. Nancy Stiles (R-Hampton), who was then serving in the House, the debate in 2007 was mostly partisan. During the final vote on HB 927, Odell was the only Senate Republican to support it and Stiles was one of only 10 House Republicans to vote for it.

>> Thursday, Feb. 8 — Executive session of the House Education Committee, Legislative Office Building, Room 207, 1 p.m.

This Daily Dispatch was written by Michael McCord.

Sponsored by Rep. Kenneth Gould (R-Derry), House Bill 34 would maintain current levels of education grant funding to municipalities for fiscal years 2012 and 2013. The House Education Committee is scheduled to meet Tuesday in executive session and could make a recommendation to the full House about the bill at that time.

As reported last April in Front Door Politics, the issue is a vital one for a number of towns and cities. Some communities like Derry would see their state funding go down if the formula changes according to schedule. In that case, their local taxes would likely be raised to make up the difference. On the other hand, communities like Manchester and Conway are expecting a significant rise in funding under the new formula, so they are not keen to see the transition delayed.

The current formula, often referred to as the education funding “collar,” was designed to help communities prepare for changes to the overall funding structure.

Last year, Senate Bill 465 would have extended the collar through 2012 and set up a legislative study committee to investigate the formula and offer recommendations going forward. But, that measure died in May when the House chose not to make the bill part of the overall House-Senate budget reconciliation conference (a process for the two bodies to work out disagreements over particulars in a bill).

As noted last year, much of the voting broke down less on political than on geographical grounds. Legislators whose communities stood to lose state aid tended to support the extension of the current aid formula, while those who stood to gain state aid generally opposed the extension. Those whose districts included schools on both sides of the equation faced a difficult decision.

>> Feb. 1 — Executive Session of the House Education Committee, Legislative Office Building, Room 207, 2 p.m.

>> Go to the state Department of Education web site for an explainer on how state aid is determined.

This Daily Dispatch was written by Michael McCord, with contributions from Hilary Niles.

Republican Rep. Ralph Boehm, vice chair of the House Education Committee, will present House Bill 39 for a public hearing in the committee on Tuesday, Jan. 25. Among other changes, Boehm’s bill would eliminate education in the arts, world languages, health and technology as part of the adequate education requirement for school districts that was passed in 2007 as part of House Bill 927.

That measure was the first time the N.H. Legislature had defined an adequate education. The precedent was prompted by Supreme Court rulings stretching back to 1993 (the so-called Claremont lawsuit rulings) that required the state to define and cost an adequate education to meet its constitutional public education obligations. In 2008, the Supreme Court dropped its court order when it said the Legislature had met its obligations.

The bipartisan sponsorship of HB 927 included two current Republican members of the Senate — Robert Odell of Lempster and Nancy Stiles of Hampton, who at the time served in the House. When Gov. John Lynch signed the bill into law in June 2007, he said, “passage of this definition is a significant step toward ensuring that all of New Hampshire’s children will have the broad educational opportunities they need to compete in today’s world.”

The 2007 bill said “the general court embraces its duty to define the opportunity for a constitutionally adequate public education for every child in the state.”

But Boehm, who was elected to his fourth term in November, told the Nashua Telegraph that although schools are likely to provide the subjects he would eliminate from the adequacy list, they shouldn’t be required to do so. Consequently, funding for those subjects need not be provided if districts don’t want them. “We don’t need the state telling us what is an adequate education. Let’s let local districts decide,” Boehm said in the article.

In addition to paring down the definition of adequacy, HB 39 would prohibit state education agencies “from implementing or enforcing” the education standards of the national Common Core State Standards Initiative without legislative approval. In July, New Hampshire joined the volunteer initiative to improve language arts and math proficiencies of elementary and secondary school students. But Boehm believes that local school districts should make their own determinations and that the issue is “local control and unfunded mandates.”

>> The House Education Committee meets, Tuesday, Jan. 25, in the Legislative Office Building, Room 207, at 10:30 a.m. Per new House rules, an executive session may follow.

This Daily Dispatch was written by Michael McCord.

Home Schooling

At least four proposed bills involve home education. Five lawmakers — Rep. David Bates (R-Windham), Rep. Marilinda Gates (R-Salem), Rep. Ralph Boehm (R-Litchfield), Sen. Sharon Carson (R-Londonderry) and Sen. Fenton Groen (R-Rochester) are sponsoring a bill which would repeal “the department of education’s rulemaking authority for home education programs.”

The most recent home education standards were updated by the Department of Education in June. A related bill sponsored by Rep. Laura Jones, (R-Rochester), Sen. Raymond White (R-Bedford), and Sen. James Forsythe (R-Strafford ) would amend “compulsory school attendance statutes to permit parent-directed learning programs and repealing the home education statutes.”

Vouchers Redux

Rep. Carol Vita (R-Middleton) has filed the latest bill request that would allow state-funded education vouchers for parents to help subsidize education costs for their child at a school “other than the assigned local school.” Voucher bills were closely defeated by the House in 2004 and both the House and Senate in 2006.

Funding

Education funding is the focus of at least five bills. In particular, lawmakers want to either eliminate, postpone or scale back the funding formula set to begin next July 1. The formula was adapted in 2008 with bipartisan support to satisfy state Supreme Court rulings from the so-called Claremont lawsuits. Sen. Jeb Bradley (R-Wolfeboro) is the lead sponsor of a bill that would delay the funding formula — and he has the support of every Republican senator along with House Speaker William O’Brien (R-Mont Vernon).

Targeted funding, which the Court has said (in so many words) is a no-go, will have another go-around. Sen. Nancy Stiles (R-Hampton), chair of the Senate Education Committee, has filed another bill that would have lawmakers “define an adequate education and distribute state funds for public education in a manner that alleviates local disparities.” It’s the same issue that has frustrated lawmakers for more than a decade and led to a few unsuccessful attempts at constitutional amendments, including one supported by Gov. John Lynch in 2007.

Calisthenics

Rep. Sean Cox (R-Andover) has filed a bill that would mandate “daily physical education for public school officials.”

License Plates

Rep. Timothy Horrigan (D-Durham) has sponsored a bill for special license plates “supporting New Hampshire public higher education,” a proposal not likely to gain support from voucher and home schooling advocates.

>> You can see the early stage titles of these and several hundred other new bills on the legislative web site here. Front Door Politics will keep our eyes on them all as they make their way forward — or fall by the wayside — during the 2011 legislative session.

>> After a holiday break tomorrow and Monday, we’ll take a look a look Tuesday at the energy- and environment-related bills that have been filed.