Video & Transcript Research : '11:00am HB 360 1:00pm HB 1109 2:15pm Resume HB 360'

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NH
Transcript Highlights:
  • And so the monies that have been appropriated, there's also a budget note in HB 2, a 504 budget note,
  • >> My next one's 11, 2 p.m., 1 at 2:30 p.m. >> How long of a recess were you did you have in mind?
  • My next one's 11 11 two at 2 p.m. next?
  • My next one's 11 11 two at 2 p.m. 1<01:55:38.639> at<01:55:38.800> 2:30<01:55:39.360>
  • 1 at 2:30 p.m. 1 at 2:30 p.m.
Summary: The meeting began with unanimous committee approval of amendment 2026-2021S to HB 2. Senator Lang explained the amendment corrected a drafting error so that $2.5 million in state funds, matched with federal money for a total of $5 million, could be spent during the biennium rather than lapse at the end of the fiscal year. The money is intended to stabilize Medicaid per diem rates for county nursing homes, and members agreed without objection to adopt the amendment and continue working from the bill as amended by the Senate. The committee then discussed HB 155 and a proposed amendment, 2026-201H, dealing with the business enterprise tax. The House side described the proposal as a compromise that would raise the filing threshold from $250,000 to $375,000 and create a trigger that would reduce the BET rate by 0.05% for each $100 million in combined business tax surplus, down to a floor of 0.25%. Senate members opposed lowering the rate at this time, arguing that tax relief should focus on the filing threshold, which they said would remove filing burdens for about 3,500 small businesses, and that rate cuts should be considered in a budget cycle rather than an off-year. Concerns were raised that one-time revenues, such as tax amnesty receipts or federal repatriation-related surpluses, could unintentionally trigger reductions. Representative Sweeney later offered a revised approach by moving the effective date of the trigger mechanism to January 1, 2028, and said he was also willing to carve out tax amnesty revenues or adjust the effective date to avoid using one-time funds. The Senate remained unwilling to agree to a rate reduction, though it expressed openness to raising the filing threshold further. The committee ultimately did not resolve the business tax issue and recessed to continue discussions at a later time. The final item discussed was HB 1102, concerning an increase in the research and development tax credit paired with changes to state park fees. House members supported the R&D credit increase but opposed tying it to higher park fees, citing concerns about tourism, especially at border parks, and noting that the Department of Natural and Cultural Resources had said it did not need the increase. Senate members defended the park fee changes as a fairness issue, arguing that New Hampshire residents should pay less than out-of-state visitors and that the department had not raised rates in many years. No vote was taken on this item during the discussion captured here.
NH
Transcript Highlights:
  • But um I<00:11:43.600> I<00:11:44.480> um<00:11:45.360> I<00:11:45.600> just<
  • :11:26.400> of<02:11:27.599> uh<02:11:27.760> from<02:11:28.000> the<02:11
  • the point of the new amended uh uh the point of the new amended uh paragraph<02:11:56.560> 2<02
  • :11:57.599> say<02:11:57.840> they paragraph 2 is just simply to say they paragraph 2 is
  • All right, it's 2:30. I'm going to open the committee of conference on HB 1499.
Summary: The conference committee first met on HB 1260, a bill requested by municipal clerks to allow certain divorce-related records to be kept confidential. House members argued the Senate amendment would reverse the presumption of openness established in the Keene Sentinel case and raise constitutional issues under the state constitution’s privacy and open-government provisions. Senate members responded that the 2018 privacy amendment, the limited scope of the proposal, and modern internet risks justified the change, but the House maintained the issue needed a full hearing in a separate bill. The committee ultimately voted unanimously for the Senate to recede and adopt the House version, preserving the underlying bill without the Senate amendment, and both sides said they would revisit the topic in a future session. The committee then took up HB 1574, which extends free and reduced-price breakfast and lunch programs and provides funding for SNAP administrative costs. The main dispute was the Senate’s addition of $4.4 million for SNAP administration, which DHHS said was needed because federal law would shift more administrative costs to the state and could increase the state’s SNAP error rate, potentially triggering much larger future penalties. DHHS officials reported the current error rate was 7.57% for federal fiscal year 2024, below the national average, and estimated that if the rate rose above 8%, the state could owe about 10% of SNAP benefits, or roughly $12 million for a partial year and nearly $16 million for a full year. Some House members supported the added funding as a preventive measure, while others objected that the underlying bill was modest and the amendment resembled a previously rejected proposal. The discussion ended with the committee moving toward the House position and the bill’s future depending on the chamber’s vote on the Senate amendment.
NH
Transcript Highlights:
  • Well, I'm on the House Bill 1 and 2 committee of conference, so I shoehorned you in here.
  • Well, I'm on the House Bill 1 and 2 committee of conference, so I shoehorned you in here.
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  • /c><00:11:13.440> mailing<00:11:13.760> that<00:11:13.920> was<00:11:14.000>
  • was supposed to go<00:11:14.399> out<00:11:14.480> ahead<00:11:14.800> of<00:11
Summary: The committee of conference first took up House Bill 421FN, concerning notice of tax-exempt status filing procedures by town officials. Members reviewed the Senate changes and focused on whether the amended language would require multiple mailings to charitable organizations. House conferees said the Senate wording appeared to create more than one mailing and asked for clarification; Senate members explained the intent was to reduce clerk workload by posting forms and sending a follow-up notice only to organizations that failed to file after the deadline. After a brief caucus, the House concluded there were too many unresolved changes to work out in conference and moved to non-concur with the Senate amendment. The House motion to non-concur passed unanimously, 4-0, and the committee agreed to place the conference report on the House consent calendar. The chair then closed the committee of conference on House Bill 421FN. The transcript then shifted to a separate committee of conference on another bill, where members discussed revisions involving direct supervision at an eligible facility, federalwide assurance requirements, and immunity language. Testimony focused on whether the bill should require supervision at a specific facility or allow broader supervision arrangements, whether rulemaking should define direct supervision, and whether the immunity provision should cover reckless as well as willful misconduct. No final vote or action on that second bill was reached in the portion provided.