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Well, the House Republican leadership held a press conference in Concord yesterday to congratulate themselves on the great job they are doing. Never mind the fact that they've been criticized from the get-go by the editorial pages of the Union Leader, the Nashua Telegraph, and the Concord Monitor. Being referred to as an asylum can't be a good thing.
The House is priding itself on its fiscal conservatism, but many of the bills that are going through (or are they? Are they being retained? recommitted?)will cost the state millions of dollars. Just where that money is supposed to come from is a question we should all be asking, especially since services for the elderly, disabled, young children, the mentally ill are being eviscerated.
But we do have money to end our participation in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, which will not lower anybody's electric bill, but would cost the state $12 million in revenue.
The new parental notification bill will cost the state $200,000 a year in judicial by-pass hearings according to NHCLU executive director Clare Ebel. That doesn't count the cost to the state of defending the bill in court when the inevitable lawsuit comes. The last one cost the state $300k in a payout to Planned Parenthood, not counting the hours the AG's office spent defending it all the way to the US Supreme Court.
The bill to demand food stamp recipients be urine tested will cost between $3,526,380 and $7,411,140 annually according to the fiscal note on the bill. The fiscal note also says "catching" people will not save the state one penny because food stamps are a federally funded program.
Then we have to bill to force Attorney General Michael Delaney to join a lawsuit against the Affordable Care Act. That will also wind up in court if it passes, as will the case against Manchester Democratic State Rep Michael Brunelle.
HB176, the bill to disenfranchise student voters will also wind up in court if it passes, as will many, many more.
HB590 is a study bill, however, it would say the NH House declares federal grants to be unconstitutional and a committee would be set up to study this and make further recommendations. I suppose it doesn't occur to the new majority that NH taxpayers are also US taxpayers and are due some benefits from that.
The irony is that while Speaker O'Brien is saying we have to cut $50 million immediately from the budget, all these expenditures are okay with him. As long as no public money goes to the health, education or welfare of citizens, no amount is too much for the new majority.
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