By PAULA TRACY, InDepthNH.org
CONCORD – Better financial news for the University System of New Hampshire, communities impacted by PFAS contamination and the arts came out of the Senate Finance Committee Thursday compared to House budget actions.
The committee also spent a significant amount of time among its members on priority lists and expects to vote Friday on a number of other big ticket items that might see more money than the House.
They were assured by the Legislative Budget Assistant’s Office that there is adequate money to fund the USNH $85 million appropriation.
In the first of several votes it agreed to fund USNH at $85 million for the biennium, up from the House’s $67 million but not as much as the governor’s budget request for $91.2 million.
This would add $33 million from the House version.
Sen. Tim Lang, R-Sanbornton, opposed the vote.
The committee also is likely looking to fund the arts with $300,000 for the biennium and a new arts tax credit program and create a $55 million fund for public water systems dealing with PFAS contamination in votes taken Thursday which will be repeated tomorrow and next week before a full Senate vote.
ARTS
Senate President Sharon Carson, R-Londonderry, and Lang floated a proposal to create the Granite Patron for the Arts Fund.
The proposal would restore up to $1.7 million for the New Hampshire State Council on the Arts through the Granite Patron of the Arts Tax Credit.
Businesses that donate to the Fund would be eligible for a 50 percent tax credit against their state tax obligations, effectively matching private sector donations with state.
Expected to be part of the Senate budget trailer bill, it would appropriate $150,000 per year to the Arts Council for staff and overhead costs, plus tax credits for the first $700,000 per year donated to the Granite Patron of the Arts Fund.
The Arts Council would be able to accept more than $1 million annually in federal grant funds as well as other private donations. The Senate Finance Committee unanimously passed this fund.
The House voted to eliminate the NH Council on the Arts as part of its budget.
“The Senate Finance Committee agreed that Medicaid, Developmental Disabilities, and Community Mental Health were our top priorities in this budget, but we all wanted to find a way to keep the Arts Council alive,” Sen. Carson said.
“This creative solution leverages scarce state resources with matching private sector donations and federal grants to generate more than $3.7 million for the Arts Council,” Lang added.
PFAS
The New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office has announced settlements in national lawsuits against DuPont, 3M, Tyco Fire Products, and other PFAS manufacturers last year. New Hampshire first sought compensation on behalf of the state’s public water systems in 2019. The State expects to receive at least $55 million in settlement payments over the next several years.
The Senate Finance Committee adopted an amendment directing the Department of Environmental Services to adopt a process to apply for settlement funds and to distribute funds to eligible public water systems with the approval of the Drinking Water and Groundwater Advisory Committee.
DES has identified more than 100 eligible public water systems in 35 New Hampshire communities serving more than 360,000 Granite Staters.
MEDICAID CALL CENTER
A state call center which fields more than 30,000 eligibility questions a year for Medicaid could be funded with $3.8 million following a preliminary vote. It was one of funding priorities identified by Sen. Regina Birdsell, R-Hampstead.
The committee also discussed but did not vote on a number of measures related to Medicaid with one senator questioning why lawmakers would fund Education Freedom Accounts for the most wealthy as part of the budget but take steps to increase premiums impacting the poor and their children.
Sen. Cindy Rosenwald said it is “just a choice that is wrong.”
Sen. Birdsell said she would be putting forth an amendment Friday which will not be based on anyone’s income.
She said equating EFAs with Medicaid “is two different buckets of money.”
Rosenwald disagreed.
She said at a time when Congress is looking at requiring a $35 co-pay for services, she thought that providers would not know if these people are also paying premiums and they would be subject to both.
Sen. James Gray, R-Rochester and chair, noted Congress hasn’t acted yet.
The committee meets Friday at 1:30 p.m. to again take action on recommendations for the state budget and the full Senate is expected to meet to vote on the budget next Thursday.