The House defeat of a $1.5 million drug enforcement bill last week shocked almost everyone at the State House, including Democratic Gov. Maggie Hassan and top Republican leaders.
There were warning signs the legislation could fail, but those were largely ignored.
And now senators and representatives will come back June 16 to try and revive the law enforcement funding, which in itself is a costly endeavor.
The state pays mileage for lawmakers to drive to Concord. The average cost for a single House session day this year – when all representatives come to the State House and vote – was $13,428.
To get the best bang for the state’s buck, lawmakers will also vote whether to override some of Hassan’s vetoes.
That usually happens in September on so-called veto day, but House leaders are hopeful the June session day will negate the need for a return in the fall.
“Our intent is to make it very efficient,” said House Chief of Staff Terry Pfaff.
In the meantime, Hassan and lawmakers are casting political blame in all directions for the drug enforcement bill’s demise.
In reality, a lot of factors were at play.
A special substance abuse task force recommended back in December that the proposal – based off the Manchester Police operation “Granite Hammer” – get “early consideration” in the Legislature, meaning it should be taken up within the first two months.
But the police funding bill didn’t come up for a final vote until last week, six months after the session picked up in January.
It failed by one vote in the House when a strange coalition of lawmakers joined together to defeat it.
Some Republican and Libertarian-minded representatives didn’t like the bill because they said law enforcement’s “war on drugs” has not worked, and arrests don’t solve the problem.
The police funding was tacked onto a plan to fund state retiree health care, which would have allowed the state to impose new premium contributions on those over age 65. Some House Democrats opposed that proposal, saying it would shift new costs to elderly retirees on fixed incomes.
On top of that, a number of members weren’t in Representatives Hall for the vote and missed it altogether.
While a roll call vote was not taken – making it impossible to see how members voted – enough representatives from both parities opposed the package to sink it.
“It was an unholy alliance, if you will, that came together and defeated it. We had no warning of it,” said Speaker Shawn Jasper, a Hudson Republican. “You put enough in a bill and people hate it all around. That’s what happened (Wednesday).”
Had the police funding and the retiree health plan been divided into two bills, each would have likely passed.
There were signs the package could fail. Concerns about the bill’s retiree portion came up last week during a committee of conference.
Democratic Rep. Cindy Rosenwald wouldn’t sign off on the committee report and was replaced by a House Republican who would.
“We said there’s good and bad in this bill,” said Rosenwald, who added Democratic House leaders urged their colleagues to vote their conscience on the measure. “We as a caucus had concerns about the state retiree piece.”
Lawmakers will only consider the law enforcement funding June 16, to try and ensure its passage. Hassan has applauded the decision to put forward a “clean bill.”
Retire that bill
As both parties scramble to resurrect the drug enforcement bill the House killed last week, they are leaving another proposal for dead – state retiree health care funding.
The retiree health benefit plan faced a $10.6 million shortfall last summer. While lawmakers have mostly patched it with co-pay hikes on state retirees and money pulled from the plan surplus, a projected $550,000 gap remains.
It’s not clear where lawmakers will find those funds. Even when they do, a larger problem remains.
The health benefit plan faces a projected $30 million deficit in the next two-year budget cycle, according to the Department of Administrative Services. Many agree the state retiree health plan needs a permanent funding fix to avoid bigger shortfalls in the future.
The state Department of Administrative Services has already hired a consultant to craft details of a long-term funding fix. The bill included $300,000 to pay for it, but now that it failed, the department has put the retiree health care study on hold.
“We put a temporary hold on the study until we can really regroup with everybody and figure out a way to make this happen,” said DAS Commissioner Vicki Quiram.
The state has 12,000 retirees, with potentially many more to come. There are currently 10,000 active state employees, and more than 30 percent of them are eligible for retirement.
“We have had an incredible amount of support,” Quiram said. “So we feel confident the governor and Legislature will support us in finding a solution and moving ahead.”
It just looks like that fix won’t be coming June 16.
File away
It looks like the State House is Rich Ashooh country. The 1st District congressional candidate announced a legislative leadership team last week that includes three top Republican House leaders.
And his campaign release came out just hours after Republican incumbent Frank Guinta, whom Ashooh is challenging in the primary, filed for re-election at the State House using a proxy. Guinta didn’t show up at the filing to take media questions or rally supporters, unlike other candidates who have put in paperwork this week.
Campaign spokesman Jay Ruais said Guinta wanted to be the first candidate to file when the 10-day state filing period opened Wednesday, but the Republican had a conflict at the early slot. He was speaking at the NH Aerospace and Defense Conference and had an interview immediately after.
So to be first to file, the campaign sent an aide to put in Guinta’s papers.
Guinta hasn’t been so popular at the State House over the last year. New Hampshire House Speaker Shawn Jasper and Senate President Chuck Morse both called on Guinta to resign after the Federal Election Commission found the Manchester Republican had violated election laws.
No more neutral
House Minority Leader Steve Shurtleff won’t say who he voted for in the presidential primary, but last week he threw his support behind Hillary Clinton at a press conference in Concord. The Penacook Democrat is calling for is party to come together behind the former secretary of state to focus on defeating Republican Donald Trump. Shurtleff remained neutral throughout the presidential primary.
“We had two great candidates,” he said. “I think it’s time we all came together for the common good.”
Pencil it in
Thursdays are poised to be busy at the State House next year. The House is proposing to meet for session on that day, instead of the usual Wednesday. The Senate already meets on Thursdays, meaning next year all 424 state lawmakers could descend on Concord that day of the week. Consider this your warning.
(Allie Morris can be reached at 369-3307, amorris@cmonitor.com or on Twitter @amorrisNH.)