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Listen to NHPR Senior Political Reporter Josh Rogers discuss the current state of budget talks in Concord with All Things Considered Host Peter Biello.
Peter Biello: So, Josh, one and a half billion: That s a lot of money.
Josh Rogers: It is. This money is the centerpiece of President Biden s plan to reinvigorate the economy, as the country hopefully exits the pandemic. New Hampshire s share is roughly $1.5 billion. That s obviously significant. To give you a sense of how significant: In this fiscal year, the share of the budget paid for with state-generated revenue is $1.67 billion dollars. So this is major. About $1 billion of the federal aid will flow to state government, and the rest will be divvied up between cities, counties and towns
Seven Democratic lawmakers sued Packard, a Republican, arguing that holding in-person sessions without a remote option violates the Americans with Disabilities Act and the state and federal constitutions, and forces them to either risk their lives or abandon their duties as elected officials.
A federal judge ruled against them, saying the House could proceed with in-person sessions. But the Boston-based 1st Circuit Court of Appeals last week sent the case back to the judge with instructions to hold further proceedings to determine if the plaintiffs are persons with disabilities within the meaning of the ADA or the federal Rehabilitation Act.
Credit Dan Tuohy / NHPR A week after voting to lift sanctions and reverse fines for businesses that flout state COVID guidance, the New Hampshire House is considering more bills aimed at undercutting the governor s emergency powers.
Two House committees took testimony on nine separate pandemic inspired bills Monday. The Republican-sponsored proposals include measures aiming to terminate the state of emergency prompted by the coronavirus. Another proposal would limit the governor s power to compel citizen evacuations during emergencies, and several measures would require a governor to win approval from the Legislature or Executive Council to extend or renew a state of emergency.
Credit Dan Tuohy / NHPR
Democrats in the New Hampshire House want a federal judge to force Republican House Speaker Sherman Packard to allow legislators with serious health conditions to attend next weeks’ House session remotely.
The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Concord by Democratic Leader Renny Cushing and six other Democratic lawmakers, argues Packard would violate the federal Americans with Disabilities Act, and the state and U.S. constitutions, if he declines to grant lawmakers of fragile health a way to participate in House sessions during the pandemic besides in-person attendance.
“We have been trying for the past couple of months, intensely, to come up with a system that would work, that would allow those that are particularly vulnerable to the pandemic to have a remote option,” Cushing said in an interview. “The Speaker just doesn’t believe in it.”
Credit Todd Bookman / NHPR
The 400-member New Hampshire House has found a new place to meet indoors later this month, but the Legislature s top Democrat is threatening legal action to allow lawmakers who don t want to meet in person due to COVID-19 the right to participate remotely.
In a notice to colleagues Friday, House Speaker Sherman Packard said he continues to research ways for the House to meet remotely but has yet to find a solution that meets what he called the body s unique needs.
Packard has, however, found a place where he says the House can safely meet in person: the New Hampshire Sportsplex in Bedford. Packard said lawmakers there will have 50,000 square feet in which to maintain social distance - about twice what they had the last time the house met indoors, at UNH s Whittemore Center.