When it meets in full session Wednesday, the Senate will decide whether to join the House in prohibiting state funding of New Hampshire Public Television.
House Bill 113, which passed the House 263-102 in February, has received closer scrutiny in the Senate. Sponsored by Steve Vaillancourt (R-Manchester), the measure would stop all state funding for NHPTV (Channel 11), including contracts with state agencies for educational and broadcasting services.
The House reached a veto-proof majority when it voted 261-104 to approve its own version of a Senate proposal to fight federal health care reform. But will the Senate concur?
Ready for an old-fashioned Constitutional showdown?
We’re tracking an effort by New Hampshire lawmakers to get the Attorney General to join other states in challenging the constitutionality of last year’s federal health care reform law.
The proposals may or may not amount to anything more than political posturing and a lengthy court battle. But as they play out, they illustrate tension between the states and the federal government, plus a debate within New Hampshire about separation of powers.
The temporary five-cent gas tax cut passed the House yesterday. Is it political posturing or an altruistic measure for cash-strapped New Hampshire consumers? We look at three sides of the nickel, and welcome your thoughts, too.
Remember the recent uproar over public employee unions in New Hampshire? The one about eliminating collective bargaining obligations when labor contracts end?
It was slipped into the House budget proposal, but the N.H. Senate has stripped the controversy from its version of the budget. And now, a Senate committee has reshaped House Bill 580, which also included a collective bargaining provision that organized labor strongly opposed.
What would you do with a few extra nickels?
If it seems like politicians want to cut the gasoline tax every time fuel prices begin to skyrocket, as we’ve seen during the past month, well you’re right.
You may recall, for example, how the massive gas price hikes during the summer of 2008 (during a presidential election season, by the way) brought out urgent political calls for a gas tax cut. Last week, the N.H. Republican House leadership said one solution to today’s high gas prices is a temporary 5 cent per gallon cut in the tax through June 30.
Naturally, Gov. John Lynch disagrees.
Later today, the Senate Finance committee will hear public testimony for the first time on the overall $10.3 billion biennium budget passed by the House last month.
Expect a long list of speakers to line up in Representatives Hall to support or oppose the myriad proposals for revenue and spending in 2012-2013. Senate budget writers have until June 2 to complete their version of the budget, at which point the House and Senate will have to hammer out any differences.
The committee is scheduled for two (2) two-hour sessions this afternoon and this evening on the main budget bills, House Bill 1 and House Bill 2.
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.
We continue highlighting some of the 34 bills and amendments scheduled for a session of the full Senate today.
The proposals include eliminating the state motor vehicle registration surcharge, repealing boating speed limits on Lake Winnipesaukee, and establishing a managed care platform for the state’s Medicaid program.
Today and tomorrow, the Daily Dispatch will highlight bills that have gone under the radar during the first part of the of New Hampshire’s 2011 legislative session.
The proposals cover a wide range of issues — from a constitutional amendment giving the governor line item veto authority over the state budget to increasing the allowable size of off-highway recreational vehicles on state trails. It’s all a part of government, folks. …
