This week at the State House
The House is set to meet Wednesday and Thursday. The Senate must meet this week to vote on the budget (more on that below). Thursday is the deadline for the House to act on Senate bills and vice versa, so expect a final flurry of activity. After that, the Legislature has another week to form committees of conference and two weeks after that to act on committee of conference reports.
Committees of conference are an opportunity for lawmakers to hash out differences between bills if, for example, the House amended a Senate bill or vice versa. The Senate and House can avoid a committee of conference by simply agreeing with those changes but lawmakers can also decide to skip the process and let a bill die. We’ll see all of that unfold in the coming weeks.
You can find the complete House and Senate calendars below:
- House calendar for the week of June 3
- Senate calendar for the week of June 3 was not available as of Friday afternoon
STATE BUDGET
Senate Committee approves HB 1, HB 2
Full Senate must vote on the budget bills by Thursday
On Friday morning, the Senate Finance Committee approved the budget bills (HB 1 and HB 2), sending both along for a full Senate vote this week. If the Senate approves the budget as expected, the bills would go to a committee of conference.
As with any piece of legislation, the governor could veto the budget bills, but it’s unclear what will happen at this point. Without the budget in place, funding for a wide array of priorities would be held up. It’s likely we’ll ask members to take action on the budget in the coming weeks, so please stay tuned.
WHAT ELSE TO WATCH FOR
Updates on other bills we’re following
In addition to the bill listed above, here are progress reports on a few other key issues:
Pension COLA: We’re waiting for our state pension COLA bill, HB 616, to be sent on to the governor for signature. The governor has said he will sign the bill.
Child protection: We’re waiting for our child protection bill, SB 6, to be sent on to the governor for signature. The governor has said he will sign the bill.
Minimum wage: Last week, the Senate voted to send the House minimum wage bill, HB 186, back to committee. Meanwhile, the House is set to vote this week on the Senate’s minimum wage bill, SB 10.
Clinicians bill: Our bill to establish a commission to study the business environment for mental health providers in New Hampshire, SB 115, received a strong committee vote in the House and is on the House calendar for this week.