West Lebanon
Depending on who you ask, the past season was either a success for education, business and personal freedoms or a disaster in the making.
Republicans, who control the governor’s office, House and Senate, are celebrating their achievements, including passage of school choice legislation, loosening of gun control laws and enactment of a two-year budget that cuts business taxes.
Meanwhile, Democrats say they’ve been left out of decisionmaking in Concord, and some worry that Republican-led efforts could put the state on shaky financial ground in the event of another recession.
For first-term state Sen. Ruth Ward, R-Stoddard, legislative success can be measured by comparing bills passed to what she promised in campaign literature.
“I said I would advocate for school choice, ‘right to carry’ and ‘right to work,’ ” said Ward, who represents the Upper Valley towns of Grantham, Croydon, Newport, New London, Sunapee and Unity.
Of those initiatives, two made it to the governor’s desk.
Republicans in February voted to do away with requirements that gun owners obtain a concealed carry permit in New Hampshire, abolishing a rule that permitted police chiefs to review applications before approval. What’s often called “constitutional carry” was signed into law by Sununu later that month.
Ward also took pride in an education bill signed on Thursday. Referred to as the “Croydon Bill,” it allows some school districts to use tax dollars to send students to private schools. The bill only applies to districts that don’t have a local public option for middle and high school, including Croydon, and it only allows students to attend nonsectarian schools.
Ward said “a lot of misinformation” contributed toward defeat of a right-to-work bill that was favored by Sununu. The legislation would have prevented unions from collecting collective bargaining dues from non-members.
Some House Republicans joined with Democrats, who argued the bill would weaken unions, to kill it in a 200-177 vote in February. Representatives also voted to ban consideration of the bill for the remainder of the session, meaning it won’t be brought forward again next year.
“Other than that, it was a very interesting experience,” said Ward. “Now that the formal session is finished, I would say I enjoyed every bit of it.”
State Rep. Rick Ladd, R-Haverhill, also said progress was made through passage of several education bills.
“We’re on our way to fully funding kindergarten,” said Ladd, chairman of the House Education Committee. “To me, that’s a very good perspective.”
Last month, a plan to partially fund full-day kindergarten using money from the keno lottery game won bipartisan approval in the Legislature. About 75 percent of the state’s towns already offer a full-day program, but the bill frees up more state funding for those efforts.
“It will help our workforce, help young people with work schedules,” Ladd said. “They won’t have to be home part-time with the children.”
Ladd said the Legislature also approved a bill setting up concurrent enrollment or dual enrollment for high schoolers. The bill, he said, will allow students in the 10th, 11th and 12th grades to receive college credits while working to complete a high school diploma.
Republicans, including Ladd, have also lauded tax cuts in the state budget as a way of putting “more money in the hands of taxpayers” but Democrats warn the loss of revenue could hurt New Hampshire down the line.
“Until a few weeks ago, I thought the House would stand up against those huge tax cuts the Senate jammed in,” said Rep. Susan Almy, D-Lebanon. “Instead, they accepted them and forced other people to accept them.”
Almy said cuts accepted as part of the 2015 budget-writing process made her nervous because the state was essentially cutting its largest source of revenue. With further cuts, Almy and Rep. Sharon Nordgren, D-Hanover, worried needed funds won’t be there during an economic downturn.
“I think the tax cuts that have been put in place are going to decimate our future budgets by millions of dollars,” Nordgren said, adding future administrations and legislators will likely have to deal with the potential fallout.
The budget is set to decrease the business profits tax from 8.5 percent to 7.9 percent in 2019, according to New Hampshire Business Review. The business enterprise tax will also see a cut that year from 0.75 percent to 0.675 percent, under the budget.
In 2019, the profits tax will drop to 7.7 percent, followed by a decrease to 7.5 percent in 2021, NHBR reported. Incremental cuts to the enterprise tax are also planned for the same time period, ending at 0.5 percent in 2021.
Ultimately, the state Department of Revenue Administration predicts cuts to both will result in a $106 million drop in revenue.
The budget, which passed in the House by a 198-169 vote, also adds work requirements to the state’s Medicaid expansion, creates a $10 million school scholarship program and prevents taxpayer dollars from funding abortions, a rule already in place federally. Republicans say it also attempts to address mental health issues and addiction, citing that almost half of expenditures goes to health and human services, according to the Concord Monitor.
But Democrats argue those services don’t go far enough.
“We’ve not done enough for the developmentally disabled,” Nordgren said.
She said the current wait list for developmental services won’t be funded at an adequate level under the budget. In April, there were 233 people awaiting services, and she said that number could likely top 300 without better funding.
“There really was no shortage of needs,” said Sen. Bob Giuda, R-Warren, who serves on the Senate Finance Committee and kept a cot and sleeping bag in his office during budget negotiations.
Giuda said no one party got everything they wanted out of the budget but it does adequately help people impacted by the opioid crisis or facing mental health problems. He also challenged Democrats’ assessments that the budget doesn’t draw in enough revenue, saying his committee’s “estimates were conservative.”
“People elected Republicans and Republicans knew that we had to deliver on legislation in terms of topically and in terms of fiscally” and the budget did that, said Giuda, who represents the Upper Valley towns of Haverhill, Piermont, Orford, Dorchester and Orange.
State Sen. Martha Hennessey, the first-term Hanover Democrat who represents the heart of the Upper Valley, could not be reached for comment last week.
Being left out of major decisions was a blow to Democrats, who have traditionally counted on a Democratic governor to veto unfavorable legislation.
“Well, it was different than any other session. In previous sessions there was much more of a balance of power,” said Rep. Raymond Gagnon, D-Claremont.
“This was a session where Republicans have control of everything and Democrats … we don’t count. We’re invisible,” he said.
Both Gagnon and Nordgren said their party was able to achieve a victory by defeating right-to-work legislation, and were able to make some bipartisan progress in House committees.
Nordgren was also pleased to see the Legislature pass a marijuana decriminalization bill this year. The effort was supported by the governor and reduces the penalties for those found possessing up to three-quarters of an ounce of marijuana.
Under the bill, possession up to that amount will result in a $100 fine for the first three violation level offenses. Any further offenses would then be treated as a misdemeanor.
“I am very pleased with this year,” said Rep. Skip Rollins, R-Newport.
Rollins said he was partially pleased with efforts to ease the opioid crisis. He said legislators agreed to allocate more funding toward treatment and five new state troopers for cross-border operations.
“We’re putting a lot of money into this. I think it’s a good cause,” he said.
Looking to next year, many Upper Valley legislators said they’ll be watching the state’s Medicaid expansion, which is set to expire in 2018.
Rollins said he’ll be watching costs with the hope that taxpayers won’t be expected to contribute more funds toward the program. Meanwhile, Nordgren said she hopes to bolster the expansion, which provides services to roughly 50,000 Granite Staters.
“If that were to go away or be cut back, it would certainly have an impact on our emergency rooms and our hospitals’ ability to care for people without insurance,” she said.
Tim Camerato can be reached at tcamerato@vnews.com or 603-727-3223.