A compromise on Medicaid expansion is the last major hurdle before House and Senate negotiators agree to a 2014-2015 budget for New Hampshire.

The Affordable Care Act, commonly known as "Obamacare," offers states 100% reimbursement until 2016 for expanding Medicaid eligibility.  After 2016 federal reimbursement will gradually decrease to 90%.

Both the House of Representatives and Gov. Maggie Hassan (D) included a Medicaid expansion in their proposed budgets.  The Senate, however, rejected a Medicaid expansion, and instead proposed a study of the expansion.

This week the House budget negotiators offered a possible compromise: delay a decision on expansion until August, just enough time for a committee to study the issue.  The compromise also only commits New Hampshire to the expansion for three years.

Budget negotiators have until Friday to agree on a budget.

CLICK HERE to learn more about the New Hampshire budget negotiations, or CLICK HERE to learn more about the debate over expanding Medicaid.

CLICK HERE to read coverage from the Nashua Telegraph.

This week the Strafford Superior Court ruled that it is unconstitutional for a new education tax credit program to direct public funds to private religious schools.

The education tax credit program was passed in the 2012 legislative session, over Gov. John Lynch's veto.  The program gave businesses a tax credit if they contributed to a scholarship fund for low-income students who wish to attend private schools. 

Americans United for Separation of Church and State, the American Civil Liberties Union, and the New Hampshire Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit January 9 charging that since most private schools are parochial, the majority of funds from the education tax credit program would go to religious schools.  They argued that the program therefore violated the New Hampshire constitution, which forbids the use of tax money for religious schools.

The Institute for Justice, speaking in defense of the education tax credit, argued that the program involved private money and private decision-makers, so the program did not violate the constitutional ban on state money for religious schools.

The Strafford Superior Court ruled that the scholarship funds amount to public funds, and therefore could only be directed to secular schools.

The case will most likely be appealed to the New Hampshire Supreme Court.

CLICK HERE to read coverage from NHPR.

CLICK HERE to visit our podcast page and listen to the latest podcast, in which Grant Bosse interviews key members of the New Hampshire Legislature to get their take on this year's conference committees.  Guests include Representatives David Campbell (D-Nashua), Gene Chandler (R-Bartlett), Nick Levasseur (D-Manchester), and Neal Kurk (R-Weare), as well as House Clerk Karen Wadsworth.

Want to read about New Hampshire issues instead?  CLICK HERE to visit our issue library.

Make sure to check back next week for our next podcast.

As the legislative year nears its end, records show that many New Hampshire Representatives have spotty attendance records.

High absences are arguably a symptom of New Hampshire's "citizen legislature," in which Representatives are only paid $100 year, yet vote on roughly 1,000 bills in dozens of sessions.  The high time commitment and low pay makes it difficult for full-time employees to participate in the legislature.

"I’m not retired and I’m not wealthy," Rep. Jeffrey Oligny (R-Plaistow) told the Eagle Tribune. "You do have to support the family and pay the bills."  Oligny works more than fifty hours per week and missed 94 of 164 votes in 2013.

Other Representatives missed voting due to health concerns.  For example, Rep. Robert Introne (R-Londonderry) missed 82 votes this year after hip replacement surgery.

However, supporters of the "citizen legislature" argue that the low pay weeds out career politicians. 

Furthermore, Rep. Al Baldasaro (R-Londonderry) told the Eagle Tribune that high absenteeism is more than counterbalanced by a thoughtful, intelligent Representative.  "If they make it 50 to 60 percent of the time, it’s win-win," said Baldasaro.

Oligny echoed Baldasaro's sentiment.  "Just because you are there doesn’t mean you are doing your job," said Oligny. "I’ve seen some representatives who have been asleep."

CLICK HERE to learn more about the debate over whether New Hampshire should revise its legislative system.

CLICK HERE to look up a Representative's 2013 voting record, including absences.

CLICK HERE to read coverage from the Eagle Tribune.

Although a conference committee has yet to finalize the next capital budget, committee members seem to be in agreement over allocating $38 million for a new women's prison in Concord, New Hampshire.

At Thursday's meeting of the conference committee, no one suggesting cutting the prison from the budget.

During Senate hearings over the capital budget, Sen. David Boutin (R-Hooksett) said the current women's prison in Goffstown is "about the most deplorable place that I have ever walked in.”

In August 2012 four women prisoners filed a lawsuit charging that New Hampshire provides unequal services for male and female inmates.

There may still be debate over how to pay for the new women's prison, however.  The House has suggested new cigarette and gas taxes for revenue, while the Senate has rejected new taxes and fees.

The capital budget conference committee meets again Monday.

CLICK HERE to learn more about the challenges of prison reform in New Hampshire.

CLICK HERE to read coverage from the Concord Monitor.