State House Dome: Biden could be big winner from Kuster's exit

Mar. 29—AT THE OUTSET, the obvious benefactor of U.S. Rep. Annie Kuster's decision to voluntarily step aside after 12 years in office is President Joe Biden.

How's that?

If Biden has hopes of repeating his 2020 defeat of former President Donald Trump in New Hampshire in November, they start with running up the score in Kuster's 2nd District.

With a wide-open primary and likely the most competitive race for the seat in a decade, turnout likely will be high among Democrats and left-of-center independents, even those who remain lukewarm about a second term for Biden.

It's no surprise that Kuster likely will endorse a Democrat, but she may try to temper expectations that she might overstep.

The last time a sitting Democratic congresswoman in New Hampshire tried that, it didn't end well.

When U.S. Rep. Carol Shea-Porter, D-N.H., exited stage left in 2018, she surprised quite a few prominent Democrats by backing her former chief of staff, Naomi Andrews, to replace her.

Andrews finished a very distant fourth in that 11-person primary, which Manchester Democratic Executive Councilor Chris Pappas won.

Kuster's blessing will give someone a lift, but how much could be difficult to gauge in the chaotic presidential election climate we live in.

At the same time, Republican insiders are desperately seeking a energetic, baggage-free candidate who can raise the quick money that could make this a winnable race.

House Majority Floor Leader Joe Sweeney, R-Salem, has the requisite experience and acumen. In addition to his State House leadership role, he has the Republican State Committee and recently was elected chairman of his town council.

Look for all kinds of names in both parties to surface.

Sununu pans ed plan

The House Finance Committee's Republican leadership has spent several weeks trying to come up with an affordable answer to two school funding lawsuits. Don't expect Gov. Chris Sununu to embrace the effort.

Sununu is hopeful, though not overconfident, that state appeals of both lawsuits to the state Supreme Court will end successfully.

He sees no reason for lawmakers to craft a solution to a problem that soon may not exist.

"Where we are going with education is in the right path and it's always the will of the Legislature and not a judge to pick the right (education aid) number," Sununu said.

'Boy ban' moves ahead

The Senate Education Committee this past week endorsed a bill that would ban students assigned male at birth from competing on girls school sports teams from fifth through 12th grades.

Sen. Kevin Avard, R-Nashua, wrote this amended measure (SB 375), which has a lot of similarities to a separate bill (HB 1205) that cleared the House of Representatives on a 187-182 vote earlier this month.

Sununu said he understands the "desire" of those pushing the bill but will wait to see the language before taking a position.

In an important comment, Sununu said he does not believe the bill conflicts with state law banning discrimination against students on the basis of gender identity.

Ed board nominee

Sununu has nominated a replacement on the State Board of Education for GOP Vice Chairman Ryan Tirrell of Nashua.

After securing his party post, Tirrell intended to step aside from the ed policy panel, but he has remained in holdover status since his term ended Jan. 31.

Sununu's pick is Rajesh M. Nair of Nashua, a former professor at MIT and the Asia School of Business. Nair has 30 years of industry experience in developing more than 100 products for Fortune 50 companies.

Dems on abortion rights

The two major Democrats running for a shot at replacing Sununu as governor promoted abortion rights the same week the U.S. Supreme Court considered whether it would uphold a lower court's restrictions on access to abortion medication.

Executive Councilor Cinde Warmington of Concord secured the endorsement of the American College of Obstetrician — Gynecologists (ACOG) political action committee.

The group is the foremost professional membership organization for OB-GYNs.

Former Manchester Mayor Joyce Craig released her reproductive freedom plan, which includes support for legislation to require Medicaid and all private health insurance plans to cover abortions and for codifying abortion rights for women into state law.

Lawmaker remembered

House members recalled three-term state rep and retired state education official Art Ellison, D-Concord, as a passionate advocate for students.

It remains to be seen if Ellison, who passed away at 80, will get his dying wish for the House to pass legislation he co-wrote that would more than double the income eligibility window for families to qualify for taxpayer-funded school lunch.

