State House Dome: Hampstead has inside track to house Sununu Center replacement

Jan. 14—THE CAT IS OUT of the bag: The state-owned Hampstead Hospital property is the clear front-runner to become the home for a new treatment complex for juveniles, replacing the Sununu Youth Services Center in Manchester.

Senate leaders revealed the early contenders on Thursday: the SYSC property in Manchester, an unidentified state-owned parcel in Concord, and the former Hampstead Hospital, which was purchased by the state last year.

But anyone can read these tea leaves:

—The fast-tracked bill (SB 1) to kick out the closure date of the SYSC to Nov. 1, 2024 states that once there is a new center, the state should take possession of "the entire (SYSC) property" in Manchester and it shall be a "high priority" to sell it all so it returns to the city's property tax rolls.

Much like the former Laconia State School, Gov. Chris Sununu believes once older buildings on the parcel are razed, this sprawling complex could fetch multi-millions in a private sale.

Unlike Laconia, however, the state has an IOU. Attorney General John Formella's office already has advised that the state would likely have to pay back to the federal government some or all of the $14 million in grants it received to build the complex 30 years ago.

—It's logical to put the juvenile treatment center near or on the same property as the Hampstead Hospital, which the state has been converting into a state-of-the-art facility for youth with behavioral health problems.

—The current Hampstead Hospital footprint takes up less than a third of the 120 acres the state owns.

This by no means says that's it's a done deal. Senate Majority Whip Regina Birdsell, R-Hampstead, noted the town is remote, and a 45-minute drive from the closest State Police barracks.

Birdsell said it might make more sense to designate the Rockingham County Sheriff's Department as the law enforcement lead.

Child Advocate Cassandra Sanchez told the Senate panel the ease of "frequent visitation opportunities" is critical.

Parents in Keene would have to log nearly a two-hour drive to get to the property. It would be closer to three hours for those up in Berlin.

Battle over online gaming ahead

New Senate Ways and Means Committee Chairman Tim Lang, R-Sanbornton, said it's time New Hampshire joined six other states in regulating all gambling that takes place online in the state.

Currently, residents spend millions each year visiting online sites to place bets on poker and other games of chance despite it being illegal here.

As a result, Lang said it's buyer beware, meaning if a rogue website takes a gambler's money and fails to pay off a winning bet, the gambler has no recourse.

The New Hampshire Lottery doesn't permit bets to be placed with a credit card. Bettors must pay cash or provide a debit card.

The American Gaming Association estimates New Hampshire could collect $17 million to $48 million annually by having the lottery control these online bets.

Lang's plan is to use all profits to support a scholarship fund for income-eligible students to attend two-year community colleges in New Hampshire.

The legislation will not hurt the charity "casinos" across the state, from which hundreds of nonprofits benefit by getting 35% of the take, Lang maintained.

"We're talking about an impulse bettor, someone who plays 15 minutes of Texas Hold 'Em while they are waiting for a meeting," Lang said.

"These aren't people who are going to spend an hour or more visiting a charity casino. We'd be tapping into a whole new source of state revenue."

Higher fees a tough sell

House Deputy Speaker Steve Smith, R-Charlestown, deadpanned last week that the idea of raising the cost to run for governor, U.S. Senate or Congress by 1,000% would get some "pushback."

Prime sponsor and House Majority Floor Leader Joe Sweeney, R-Salem and a former state GOP executive director, thinks it's past time for his party to narrow voter focus in that GOP primary to those who actually can win.

Internally, advocates call the controversial bill (HB 116) the "Andy Martin Act," a reference to the perennial gadfly candidate who often signs up to run for major office, issues an occasional press release rant yet never really campaigns in the traditional sense.

The bill would raise the fee to run for governor or U.S. Senate from $100 to $10,000, and for Congress from $50 to $5,000. It would also require potential candidates to collect more signatures from registered voters.

By week's end, however, one of the prime sponsors, Rep. Ross Berry, R-Manchester, had raised the white flag.

"I will bring an amendment to make the filing fee $0.00 and no signature requirements. Since we are all concerned about barriers to ballot access, let's just remove them all," Berry said.

Berry conceded the idea was ahead of its time.

"We were ridiculed when we wanted to move the primary date two years ago, too. Now people are begging us to do it," Berry said. "It's classic Concord. You have to suggest an idea, watch people freak out at the change, and then wait for them to realize you were right."

Berry and Co. will testify Tuesday on two plans to move the primary, one (HB 333) to move the state primary up from September to March with a runoff election if no primary candidate gets at least 50% of the vote, and the other to bump it up to early June (HB 115).

Sununu has signaled that if it a June primary bill got to his desk, he just might sign it.

First test of affidavit ballots due in February

The Feb. 21 special election for a House seat in Rochester Ward 4 will be the first test of the new law (SB 418) that will toss out the votes of anyone without an ID who fails to produce proof of their residence within seven days after that election.

