This Week in Concord:
The
Governor has been working on the state
budget quite a bit this week. On Tuesday, he
proposed $5 million in savings, by cutting
equipment and non-essential supplies in
State Agency Line items.
On
Thursday, he proposed amending, SB 321.
Essentially, Gov. Lynch’s plan is to gut
the entire bill and replace it with
increased taxes on cigarettes by 25 cents to
$1.33 per pack. This is expected to raise
$25 million in 2009. The state would raise
$10 million more by cutting in half the 20
percent discount given to grocery and
convenience stores that buy wine from the
state for resale. There are others things in
the Governor’s amendment which affect,
nursing homes, charity games of chance,
school building aid and budgets of the
legislature and courts. All in all, the
proposals offered Thursday would reduce
state spending by $125 million and raise
revenue by $40 million.
The state did get
some welcome news on the current revenues
and budget estimates. The state of NH
collected $306 million in April, $6 million
more than the state budget forecast.
From the BDS, Area Agency perspective, it is
quite clear there will be
no cuts
to the waitlist or the 2008 rate increase in
the next 2 months. However, it is unclear
what will happen in 2009 on those two
fronts. The state has budgeted over $16
million to the waitlist from
July 1, 2008 to June 30, 2009.
OTHER ACTION THIS WEEK:
HB 359,
relative to recovery of medical assistance
from an estate,
was passed
in the Senate by a voice vote; the bill was
referred to Finance.
This bill
limits recovery of assistance to property
interests created on or after
July 1,
2005. It also limits recovery to the value
of the interest held by the recipient of the
assistance. The bill also requires the
department to provide written notice of the
procedure for obtaining a hardship waiver
and those persons who are exempt from
recovery by state and federal law.
HB 765,
establishing a committee to study the
financial liability for placement of a child
with a disability,
was passed
in the Senate by a voice vote, this is a
bill related to special education,
specifically parentally-placed children with
disabilities attending public schools.
The House Commerce recommended,
SB 301,
requiring insurers to cover prescriptions
for durable medical equipment filled near
the patient’s residence,
be passed
This bill extends the definition found in
RSA 420-J:7,11c to include durable medical
equipment in the department of insurance's
standards for geographic accessibility. The
bill does not restrict provision of durable
medical equipment shipped by postal service
or other common or private carrier and
excludes devices used exclusively for the
delivery of medication. The bill will be on
the House Floor on May 7th.
Senate Education voted out of committee:
HB 679,
relative to delivery of special education
services &
HB 766,
making changes to the laws relating to
special education, both bills were amended
and had 4-0 votes to pass with the
amendments. The full Senate will discuss
and vote on the bills on May 8th.
Coming up:
Should
anyone want to see the full language of any
of these bills, the following link
http://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/ie/billstatus/quickbill.html
Takes you
to a search menu, where you can enter the
bill number (without space) i.e. hb1401 From
there you can select to review the docket,
or read the text
MONDAY, MAY 5
DISABILITY WAITLIST OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE Room
103, State House
10:00 a.m. Regular meting
TUESDAY, MAY 6, 2008
HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, Room 103, SH
10:15 a.m.
HB 1301, relative to the definition of
service dogs
11:00 a.m.
HB 1634, establishing the New Hampshire
council on autism spectrum disorders
monitoring proposed Legislation at the Federal and State level to ensure it advances the "system",
and responding to changing needs of those individuals with developmental disabilities and their families. CSNI has
a dedicated staff that educates, through testimony, various legislative committees and representatives and actively informs self-advocates and parents of children who have developmental disabilities of pending legislation and proposed policy changes.