Week Ten - March 14, 2008

The Advocate is a new electronic tool provided to our business members and regional state legislators.  This publication, sponsored by Devine Millimet & Branch and designed by ActiveEdge, is intended to keep you up to date with all the latest happenings in Concord concerning legislation impacting businesses.  We hope you enjoy this weekly electronic publication!

The news from Concord this week: plenty of blarney, but no pots of gold. The House and Senate rolled slowly, but surely, towards next week’s cross-over deadline.

The House Jumps On Board The Railroad!

The Chamber’s number one priority for this session moved a little closer to reality when the House passed HB 1404, the passenger rail liability cap legislation. Thank you to the members of the House! At one point it looked like the House Transportation Committee was going to ask the full House to send the legislation to the New Hampshire Supreme Court for an advisory opinion, but the Committee decided that the need for commuter rail in the state necessitated moving forward now, rather than waiting for a court decision. They believed that the public policy of creating commuter rail is the priority. We were thrilled with this HUGE step forward. We are cautiously optimistic about our chances in the Senate over the coming weeks, and will keep you posted as we continue to promote this vital issue. Look for your Spotlight Newsletter to arrive in the mail in about two weeks, which will explore this particular bill in much further detail.

Monte Carlo Night Coming to New Hampshire

The Senate took an action which will hopefully help us pay for our future Chamber operations promoting the business community in our area. The Senate passed SB 393, which allows Chambers of Commerce to hold “Monte Carlo Night” fundraisers. If the House will follow suit, we’ll have the ability to host such events starting this fall. We think the odds are good.

Huge Victory for Patient Care

The Chamber, along with a coalition of healthcare providers, insurance groups and other business entities, won a huge victory in overturning the House Health and Human Services Committee’s attempt to pass healthcare privacy legislation which we think valued privacy concerns at the expense of considerations of patient care. The bill would have added a new layer of privacy regulations on top of the extensive federal HIPAA requirements The vote on HB 1587 was 150-166 to not pass the bill. Ultimately, by a slim margin, the bill was sent to interim study. It was a tight vote, but we did it!

Some Progress Made

The House Ways and Means Committee made some improvements this week to the HazMat legislation, HB 1594, but there still needs to be more progress. The committee voted to remove the fees or taxes on business and fund the HazMat teams out of the reserves in the Fire Standards & Training and Emergency Medical Services fund at the Department of Safety through June, 2010. It is not clear what will happen in 2010, but the assumption is that a line item will be added in the next state budget to fund the HazMat teams. The bill still contains terribly onerous reporting requirements for hazardous materials. We hope to relieve the reporting burden on business when the bill reaches the Senate.

Small Employers Wellness Health Insurance

Room 102 at the Legislative Office building was bulging at the seams on Monday morning as the Governor came over from the corner office to support one of the more interesting health insurance bills of the session, SB 540. Supporters of the measure say that the legislation will give small employers access to the same wellness and disease management programs that have proven effective in the large employer market, and it will be significantly cheaper. Though some changes responsive to health insurance carrier concerns were agreed to before the hearing, the carriers still have lingering concerns with the pricing constraints imposed by the bill. While no one denies that efficient and effective delivery of care is of primary importance, the carriers are uncertain that the provision in the bill that targets monthly premiums for the yet-to-be designed coverage at 10% of the median wage as set by the U.S. Department of Labor can be realistically accommodated.

In any event, the bill has strong support in the Senate, where a favorable vote out of Committee seems to assure that it will have a similar disposition on the floor of the Senate, perhaps as early as next week. The bill will continue to have lively discussion as it heads to the House. Stay tuned.

Some Irish Humor

Two Irishmen, Patrick & Michael, were adrift in a lifeboat following a dramatic escape from a burning freighter. While rummaging through the boat's provisions, Patrick stumbled across an old lamp. Secretly hoping that a genie would appear, he rubbed the lamp vigorously. To the amazement of Patrick, a genie came forth. This particular genie, however, stated that he could only deliver one wish, not the standard three. Without giving much thought to the matter, Patrick blurted out, "Make the entire ocean into Guinness Beer!" The genie clapped his hands with a deafening crash, and immediately the entire sea turned into the finest brew ever sampled by mortals. Simultaneously, the genie vanished. Only the gentle lapping of Guinness on the hull broke the stillness as the two men considered their circumstances. Michael looked disgustedly at Patrick, whose wish had been granted. After a long, tension-filled moment, he spoke: "Nice going Patrick! Now we're going to have to pee in the boat!

J. Christopher Williams
President & CEO
Greater Nashua Chamber of Commerce
151 Main St.
Nashua, NH 03060
Phone: 603.881.8333
Fax: 603.881.7323