State House Bulletin March 4 2011
Retiree health care bill changes again
Committee votes ought to pass
The ever-changing saga of HB 231 – a bill that would have charged retirees and their spouses more money for health benefits – had a yet another twist today in the Special Committee on Public Pensions Reforms.
A fifth amendment was made to the bill, which now mandates bringing health care costs for retirees to under $27.5 million in general funds each year. The amendment eliminates the proposed monthly premiums threatened in earlier versions.
The amendment was approved in a split vote 8-4; then the entire bill as amended was recommended ought to pass for consideration by the full House. You can read the current version of the bill here.
The first item of business, a motion to vote the wayward bill Inexpedient to Legislate (ITL) -- made by Steve Shertleff -- might have had a chance until Committee Chair Rep. Hawkins quickly called a Republican caucus and apparently herded wayward members back to the fold. The ITL motion failed.
What was clear from the committee’s ITL discussion was that they are listening to testimony from retirees about the impacts this bill will have on their personal finances and families.
“When you give a person your word, you keep it,” one committee member said. “This isn’t right. These are people who sacrificed for 30 years.”
Rep. Waddell added, “We made a contract. It is our responsibility to fulfill that contract.”
Others warned against a likely lawsuit if the bill becomes law, noting that one is already pending from the first time the state started charging retirees for premiums.
Nevertheless, the bill now moves to the House for a vote in the future.
The previous call to add over-65 retiree premiums is gone. The call to raise under-65 retiree premiums is gone.
In place instead is an implied redesign of the health plan itself so that costs are brought down to the $27.5 million level.
“What HB231 now attempts to do is force significant changes in the benefit itself, but does not force all retirees into smaller monthly pension checks,” said SEA President Diana Lacey. “The scary part of today’s amendment is that the bill’s sponsor, Rep. Neal Kurk, knows full well that $27.5 million isn’t enough money to support health care for retirees – especially if hundreds or even a thousand more employees choose to move into retirement in the next year.”
As HB 231 moves to the full House, please contact your Representatives to let them know that this bill will have devastating impacts on retirees living on limited incomes. It also breaks a written agreement each retiree had with the state – something we thought citizens honored in New Hampshire.
- Contact information for Representatives is available here. (Please remember to use your home or personal cell phone when calling legislators.)
- You can also use our automated contact system to send emails to your Representatives by clicking here. (Please remember to use your home computer and home email address only.)
Thought the Bradley pension bill was bad?
An “omnibus” bill that offers a smorgasbord of changes to the Retirement System was served up today by Rep. Neal Kurk at the meeting of the Special Committee on Public Pension Reforms in Representatives Hall.
Kurk’s proposals, contained in HB 580, include many things; here are the most substantive:
- increase current employee contribution rates to 7.0 percent for Group I members and 11.0 percent for Group II members -- but allow county and municipal employers to adopt a higher or lower contribution rate for their employees;
- eliminate Retirement System funding of medical benefits (about 10,500 retirees receive health benefits funded through the NHRS medical subsidy);
- increase retirement ages of group I and group II members for service retirement, disability retirement, vested deferred retirement, and split benefits;
- change the definitions of earnable compensation and average final compensation used in calculating retirement benefits if you don’t retire before 7/1/2016;
- change the composition of the Board of Trustees (currently, a majority of the Board represent NHRS members; under HB 580, less than one-third of the Board would represent members);
- eliminate the special account, which has historically been used to fund Cost of Living Adjustments (the $328 million remaining in the "special account" would be transferred to the Trust Fund corpus);
- establish a voluntary defined contribution plan option to self-supplement pensions, administered by the Board of Trustees; and
- insert a severability clause that, if any parts of HB 580 are found unconstitutional, employee contributions will be increased to pay 75% of the normal contributions plus 75% of the employer’s unfunded liability (which means employers only have to pay 25% of all contributions).
Not surprising, Kurk offered an amendment to his own bill that would allow state employees who were hired after July 1, 2004 to opt out of receiving employee benefits – including health and pension benefits – in exchange for a 25% increase in their annual base pay for as long as they worked for state (or for as long at the state agreed not to change their promise.)
