Concord update: NH House passes bi-partisan $15.9 billion budget
It’s been a busy month in Concord.
On Thursday, April 6, the N.H. House of Representatives passed a bipartisan budget that provides a much-needed pay raise to state employees, turns back the clock on previous cuts to retirement benefits for firefighters and police officers, increases the funding for our social services and makes meaningful investments in affordable housing, public education, and healthcare. It also removes language to expand eligibility and funding for so-called education freedom accounts as well as $1.4 million for unnecessary increases in “border protection” along our 58-mile-long border with Canada.
There is much to feel good about in this budget, but as with any compromise, there are items that I would have liked to see included that did not make it into the final agreement. They include:
Eliminating the accelerated repeal of the Interest and Dividends (I&D) Tax. The I&D Tax is a 4 percent tax on interest income and dividends. Tax filers with over $200,000 in interest income and dividends - who represent only 2.5% of all tax filers - currently pay more than 50% of the total taxes collected. In 2021 Governor Sununu signed into law a phase-out of the I&D Tax by 1% per year by 2027 starting in 2023. In this year’s budget, Republicans in the Finance Committee included accelerating this phase-out and eliminating the I&D Tax entirely by 2025. Doing so will benefit N.H.’s wealthiest and highest-income households the most while eliminating an important source of funding for much-needed programs in our state. Unfortunately, the amendment to the budget bill to remove this acceleration introduced by Democrats was defeated 199 no (voting no were Hampton state Rep. Tracy Emerick and Jason Janvrin) to 190 yes (voting yes were Hampton state Reps. Mike Edgar, Chris Muns and Candice O’Neil).
Restoring revenues to the Education Trust Fund (ETF). The state of New Hampshire pays out just over a billion dollars a year for the state’s share of public school funding. Revenues for that purpose are deposited in the ETF. In this year’s budget, Republicans in the Finance Committee included removing catastrophic special education aid, school building aid, tuition and transportation funding, and career and technical education renovation project funding as eligible expenses that could be paid from the ETF going forward. This puts funding for these programs at risk going forward. Unfortunately, an amendment to the budget bill to reverse this change and continue to fund these programs out of the ETF was defeated 197 no (Emerick, Janvrin) to 191 yes (Edgar, Muns, O’Neil). Worth noting, is that Republicans on the Finance Committee had no problem including funding for so-called education freedom accounts as an eligible expense to be paid out of the ETF.
Reallocating $6 million set aside to renovate the Whitemore Center on the UNH campus in Durham to instead fund a reduction of between $230 and $310 per year in in-state student tuition at UNH, Keene State and Plymouth State. The amendment I introduced was defeated 259 No (Edgar, Emerick, Janvrin) to 128 Yes (Muns, O’Neil).
Other spending-related bills
I introduced the amendment to reallocate funds for the Whitemore Center renovation not because I am anti-college sports or anti-UNH and not because I disagree that some upgrades may be worthwhile. I did so because I believe that until we address the many other more pressing priorities in our state, we should not invest in what I will refer to as “nice to have” projects. We need to do more to reduce the cost of childcare and housing, address our long-term energy needs, shore up our dangerously at-risk social services system, and rebuild our aging infrastructure. For those reasons there are several other bills I opposed as well:
CACR4 was a N.H. Constitutional Amendment to raise the pay of state legislators to $5,000 per year. While I do agree that we need to do something to enable a more diverse cross-section of Granite Staters to serve in the Legislature, now is not the time to spend over $2 million per year to do that. Defeated 239 no (Emerick, Janvrin, Muns) to 145 yes (Edgar, O’Neil).
HB 384 appropriates $25 million to construct a new parking garage for legislators. The garage legislators currently use is old and will certainly need to be replaced soon. But if we instead, invested that $25 million in housing options here in New Hampshire for the individuals with developmental disabilities who have been sent to Florida, that would not only significantly improve their quality of living but would also save the state of New Hampshire hundreds of thousands of dollars per year. Passed in a voice vote. I voted against this bill.
SB 122 is the bill to construct a pier at Hampton Beach. After hearing testimony on the bill, the Senate Finance Committee amended the bill to reduce the appropriation from $22 million to “only” $2 million for engineering services, siting, permitting and final design for a proposed pier. As I have said in the past, if the state of New Hampshire would like to make a significant investment in Hampton, that money should be used to address some of our more pressing priorities, such as flooding in the Hampton Harbor area. Passed in a voice vote by the Senate and then tabled, which means that when the Senate begins to consider the budget passed by the House, that money will be included in the Senate’s version of the bill.
