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At 5:11 PM today, Tuesday, an addendum to the House Calendar which includes tomorrow's session was emailed to Representatives. The fact of an addendum is not unusual. It happens regularly for proposed floor amendments or corrections to the calendar. The Calendar itself is published the Thursday afternoon of the week before the session.
This addendum is different in that it adds two entirely new bills to the Calendar less than 24 hours before the session is to begin. And they are not just "housekeeping" bills.
SB 78 removes the $30 surcharge on motor vehicle licenses which supports the Highway Fund. The amendment, first noised about only last week, defunds the Highway Fund even more by reducing the gas tax by 5 cents a gallon until June 30. I'm not clear on whether this amendment was ever the subject of a public hearing. The bill is being touted as a great boon to those suffering from high gas prices, but here is my calculation: My round trip to Concord is 132 miles, times four days a week is 528 miles, plus the grocery shopping and errands, so say 550 miles a week. Thats a lot of driving. At 24 mpg, that's about 21 gallons of gas a week. Assuming that the full 5 cent reduction is actually passed on to the consumer, I'm going to save a whopping $1.05 a week. I'm sure glad we are going to rush that one right through the House without adequate notice to anyone.
The other bill, SB 147, moves the medicaid program away from fee for seervice and towards managed care.
House Rule 44 (b) provides that
All committee reports on bills shall be printed in the House Calendar at least once prior to the date listed for floor action. If a bill is reported favorably with an amendment, the committee report shall describe the bill as amended. The amendment shall be printed in the House Calendar.
So....does an amendment published less than 24 hours before the session begins count? If the purpose is to give adequate notice to the public of what is to be considered, I don't think so. I note that the Right to Know law requires in RSA 91-A:2 II that a minimum of 24 hour notice be given for meetings. Shouldn't the General Court give at least that much notice to our citizens of new material to be added to the House Calendar?
Stay tuned. And don't blink, or they'll slip something by you.
