Preparing for the 2019 New Hampshire legislative session

By CHARLENE LOVETT
On Nov. 26 the Claremont City Council met with state House Reps. John Cloutier, Gary Merchant, and Walt Stapleton to discuss previous actions that the Legislature took on a number of issues impacting the city, and legislative requests for the 2019 session. As a member of the city council, Rep. Andrew O’Hearne was also present. State Sen. Martha Hennessey was not able to attend due to a prior engagement. The one-hour meeting focused on the following:

SB193 (Freedom Savings Accounts) —In April 2017, after consensus from both the council and school board, I wrote a letter in opposition to the House Education Committee. As a community, Claremont supports school choice and is home to a number of private schools. However, identifying the proper funding mechanism for supporting school choice without negatively impacting public schools and taxpayers is the challenge. The complexity of this issue was recognized by the House, which voted to conduct an interim study. The interim study report recommended a bill for future legislation. It is anticipated that such a bill will be considered in the 2019 legislative session, and the council asked the representatives to closely follow the bill.

HB413 (New Hampshire Retirement System/NHRS) — In February 2018 I forwarded a letter, signed by members of both the city and school district, to the House of Representatives requesting that they reconsider their Jan. 9 vote of inexpedient to legislate (ITL), otherwise known as killing the bill. The bill re-established a state contribution to the NHRS, providing much relief to the taxpayers at the local level. The January vote took place one day before the Decennial Retirement Commission’s Report was issued, which recommended the re-establishment of a state subsidy. The February vote to reconsider the bill failed by one vote. It is anticipated that this issue will resurface in the 2019 legislative session and the council asked that our legislators support the re-instatement of a state subsidy to the NHRS.

HB525 (Stabilization Grants) — In January 2017 both I and the previous school superintendent testified on behalf of the city and school board in support of this bill which would stop the 4-percent annual reduction in state stabilization grants. Earlier this year, the legislature voted the bill ITL. A growing number of communities across the state have testified that local taxpayers cannot continue to absorb the loss of state funding caused by the legislature’s actions. It is anticipated that a number of bills on this topic will be introduced in the upcoming session. The council relayed the need for our legislators to support those bills that recognize the state’s legal obligation to properly fund public education.

HB1706 (Lake Sunapee Public Boat Launch) — Though the council has repeatedly issued resolutions in support of the development of the Wild Goose Site as a deep-water public boat launch on Lake Sunapee and many members of the community have testified in favor of this, the legislature voted the bill ITL in deference to the Public Boat Access Development Commission’s work on the issue. The governor-appointed commission’s report recommended that the Wild Goose Site be transferred to the state’s Division of Parks and Recreation and that another more suitable site be purchased. The issue is now being addressed by the Council on Resource and Development. It is anticipated that several bills will be introduced this session to expand deep water boat access at the Lake Sunapee State Beach. The council asked the representatives to consider the impact that the passage of such bills might have to the state beach.

Legislative Service Request (LSR) — Given the deadline for House representatives to submit LSRs was Dec. 3, the council asked Rep. Cloutier to submit an LSR to amend RSA 673:7. Currently, city planning board members are prohibited, with a few exceptions, from serving on other committees, boards or commissions. This limitation does not exist for towns even though the population of many towns exceeds those of cities. Amending this RSA would remove the existing limitation, making the criteria the same for both towns and cities. 

Once the 2019 legislative session begins in January, hundreds of bills will be introduced to the legislature. Continued discussions between the governing bodies and our legislators will better enable us to collectively advocate for the people of Claremont. 

 

Charlene Lovett is the mayor of Claremont and welcomes your feedback.  Please email questions, comments or concerns to her at [email protected]