Reaction was swift. Even members of the special committee attacked the bill’s components, especially the opt-out/pay increase provision, and pointed to a number of “technical defects” which need to be addressed. Kurk’s response to one challenge about the constitutionality of one proposal was, “Then we’ll see what happens in court.”
Rick Trombly of the NEA-NH, and a former state representative, opened the public testimony warning the committee members: “Don’t fall for it! We’ve heard this all before.” He noted that 20 years ago he was in the Legislature that enacted some of the changes “that got us into the mess we’re in now. What you need now is studied, refined changes” to the system – not wholesale, reckless proposals.
“You can be fair to the taxpayers,” Trombly said, “and fulfill your obligations to these retirees and employees. We fixed the system in 2007. Employers have 30 years to overcome the unfunded liability. Don’t put a gun to your own head and threaten to pull the trigger.”
SEA President Diana Lacey agreed that “taxpayers need a thoughtful, purposeful approach to pensions.”
This proposal – like most of the proposals coming from the special committee – are like throwing mud against the wall, seeing what sticks, and asking if it creates a pretty picture, she said.
“Don’t take the moral low ground,” Lacey told the committee. “That’s just wrong. I can’t believe this is the way we are going to discuss the public pension system – amendment, after amendment, after amendment. There’s no reason to harm these working men and women this way, these taxpayers. You have other choices that could help all taxpayers,” she said, suggesting:
- Close corporate loopholes that are helping foreign-owned businesses shelter their money in New Hampshire.
- Look to the millionaires who ‘retire’ to New Hampshire to shield their income from taxes.
- Go after the Wall Street businesses that created this mess in the first place.
“Choose them, don’t harm the people that actually worked and paid for their benefits,” she said. “They’re not here asking for a handout.”
Rep. Hawkins, chair of the committee, announced that the fiscal impact note on HB580 will be released on Monday and the committee will next consider the bill in a work session on Friday, March 18.
In other actions, the Pension Reform Committee:
Voted Ought to Pass on
- HB 462 dealing with employer penalties
- HB 464, transferring $89 million from the special account to the retirement fund corpus
Retained HB 227, HB 265, HB460, HB 465, HB463
Voted Inexpedient to Legislate (ITL)
- HB 456 basing final compensation on all years
- HB 360, to create a study on defined contributions.
Will the House Limit Workers Rights?
Earlier this week, the House Committee on Labor, Industrial and Rehabilitative Services reported out HB 589 to the House floor with an “Ought to Pass” recommendation. The full House is expected to vote on the bill in the next few weeks.
The bill would repeal a state law allowing public workers to form unions through written majority authorization, otherwise known as card check. Instead, the bill would require a lengthy and disruptive election process that often includes employers pressuring workers to reject the union.
"Right now, New Hampshire public employees have a choice -- they can choose to have an election, or they can choose to organize through written majority authorization,” said SEA Organizing Administrator Brad Asbury. "Why would the Legislature eliminate workers' right to make a personal choice?"
Majority authorization is one option for workers to gain more of a voice at work, by forming a union when a majority of workers sign a card that says they want a union. All HB 589 would do is limit the freedom of workers who want to form a union. Hundreds of workers in New Hampshire have formed a union at work and New Hampshire still has one of the strongest economies -- and lowest unemployment rates -- in the country.
This year alone, more than 400 adjunct faculty at the Community College System of New Hampshire voted to form a union with the SEA as their chosen representative. People were able to vote from the privacy of their own home, if that’s what they wanted. And, we saved taxpayers money because majority authorization costs less than the on-site secret ballot process takes.
Using this process, workers are assured the greatest amount of privacy and that their voice counts. Under the alternative, there’s almost no privacy; you’re watched by the employer.
Will our Legislature take away rights and freedoms that New Hampshire workers have now?
More Job Loss Coming from Congress?
State Revenues at Risk as Federal Budget Cuts Debates
New Hampshire could lose almost $60 million of federal funding as Congress continues work on the federal budget for the current fiscal year. And that could mean more job loss, both in the public and private sector, including SEA members.
