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		<title>Summer Recess</title>
		<description><![CDATA[As New Hampshire lawmakers debated changes to the state budget—eventually passing a bill to plug a nearly $300 million hole—one might have thought they were looking at two completely different documents. 

In the end, the optimistic version won, and we won’t know until the receipts come in how realistic it is. Either way, Gov. Lynch praised the legislation and is expected to sign Special Session House Bill 1 into law.]]></description>
		<link>http://frontdoorpolitics.com/summer-recess-2/</link>
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		<title>Back to Budget</title>
		<description><![CDATA[After budget negotiations between the House and Senate broke down last week, Gov. Lynch and the Executive Council called lawmakers back to Concord for a special session on June 9. House and Senate leaders Terie Norelli and Sylvia Larsen are scheduled to release a bill the afternoon of June 7 that will get a public hearing June 8 and go to the House and Senate for debate on June 9.

They didn’t start from scratch in writing this bill. It includes $270 million in budget cuts and adjustments that were already agreed to by a joint House-Senate conference committee in recent weeks.

That committee walked away from budget talks, however, over the remaining $30 million and the issue of expanded gambling.]]></description>
		<link>http://frontdoorpolitics.com/back-to-budget/</link>
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		<title>Measuring Mental Health Costs</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Demand is up for mental health services in New Hampshire, but resources to provide them are dwindling. And more are on the chopping block, including the Anna Philbrook Center, the state’s facility for treating children and adolescents with severe mental health needs.

Children would still be treated, but at the main wing of the New Hampshire Hospital, instead. Fourteen adult beds would be eliminated to make room for the kids. It is not clear at this point how the state’s obligation to educate the children would be met or who exactly would pick up that bill.]]></description>
		<link>http://frontdoorpolitics.com/measuring-mental-health-costs/</link>
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		<title>The Business of Liquor Laws</title>
		<description><![CDATA[New Hampshire’s Liquor Commission keeps a close eye on the 6,100 liquor license and permit holders in the state, but at least one lawmaker thinks someone should be keeping a closer eye on the commission. 

Rep. Rip Holden (R-Goffstown) sponsored three bills this term to do just that. They didn’t make it far, but a fourth bill, sponsored by Sen. Lou D’Allesandro (D-Manchester) is close to becoming law.

“There’s no immediate checks and balance, and there is no balance, to my knowledge, from any branch, in the commission itself,” Holden says.]]></description>
		<link>http://frontdoorpolitics.com/the-business-of-liquor-laws/</link>
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		<title>Collars Up: Education Funding and State Budget Updates</title>
		<description><![CDATA[The House will revisit holding the status quo on education funding—and may revisit the entire education funding formula, while it's at it. Also, new proposals would consolidate some programs and authorities under the DHHS Commissioner. Would legislative oversight of the department still mean anything? ... ]]></description>
		<link>http://frontdoorpolitics.com/collars-up-education-funding-and-state-budget-updates/</link>
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		<title>Budget Breakdown</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Facing a $210-220 million budget shortfall, Gov. John Lynch has released a three-part plan to cut spending, restructure debt and increase revenue for New Hampshire. He’ll present ideas requiring immediate action to the House and Senate Finance Committees on April 15. Further action will be left to the entire Legislature.

Lynch cited the recession—lower tax revenues and increased demand for services—and the Supreme Court ruling that JUA funds are off-limits as part of the problem. He did not question how realistic the monetary projections had been on which the budget was founded.]]></description>
		<link>http://frontdoorpolitics.com/budget-breakdown/</link>
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		<title>The Pendulum of Justice</title>
		<description><![CDATA[A new approach to parole is making headway in the N.H. Legislature. 

If Senate Bill 500 passes, supporters say, less jail time and more community supervision could save the state money and help reduce recidivism at the same time. The Parole Board, however, fears for public safety if their authority is usurped.

The bill has passed the Senate and is expected to get a vote in the House sometime this month.]]></description>
		<link>http://frontdoorpolitics.com/the-pendulum-of-justice/</link>
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		<title>Shaping Groundwater Permits</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Determining who’s in charge of permitting large groundwater withdrawals in New Hampshire may get a lot clearer with Senate Bill 411, sponsored by Sen. Jacalyn Cilley (D-Barrington). Senate Bill 411 maintains current law—that DES is the sole permitting entity—while also stressing that applicants still must comply with local zoning and site plan regulations.

In other words, says Rep. Judith Spang (D-Durham), chair of a special groundwater study commission, “The fact that they may have a permit does not guarantee them the ability to do the withdrawal if it doesn’t meet local ordinances.” The House Resources, Recreation and Development Committee takes up the bill with a public hearing on April 6.

A tug-of-war about who has final say has mired the groundwater permit process for several years, since the USA Springs bottled water controversy erupted in Nottingham. ]]></description>
		<link>http://frontdoorpolitics.com/shaping-groundwater-permits/</link>
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		<title>Re-Figuring Child Support</title>
		<description><![CDATA[In his 14 years as a New Hampshire legislator, Rep. David Bickford (R-New Durham) has seen efforts to re-calculate child support come and go. Many—about a dozen each year—make their way through the House or the Senate, but few succeed.

“We’re just Johnny-come-lately to make a change,” Bickford says. “We hire people, they work like dogs and come out with good reports, and the legislators say, ‘It’s over my head. We’ll study it and then get back to it maybe,’ and then we don’t. ... I’ve just never seen anything move so slow.”

Bickford sponsored six of the 11 bills relating to child support this year, including House Bill 1474, which passed the House March 17. It would create a commission to move child support guidelines toward an “income shares” model. Other bills that have passed the House would tweak the support formula for multiple children and for shared custody.]]></description>
		<link>http://frontdoorpolitics.com/re-figuring-child-support/</link>
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		<title>A Deadline for Decision-Making</title>
		<description><![CDATA[March 25 this year marks Crossover, the deadline for the N.H. House and Senate to vote on all bills that originated in those respective chambers.

Bills must pass the chamber in which they’re introduced before “crossing over” to the opposite chamber. Legislation that’s still alive after Crossover receives a second public hearing and potential floor debate before the second deadline in mid-May.

And some notable legislation is either still up for its first vote, or on its way to the other side.]]></description>
		<link>http://frontdoorpolitics.com/a-deadline-for-decision-making-2/</link>
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