Reproductive rights
In 2021, Governor Sununu signed into law a ban on all procedures to terminate a pregnancy after 24 weeks except in the case of fatal, fetal anomalies. That ban, however, includes no exceptions for rape and incest. Furthermore, it states that any medical provider who violates the law may be subject to a Class B felony, punishable by seven years in prison. This past month, the House had mixed results in overturning these provisions:
HB 271 would have repealed the restrictions on access to abortions after 24 weeks of pregnancy in cases of rape and incest. Tied 192 no (Emerick, Janvrin) and 192 yes (Edgar, Muns, O’Neil). After the tie vote, the House decided to table this bill, which means it can be voted on again in the future.
HB 224 would have repealed the criminal and civil penalties for medical care providers who provide abortions after 24 weeks. Passed205 yes (Edgar, Muns, O’Neil) and 178 no (Emerick, Janvrin).
Despite the failure to pass HB 271, the House did take several actions to ensure that further restrictions on women’s reproductive rights are not enacted. They include:
HB 88 states the state cannot further restrict access to abortion more than the current law. Passed with a vote of 199 in favor to 185 opposed. This was not a roll call, so the votes of individual legislators were not recorded, but I was proud to vote in favor.
HB 346 would have required doctors to provide life-saving care for anyone born alive. Defeated in a voice vote. I was one of the state representatives who voted against this bill.
HB 562 would have required a woman to give informed consent prior to an abortion. Defeated in a voice vote. I was one of the state representatives who voted against this bill.
HB 591 would have prohibited termination of a pregnancy after a fetal heartbeat can be heard (at about 6 weeks). Defeated 271 no (Edgar, Muns, O’Neil) to 110 yes (Emerick, Janvrin)
And although a majority of state representatives voted in favor of CACR 2, which is a N.H. Constitutional Amendment that would guarantee the unrestricted right to abortion in the Granite State, it did not receive the three-fifths majority needed for a constitutional amendment and was defeated 193 yes (Edgar, Muns, O’Neil) to 191 no (Emerick, Janvrin).
Other bills
The House also acted on several other bills including:
HB 74 would require an employer to pay an employee for unused earned time. Surprisingly, this is not now the law in New Hampshire. Passed 205 yes (Edgar, Muns, O’Neil) and 181 no (Emerick, Janvrin).
HB 430 would require that any child applying for funding under the so-called education freedom account (EFA) program must have attended at least 1 year of public school. This was introduced in response to the fact that over 80% of the students currently receiving EFA funds were never enrolled in a public school. Defeated 194 no (Emerick, Janvrin) to 192 yes (Edgar, Muns, O’Neil).
HB 626 would require the Department of Education to directly administer the EFA program. As enacted by the Legislature and signed into law by Governor Sununu, the program is currently administered by an independent third party that is paid an administrative fee of 10%. Defeated 195 no (Emerick, Janvrin) to 194 yes (Edgar, Muns, O’Neil).
HB 639 would legalize and regulate cannabis. Passed 272 yes (Emerick, Janvrin, Muns, O’Neil) and 109 no (Edgar).
HB 10 would have established the so-called parental bill of rights. While everyone agrees that schools must work in partnership with parents and legal guardians, this bill would have pitted parents and schools against each other. It also contained specific provisions calling out and placing LGBTQ+ students at risk. Defeated 195 no (Edgar, Muns, O’Neil) to 189 yes (Emerick, Janvrin).
A mistake and an apology
On March 22, I voted in favor of HB 442, which established a scuba diver recreational lobster license. Listening to the debate on the floor of the House, I convinced myself that a vote in favor of this bill was the environmentally responsible thing to do and that it would do no harm to the lobster fishing industry. The bill passed 276 yes (Muns, O’Neil) and 100 no (Edgar, Emerick, Janvrin).
After the vote, a Marine biologist and several New Hampshire lobstermen from Hampton and the surrounding area reached out to me. After listening to them I realized that what the bill proposes is not environmentally responsible and potentially does significant harm to our N.H. lobster fishermen.
After the House passed HB 442, it was referred to the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.
On April 4, on appeared before that committee acknowledging my mistake and urging them to vote against moving the bill forward. It is the least that I could do to correct my earlier oversight.
Office hours
I learned about the impact of the scuba lobster fishing bill from one of our local lobstermen who stopped by to “re-educate” me during the last office hours I held in March. If you have any questions or would just like to spend a few minutes chatting, I will next be having open “office hours” on Saturday, April 15, between noon and 2 p.m. at the Lane Memorial Library in Hampton. In the meantime, please do not hesitate to contact me at chris.muns@leg.state.nh.us.
Thank you and I hope to see you on April 15.
Chris Muns is one of Hampton’s five N.H. state representatives. He currently serving his second term, having previously served between 2012 and 2014.
This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Concord update: NH House passes bi-partisan $15.9 billion budget