Former state Sen. and sponsor Bob Giuda, R-Warren, agreed to delay this controversial election reform effort until after the 2022 midterms.

Senior Deputy Secretary of State Virginia Lovejoy said last week that state officials were boning up on the guidance they will give poll workers in Rochester for how to segregate these ballots.

This will be a good trial run, since it will also apply to anyone casting a vote this spring in towns that conduct their local elections through the SB 2 official ballot process.

603 Forward, a liberal voting rights organization, reminded that in defending our first primary status, Sununu railed at states that failed to get a final result "for days after an election" because they used provisional ballots.

"Hey, Sununu, SB 418 creates provisional ballots," they said.

Open Democracy and 603 Forward brought a lawsuit last summer in Hillsborough County Superior Court South, insisting that the law creates a "two-tiered" system for voters and violates the state Constitution.

Shaheen's 'invest' tour

A reelection bid for Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., is nearly four years away, but Shaheen, 75, shows no signs of slowing down with her "invest tour" of the state, which included stops in Manchester, Jaffrey, Claremont and Dover last week.

The visits highlight the 105 "congressionally directed spending" (aka earmarks) projects for New Hampshire worth $111 million that Shaheen got into the $1.7 trillion government spending bill as a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, and subcommittee chairman of spending on Commerce, Justice and Science-related agencies.

"It's a great opportunity to see how they're going to use the funding in ways that will be important for the community," Shaheen said.

Meanwhile, Sununu told CNBC last week that Congress should re-impose the ban on earmarks it had put in place more than a decade ago.

Gargiulo jumps in

As first predicted here, two-time state Senate nominee and Hampton Falls businessman Lou Gargiulo has joined the race for chairman of the Republican State Committee.

"If the GOP chair can't unify the party on points of commonality, regardless of affiliations, we will not prevail. We will not win," Gargiulo said in his announcement.

"Recognizing the diversity in the GOP party is critical to our success. I will build positive relationships with all stakeholders."

One of the party's conservative rising stars, 1st Congressional District nominee Karoline Leavitt of Hampton, endorsed Gargiulo.

"Our state party needs to be run like a well-funded, goal-oriented, unified business, and Lou Gargiulo is the business man for the job," Leavitt said.

Gargiulo's biggest asset could be his bank account. In his two Senate campaigns, he parted with nearly $500,000 of his own money and has a long history as a faithful donor and a fundraiser in his own right.

Republican National Committeeman Chris Ager of Amherst remains the front-runner. He picked up the backing of the 603 Alliance of New Hampshire last week.

Executive Councilor Dave Wheeler, former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski and several legislators also have gotten on board for Ager.

The race for vice chairman is heating up, and the candidacy of U.S. Senate nominee Don Bolduc of Stratham could get a boost from the field.

Many close to Sununu cringe at the idea that Bolduc, who lost his Senate race badly and continues to criticize the governor, would take the No. 2 slot.

Curiously, the state GOP does not list Bolduc as one of the "announced candidates" for vice chair, though he announced last month he would run for it.

The anti-Bolduc forces could be split by two attractive alternatives opposing him.

They are Board of Education member Ryan Tirrell of Nashua and Christine Peters of Amherst, the former president of the New Hampshire Federation of Republican Women.

Bill hearing season in full swing

The Senate has scheduled its first session for Jan. 19.

The Fish and Game Department is pushing hard for legislation to protect private property rights in cases where hunters place game cameras on tree stands on non-posted land.

This effort made it all the way to conference committee last spring, but was one of a few bills that fell through the cracks.

Speaker Sherman Packard, R-Londonderry, said the House could meet Jan. 26 and Jan. 27 if committees get enough bills to the floor by then.

Next week, House panels will plow through hearings on 120 bills while the Senate will take testimony on 32 of their own.

Open season on Franconia Notch

When COVID-19 finally eased up last summer, you might recall seeing long lines of cars overflowing the parking lot of the Franconia Notch State Park.

So did the rest of the country.

Travel Lens reported that last year New Hampshire's mountain state park gem had more online searches than all but nine parks in the country.

Colt State Park in Bristol, Rhode Island, overlooking Narragansett Bay, came in second and Niagara Falls in New York was fourth.

Gaetz pleads Leavitt's case

One of the final holdouts to making Congressman Kevin McCarthy House Speaker, U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., told a conservative podcast last week that McCarthy has said he won't use the House GOP Super Pac to pick sides between principled conservatives in 2024 House races.

"Karoline Leavitt should be in Congress. The only reason she's not is because she was opposed by leadership... We don't want to lose seats because of infighting," Gaetz said.

Last September, the Congressional Leadership Fund spent $1.3 million backing rival Matt Mowers of Gilford, the lion's share on attack ads lampooning Leavitt as too immature and irresponsible to hold the office.

Kevin Landrigan is State House Bureau Chief for the New Hampshire Union Leader and Sunday News. Reach him at klandrigan@unionleader.com.