Storm of change sweeps through N.H. Legislature
Mass High Tech: The Journal of New England Technology - by Fred Kocher Mass High Tech
One day in November changed the New Hampshire Legislature in a way it hasn't been changed in modern times -- not since 1911, the last time Democrats ruled both houses of the state Legislature.
In one election, the New Hampshire House and Senate went from decades of strong Republican control to unprecedented and strong Democratic control -- in a state that has been primarily Republican for the lifetime of many residents. In a House of 400 members, 237 Democrats were elected -- 102 for the first time. That leaves Republicans with 163 seats, which is almost a complete flip from last session. Seven new members were sworn in at the state Senate, where Democrats now have a 14-to-10 majority. Five of the new members are women, doubling the Senate's female ranks.
All of this is changing the political atmosphere from past sessions, and it will change the outcome of key legislative issues in the upcoming legislative session, which gets under way in January. While the new Democratic majority is changing committee chairs, organizations that lobby the Legislature are rearranging their lobbyist corps from those with Republican credentials to those with Democratic credentials.
The new state Senate president, Sylvia Larsen of Concord, a veteran of the Legislature since 1994, is considered someone who can work both sides of the aisle. That will be important going forward in terms of the message sent by voters, which was not only "we want change," but also "get the job done."
The new House Speaker is state Rep. Terie Norelli of Portsmouth, who was unusually active during the months leading up to the November election, personally training some of the would-be Democrat state reps in the art of politics and helping them get to the State House.
The legislative agenda
Education funding promises to be the toughest issue for the new leadership. It's an issue that is unresolved after years of attempted fixes and after years of court rulings striking down those fixes. It's an issue important to the business community in terms of a future educated work force. The question is whether the Legislature can resolve education funding without creating a broad-based sales or income tax (New Hampshire has neither) or without raising business taxes. Gov. John Lynch has vowed to veto a broad-based sales or income tax. At the same time, he's expected to offer up a school funding formula that targets aid to lower-income communities.
The minimum wage is rising to the top of the Democrats agenda. It's $5.15 in New Hampshire -- the lowest among the New England states. A bill to raise it is already being drafted and will likely appear early in the session.
An R&D tax credit has been a top priority for the New Hampshire High Technology Council and the New Hampshire Business and Industry Association the past two sessions. The Granite State is the only state in New England without such a credit, putting fast-growing tech firms at a competitive disadvantage with companies in neighboring states where the credit is on the books. An R&D tax credit bill is expected to be introduced again this session and would likely have the backing of Gov. Lynch, as it did last session.
Gov. Lynch has an agenda (in addition to school funding) that includes more affordable and accessible health care, a crackdown on sexual predators, especially those that use the Internet, and a ban on burning toxic construction and demolition debris. 2007 is also a budget year, and the governor has already warned state department heads to cancel any plans for a spending spree during his next two years in office. This is where there could be some legislative tussling among the new Democrat majority as members ask for spending that the governor won't support.
Fred Kocher is president of the New Hampshire High Technology Council. He can be reached at kocher@gtsolar.com.
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