How do you annul a criminal record in the digital age? A House proposal to update the state’s criminal record annulment law attempts to provide a 21st century answer to a pre-digital age New Hampshire statute.
House Bill 82 will have its first Senate hearing later today.
There’s been a lot of debate about liberty this legislative session. But one never knows how the ideal will emerge — or in what legislation.
Case in point: A proposed law about residential fire sprinklers provides an intriguing confluence between personal liberty, public safety and local control. When the N.H. House votes later today on Senate Bill 91, it will offer one perspective on the cost of liberty.
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.
In our latest installment of They Said It, we hear people talking this week about the budget, the budget, and the budget. And right-to-work. And politics, of course.
Did we miss something? Submit your nominations for the next They Said It to NH@FrontDoorPolitics.com.
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.
A new proposal has emerged to settle much (but far from all) of the legal and political controversy over New Hampshire’s unique medical malpractice insurance fund. Primarily, it would settle the matter of who has a right to the extra money in the fund.
Senate Bill 170 first forbids the state from claiming any surplus funds from the Joint Underwriting Association — either through legislation or taxation. It also orders that any “excess surplus” funds be distributed to policyholders. That excess measures at least $110 million, according to the bill. And that $110 million is at the core of the two-year controversy.
A House committee will hold a public hearing on SB 170 Tuesday.
Want to know who voted for what in the N.H. House and Senate?
The Front Door Politics 2011 Bill Tracker now includes links to all roll call votes, as well as links to the text of every bill we’ve covered so far this session.
Tensions are running high in Concord this session, as the following references to demons, jalapeno peppers, and a hostile press in this week’s “They Said It!” reflect.
What do you think: Are there demons in the State House? Should New Hampshire return any federal money for health care reform? Can we all get along?
Before medical malpractice lawsuits go to court in New Hampshire, they get screened. The idea is to weed out frivolous claims and save judicial resources for legitimate cases.
These medical screening panels were established in the Granite State in 2005, based on a similar Maine law. They finally got rolling in 2007 after a challenge to the program’s constitutionality was defeated in court. They’re made up of a judge, a lawyer, and a clinician.
The question is: Are the screening panels working?
