By PAULA TRACY, InDepthNH.org
CONCORD – Calling it a “slap in the face” to first responders across the state, House and Senate conferees refused to fully fund the Group II retirement plan in the state budget as part of its committee of conference negotiations Wednesday.
The roughly $27 million a year for the next 10 years has been seen as a necessary fix for retention and recruitment of providers across the state who had been given promises for retirement benefits before the state changed the formula in 2011.
This budget year was seen as the great hope for a fix.
But Senate Republicans, particularly Sen. James Gray, R-Rochester, and Sen. President Sharon Carson, R-Londonderry, expressed concern about the timing and the need for a full review of all pension plans in 2027 and offered $15 million a year.
Whether or not it is a deal breaker for the budget remains to be seen.
The legislature is entering the home stretch on the budget process and its trailer bill HB 1 and HB 2 with tomorrow at 4 p.m. being the deadline. Both chambers will vote on a document next Thursday.
From both Republicans and Democrats, people were not happy about the breakdown in Group II.
House Democratic Leader Alexis Simpson said “the decision that Republicans made behind closed doors on retirement benefits today is a slap in the face to our public safety professionals. After passing retirement reform packages through the House and Senate that finally reverse harmful changes made fourteen years ago, Republicans are suddenly abandoning their promises. It is abhorrent to treat our first responders this way.”
Republican Gov. Kelly Ayotte who will either sign or veto those bills if they reach her desk, said “we have a responsibility to take care of the men and women who have helped make New Hampshire the safest state in the nation. The changes made to the budget today shirk that responsibility and continue the past mistake of not providing police officers, firefighters, and corrections officers the benefits they have earned. We need a budget that serves all of New Hampshire, and this budget falls short of that promise.”
Mike Geha, president of the New Hampshire Police Association said “we are extremely disappointed by the decision made today by the House and Senate Committee of Conference. It is particularly surprising given that both the full House and Senate had previously given overwhelming support to the retirement reform package—only for the committee to now reverse course and override that bipartisan consensus.
“This is not a package that we can support.“
Rep. Ken Weyler, R-Kingston, said, “Because of the large amount of money that goes to a fairly small group there is a big reward. Alot of members in the House resent it especially because alot are members politicking in their self-interest.”
And Deputy Minority Leader Cindy Rosenwald, D-Nashua, who had been on the budget committee of conference, said in a statement “we owe more than just a debt of gratitude to our public safety workers who do so much to keep our communities safe…This compromise position is simply unacceptable, and it is one of the many reasons why I am no longer on the committee of conference and would not have been able to support the budget. Both bodies have already passed a version that helps right a promise we broke. We should keep it that way.”
During debate, the committee of conference discussed revenue from video lottery terminals going to fund the Group II retirement package.
Sen. Carson, asked if there was any “spiking” in the new plan.
State Rep. Dan McGuire, R-Epsom, offered an amendment and Sen. Gray, said instead of just the $30 million for four biennia to modify because after we pass that there will be actuarial review to true up the numbers and if they don’t have that money in the future it would cause problems.
The conferees met all day and into the evening, Wednesday but did come to agreement on the following:
– Motor vehicle inspections would not be required for the first five years of a vehicle’s life rather than a proposal for it to be three years.
– The State Council on the Arts will get $150,000 a year and a program to allow for tax credits. The state is being offered a $1 million federal grant which needs to be matched but received an amendment to ask for additional funding from the fiscal committee.
– The Office of the Child Advocate is restored from the House budget plan to eliminate it, along with revisions to the Human Rights Commission and several other councils which the House envisioned eliminating.
– Funding for the University System of NH at the Senate level of more than $80 million, higher than the House but not the more than $90 million in the governor’s proposed budget. It would also allow it to come back for additional funds if they are available.
– $6 million in reduced funding but maintaining the UNIQUE scholarship program.
– A measure which would prohibit residents of countries of concern including China, Russia, and Iran from purchasing property anywhere in the state of New Hampshire.
– Medicaid premiums based on the number in a family rather than income levels for the CHIP and the Granite Advantage Programs.
– License plates to be made by the Department of Safety rather than Corrections inmates.
– $11.5 m from the drinking water trust fund to help southern NH
– Liquor Commission to continue to have enforcement officers to be renamed
– Corrections positions restrained from House cuts
– Family planning funding including an additional $75,000 for Coos County.
– Creating another entity to sign off on all YDC settlements than just the YDC settlement administrator.
– A “bell to bell” cell phone ban in schools.
A number of hold items where the chambers could not come to a decision and will likely become bills next year and includes the solid waste issues. A single municipality could kill a project of regional impact according to the House position which would be difficult to expand existing ones, according to the Senate position which would have taken away some local control.
Sen. Tim Lang, R-Sanbornton, thanked the Legislative Budget Assistant’s office for its help and promised he would stop bugging them.
The LBA is authorized to make technical changes and will return Thursday to meet at 10 a.m. for a surplus statement to make sure the numbers are balanced.
They will sign by 4 p.m.