They Said It!

There was plenty to say this week about RGGI, federal health care reform, private prisons, and payday loans …

There was plenty to say this week about RGGI, federal health care reform, private prisons, and payday loans …

This week’s Senate votes include amending the N.H. Constitution regarding education funding, plus voter identification and payday loans.
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.

We continue our today with our snapshot tour of some of the more the 250 bills and amendments that lawmakers will consider over a scheduled three days beginning tomorrow.
In this installment, we look at five bills that are part of the so-called Regular Calendar for the House this week — meaning they are subject to floor debate and roll call votes where every lawmaker’s vote is recorded. These are measures we’ve covered this session, encompassing issues including medical marijuana, abortion, the Financial Resources Mortgage scandal, and taxes.

New changes to last year’s PACE (Property Assessed Clean Energy) law are being worked out to save the program from repeal.
Sponsored by Rep. Beatriz Pastor (D-Lyme), PACE became law last year, but hasn’t yet been used. A move to repeal it will be considered in an executive session in the House Municipal and County Government Committee today. But Pastor tells Front Door Politics that Republican committee leaders gave her a chance to change PACE in order to save it.

The saga of banking commissioner Peter Hildreth ended last Thursday when he abruptly resigned rather than face the likelihood of being removed by the Executive Council regarding his oversight (or lack thereof) of the Financial Resources Mortgage affair that saw hundreds of investors lose tens of millions of dollars.
At times, you need a score card to keep of the various legislative and regulatory investigations into the state’s greatest Ponzi scheme. But we might be nearing the end of the trail.

The Executive Council hearings to determine the fate of state Banking Commissioner Peter Hildreth will go ahead as scheduled on Monday morning. A Merrimack County Superior Court judge on Wednesday rejected Hildreth’s motion to delay the proceedings (see the Union Leader Story here). Hildreth is accused of failing to act against Financial Resources Mortgage of [...]

From a distance, it may look like a few simple jurisdictional fixes would prevent future ponzi schemes like Financial Resources Mortgage, or the lesser known Noble Trust back in 2008. Look again.

House Republicans will choose the next speaker today while state department heads are checking their budget lists twice. They’re preparing for the governor’s budget hearings that begin tomorrow morning at the State House.
Meanwhile, the showdown to get the Local Government Center to open its books continues, and Banking Commissioner Peter Hildreth says the governor should not take part in the hearings on whether or not Hildreth keeps his job.

Executive decisions on federal stimulus money and appointments, a parting shot, and three challenges to gay marriage. It’s all in today’s dispatch by Michael McCord.

What’s next for energy policy in the wake of the recent mid-term elections? New Hampshire will see Republicans take control of the Legislature, and one of the outstanding policy questions will be if a bipartisan consensus remains to build on the wide range of energy efficiency and renewable energy programs recently created.