When is a tax cut bill that passes the House not really a tax cut bill that passed the House?
New Hampshire saw the question asked and answered Wednesday when two tax cut proposals were approved by the full House. In a rare parliamentary move, House Republican leaders then stopped, or “tabled” the bills, preventing them from moving to and being considered by the Senate.
New Hampshire lawmakers will hear that the state is “halfway home” in economic recovery measurements at a briefing set for today at the State House. Economist Dennis Delay says there’s a better sense now of where the economy is going in 2011. That could help lawmakers as they set about creating the next two-year budget for the state.
Unused prescription drugs could soon be donated to some uninsured or underinsured patients in New Hampshire. The Board of Pharmacy is working with three test sites in Hanover, Rochester and Exeter to roll out the Unused Prescription Drug Program created by the Legislature in 2006.
It’s a social cause that could save the state a lot of money, too.
It was a landmark year for New Hampshire government in 2009—not only for the size of its budget deficit ($250 million) and the number of state layoffs it induced (200), but also for legislative action on some controversial social issues, like gay marriage, the death penalty and medical marijuana.
But these scores are far from settled, as evidenced in the new round of bills up for debate in Concord’s 2010 legislative session, which officially kicks off on Wednesday, Jan. 6
In two separate cases, courts last week temporarily froze $119 million critical to the state’s brand new budget. This won’t leave the Granite State to issue IOUs like California has resorted to. But, it could mean a summer session for the Legislature.
And that could mean a second chance for gambling, another go at business and other taxes, or deeper cuts to services.
Fairness was in the eye of the beholder at the State House last Wednesday when the N.H. House and Senate grudgingly voted in the 2010-11 budget. House Bills 1 and 2 contain the state’s General Fund spending and revenue, respectively. Earning few cheers, the legislation has been called everything from a legitimate compromise doing the “least possible harm” to an illegal “dung heap” along the way.
New Hampshire is one step closer to its budget for the next two years, although it still may be a long way off.
Gambling on slot machines instead of two new taxes, the N.H. Senate Finance Committee last week completed its proposed two-year state budget, making significant changes to a House version. The full Senate will vote on the budget Wednesday, June 3, after which a Committee of Conference will be formed between the House and Senate to hammer out compromises and get a final version to Gov. John Lynch. His power to veto the whole package because of parts he doesn’t like is already holding sway.
Scratch tickets, Megabucks, Powerball—check. Texas Hold’em, Lucky 7, Bingo—well, check, but only for charity. Slot machines, baccarat, casino resorts? Jackpot. At least, that’s what some New Hampshire lawmakers are betting on this year with their bills to bring in more money by rolling more gambling into the Granite State.
Budget cuts won out as the focus of Gov. John Lynch’s budget address on Feb. 13, when he unveiled his proposal for how New Hampshire should tax, spend and mostly save in the next two years. But some groups of lawmakers are wagering that budget reductions alone won’t fix the budget, and new money from more gambling is the state’s best bet for a sound fiscal future. While the governor remains clear in his message that he would veto any bills calling for a broad-based sales or income tax, he implied that he just might be willing to bargain on gambling.