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The End is Near
The conclusion of the 2024 legislative session is rapidly approaching! The deadline for the House and Senate to act on all bills is Thursday, May 23. We will then move into the final weeks of committees of conferences on bills of disagreement between the two chambers.
2024 State Election:
We continue to see various candidates join the 2024 field or announce their retirement. Below are key dates for the upcoming elections:
- Candidate Filing Period - June 5-14
- State Primary Election - September 10
- General Election - November 5
Recreation Funding Legislation Update!
The Senate Finance Committee is scheduled to meet tomorrow (May 21) at 11am to vote on a non-germane amendment to HB 1593. The new amendment (which has to do with hospital funding) is unrelated to the original Area Agency requested bill that seeks to provide modest support to adults who need funding for community based recreational programs and services. The hospital amendment leaves intact the new recreation program and funding with HB 1593. CSNI is hopeful that the stakeholders can come to an agreement and that recreation and hospital funding can move forward in HB 1593. Stay Tuned!
Special Education Update (SB 340)
Rep. Cordelli, a GOP House member from Tuftonboro has again introduced a last-minute special education amendment. This time he seeks to attach his plan to SB 340. The scheme failed by a vote of 10-10 in the House education committee, however, Rep. Cordelli plans to try and override the committee with a floor amendment on Thursday May 23 during the full House session. The Cordelli amendment adds a provision to SB 340 that states “administrative rules regarding special education shall not exceed state or federal minimum requirements unless specifically authorized by statute”. What that means is that anything in NH’s special education rules, codified in the NH Standards for the Education for Children with Disabilities, that is not already in the state special education law (RSA 186-C) would be lost. This would reduce NH’s special education rights to the bare minimum allowed by federal law. If this amendment is a concern to you, please contact your House members and urge them to vote no on the Rep. Cordelli floor amendment to SB 340.
Study Committees Update
- Developmental and Mental Health Services
HB 1028, relative to the definition of mental illness for purposes of the New Hampshire mental health services system, sparked important conversations in the Legislature about the use of specific definitions in the statute governing mental health services and the siloing of services. Because there was significant disagreement on the impact of passing HB 1028 as Amended by the House, the Senate Health and Human Services Committee adopted an amendment creating a study commission to more thoroughly review this important issue and report back to the Legislature on potential future legislation or regulatory changes that may be needed.
- Housing Study for People with Disabilities
The Special Committee on Housing has recommended SB 408, establishing a committee to study the effects of the housing crisis on the disability community be killed. This is because the House passed an identical bill, HB 1168, which the Senate has also passed largely intact. The NH House plans to concur with the minor changes made by the Senate to HB 1168, and therefore the Senate companion bill is unneeded. The vote was 10-0.
Priority Bills:
(Note from Will Walker - the color coding below represents a rough prioritization of bills. Red bills are tracked very closely and involve giving testimony)
Red Bills
Yellow Bills
Closely Monitor
Alex Koutroubas
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