Last month, the US House passed a version of the federal FY11 budget that would cut almost $60 million in federal funds to New Hampshire, eliminating:
- $7.9 million of federal funding for New Hampshire K-12 education
- $3.5 million of federal job training and employment funds for New Hampshire (ending services to 400 dislocated workers, 4,400 low-income adults, and 700 youths age 14 to 21)
- $19 million of federal funding for clean water in New Hampshire
- another $2.1 million from Head Start funding (for a total loss of 416 slots in New Hampshire)
- almost $1 million to address mental health and substance abuse in New Hampshire
A list of how the House cuts would affect New Hampshire is available here. The US Senate is now considering the budget.
A temporary spending bill was passed earlier this week, keeping the federal government operating while Congress continues working on the FY11 budget. The current federal fiscal year ends on October 1st.
Please contact your Senators and tell them New Hampshire needs more jobs, not more cuts. (Please remember to use your home or personal cell phone; and your home computer and home email address.)
Secure Your Future!
This winter, hundreds of SEA members gathered to discuss pending legislation that would harm New Hampshire's public services -- and the people who provide them. Did you miss out on these conversations? You can still get involved in the campaign to Secure Your Future.
- If you only receive our email newsletters when a friend or colleague forwards them to you, join our mailing list! You can subscribe to our newsletters by filling out the online form here.
- You can "Tell Your Story" about how pending legislation will affect your work and your family. Statistics and aggregate data only go so far, when we're trying to explain to Legislators why certain bills would be good -- or bad -- for New Hampshire. Personal stories often have a greater impact. Tell your story by filling out the form here.
- You can let us know how you want to get involved in the campaign by filling out the form here.
- Contact your field representative for more information, or to set up a meeting at your worksite.
Selected House Calendar Items
Week of March 7 - 11
** At the time of publication, our analysis of the Senate Calendar had not been completed. The full Senate Calendar for next week is available here.
Monday, March 7
FINANCE – (DIVISION I), Room 212, LOB
Budget Work Sessions
9:00 a.m. Department of Revenue Administration
1:00 p.m. Department of Agriculture, Markets and Food
3:00 p.m. Legislative Branch (H)
FINANCE – (DIVISION II), Rooms 210-211, LOB
Budget Work Sessions
9:00 a.m. Post Secondary Education Commission
10:00 a.m. NH Lottery Commission
1:00 p.m. McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center
3:00 p.m. Department of Fish and Game
FINANCE – (DIVISION III), Room 209, LOB
Budget Work Session
1:00 p.m. HB 2 Review
SENATE WAYS AND MEANS COMMITTEE, State House Room 100
11:00 a.m. SB 182-FN-A-L, relative to video lottery and table gaming, providing property tax relief for local economies, providing services for problem gamers, and promoting tourism and public safety.
Tuesday, March 8
FINANCE – (DIVISION I), Room 212, LOB
Budget Work Session
9:00 a.m. Department of State
10:30 a.m. Department of Cultural Resources
1:00 p.m. Department of Resources and Economic Development
FINANCE – (DIVISION III), Rooms 210-211, LOB
Budget Work Session
9:00 a.m. Division – requested Health and Human Services - wide cost reduction plans (all divisions and bureaus.)
Wednesday, March 9
CRIMINAL JUSTICE AND PUBLIC SAFETY, Room 204, LOB
9:00 a.m. Subcommittee work session on HB 127-FN, relative to the definition of oral communication, HB 145, permitting the audio and video recording of any public official while in the course of his or her official duties,
10:00 a.m. Executive session on HB 127-FN, relative to the definition of oral communication, HB 145, permitting the audio and video recording of any public official while in the course of his or her official duties,
ELECTION LAW, Room 308, LOB
10:30 a.m. Executive session on
HB 212, relative to the definition of conflict of interest for executive branch officials and employees,
HB 223-FN, eliminating election day voter registration,
HB 264-FN, relative to political contributions by state contractors and other recipients of state grants or appropriations,
HB 274-FN, relative to voting procedures,
HB 421, relative to candidates for United States senator,
HB 423, relative to including workplace harassment in the legislative ethics law,
HB 427-FN, prohibiting political advertising on public property,
HB 466-FN, eliminating the ballot law commission,
HB 487-FN, relative to election day registrants,
HB 588, relative to polling hours and location of polling places,
HB 598, prohibiting a candidate from receiving the nomination of more than one party and
continued executive session on HB 411, relative to distributing campaign materials at the polling place.
EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENTS AND ADMINISTRATION, Room 306, LOB
1:00 p.m. Executive session on
HB 383, prohibiting the collection of certain agency fees from state employees who are not members of the state employees' association,
HB 620, establishing a commission to study the creation of a health care pool for police, fire, teachers, state, university, and municipal employees,
HB 623, prohibiting preferences in recruiting, hiring, promotion, or admission by state agencies, the university system, the community college system, and the postsecondary education commission,
HB 630, requiring state agencies, boards, and commissions to submit a report to the senate and house finance committees concerning the need for fee increases or new fees and rescheduled executive session
FINANCE, Rooms 210-211, LOB
3:30 p.m. Full committee work session on HB 519-FN, repealing New Hampshire's regional greenhouse gas initiative cap and trade program for controlling carbon dioxide emissions.
4:30 p.m. Full committee work session on HB 635-FN-A, requiring the governor to consolidate certain agency functions and making an appropriation therefor.
Executive session may follow the 5:00 work session.
FINANCE – (DIVISION I), Room 212, LOB
Budget Work Sessions
9:00 a.m. Human Rights Commission
9:30 a.m. Community Development Finance Authority
10:00 a.m. Budget work (HB 2)
1:00 p.m. Department of Information Technology
FINANCE – (DIVISION III), Rooms 210-211, LOB
Budget Work Session
9:00 a.m. Division – requested Health and Human Services - wide cost reduction plans (all divisions and bureaus.)
HEALTH, HUMAN SERVICES AND ELDERLY AFFAIRS, Room 205, LOB
10:00 a.m. Executive session on HB 214, establishing a committee to study the state's participation in the federal Medicaid program, HB 228-FN, prohibiting the department of health and human services from entering into a contract with Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Inc. or any organization that provides abortion services and prohibiting the use of public funds or insurance for abortion services, HB 489-FN, relative to health information exchange
PUBLIC WORKS AND HIGHWAYS, Room 201, LOB
8:45 a.m. Executive session on HB 621-FN-L, relative to the authority of the department of transportation.
Capital budget presentations and public hearing on HB 25-FN-A, making appropriations for capital improvements.
9:30 a.m. Adjutant General
10:15 a.m. Department of Health and Human Services
1:00 p.m. Department of Information Technology
2:00 p.m. Department of Resources and Economic Development
3:00 p.m. Community College System
Executive session may follow.
WAYS AND MEANS, Room 202, LOB
1:00 p.m. Executive session on CACR 6, relating to taxation. Providing that a 2/3 vote is required to pass legislation imposing new or increased taxes or license fees provided that the legislature may increase the rate of taxes and fees with a majority vote in any fiscal year that insufficient revenues are provided to pay the principal and interest on a debt payable in that year, to which the state has pledged its faith and credit,
Thursday, March 10
FINANCE – (DIVISION I), Room 212, LOB
Budget Work Session
9:00 a.m. Department of Environmental Services
PUBLIC WORKS AND HIGHWAYS, Room 201, LOB
8:45 a.m. Continued executive session from March 9, if needed.
Capital budget presentations and public hearing on HB 25-FN-A, making appropriations for capital improvements.
9:00 a.m. Department of Employment Security (Note time change.)
9:30 a.m. Department of Environmental Services
11:00 a.m. Department of Transportation (May continue at 1:00 p.m.)
1:00 p.m. Or following DOT, University System of NH.
Executive session may follow.
FINANCE – (DIVISION I), Room 212, LOB
Budget Work Sessions
9:00 a.m. Department of Justice
11:00 a.m. Adjutant General
2:00 p.m. Treasury/LCHIP
4:00 p.m. Joint Board of Licensure and Certification
FINANCE – (DIVISION III), Rooms 210-211, LOB
Budget Work Session
9:00 a.m. Division – requested Health and Human Services - wide cost reduction plans (all divisions and bureaus.)
Saturday, March 12
FINANCE – (DIVISION III), Rooms 210-211, LOB
Budget Work Session
10:00 a.m. Division - requested Health and Human Services - wide cost reduction plans (all divisions and bureaus.)
Sunday, March 13
FINANCE – (DIVISION III), Rooms 210-211, LOB
Budget Work Session
1:00 p.m. Division - requested Health and Human Services - wide cost reduction plans (all divisions and bureaus.)