The House initially passed, 193-175, the bill (HB 1212) to increase the income cap from 130% to 350% of the federal poverty level — or $109,200 a year for a family of four.

But this past week, the House Finance Committee voted along party lines to recommend killing the bill because of its $50 million price tag. The full House will take it up on April 4.

New security chief

House and Senate leaders named former State Police Command Officer Chris Vetter to be the new safety services director heading up the security and health services details for the Legislature.

A graduate of the FBI National Academy at Quantico, Virginia, Vetter has more than 30 years' experience, including stints commanding the State Police SWAT unit and the Office of Highway Safety.

State's ratings bump

For the first time in 30 years, the venerable Standard & Poor's Wall Street rating agency has taken a shine to New Hampshire's financial outlook.

Sununu announced the good news that S&P Global had upgraded the state's credit rating from AA to AA+.

State Treasurer Monica Mezzapelle had her own good financial news, reporting that her office has earned $77 million this year in higher-than-expected income on the state's own investments.

Also, for the ninth straight year, New Hampshire was recognized for the most efficient state government in the country, according to WalletHub.

Wary eye on spending

When the state Senate quickly approved legislation providing another $60 million to the $100 million fund to compensate victims of abuse at the former Youth Development Center in Manchester, one wondered if the window for spending bills could be closing.

Senate President Jeb Bradley, R-Wolfeboro, wanted to move that bill out ASAP in hopes of getting it to Sununu's desk even as the first major civil trial against the state by a YDC victim kicks off in superior court early next month.

For his part, Sununu said a "recession was inevitable," but he was certain the state would end the current year on June 30 very much in the black.

Circumcision ban fails

On issues he's passionate about, House Majority Leader Jason Osborne, R-Auburn, doesn't give up easily.

That's why a week after he lacked the votes to pass a bill banning non-medically required circumcisions for boys under 18, he was back again Thursday trying to get the House to pass it.

Once again, however, the House failed, 191-184, to pass the measure (HB 1683), and it went back on the table.

Osborne and other social conservatives seek the ban, they say, to prevent minors from having sex reassignment surgery before adulthood.

Ban on landfill ownership

By a solid, 208-162 margin, the House passed over to the state Senate legislation (HB 1145) to ban future private ownership of landfills.

The vote was a big win for a bipartisan coalition of lawmakers, including Reps. Kelley Potenza, R-Rochester, and Nicholas Germana, D-Keene, and environmental groups that oppose the plan to build a private landfill near pristine Forest Lake in Dalton.

The bill would require that the state own any new landfill property, though the state would be allowed to award a contract to a private company to manage it.

If the past is any indication, this one will have a very difficult time surviving in the GOP-led state Senate.

Gambling study proceeds

Without debate, the council approved a $77,800 contract for the Spectrum Gaming Group of Horsham, Pennsylvania, to serve as consultant to the commission studying the future of charity casino gambling in New Hampshire.

Commission Chairman and former Rep. Patrick Abrami, R-Stratham, led the selection team, which included state Sen. Tim Lang, R-Sanbornton, and Lottery Executive Director Charles McIntyre.

Spectrum had the lowest bid and was judged the most qualified among a group that included the Innovation Group and the Convergent Strategies Group.

Ex-higher ed exec back

Education Commissioner Frank Edelbut turned to a retired administrator for a three-year, $108,000 contract as adviser to the New England Commission for Higher Education.

Dr. Richard Gustafson of Bedford held a variety of roles in higher education and state government, including past president of Southern New Hampshire University.

Gannon credits Ayotte

State Sen. Bill Gannon, R-Sandown, said Republican candidate for governor and former U.S. Sen. Kelly Ayotte played a major role in helping him craft the anti-sanctuary city legislation (SB 563) that the state Senate approved along partisan lines a few weeks ago.

"I went to Kelly with my thoughts about this and she helped a lot in framing the issue," said Gannon, who already has announced he's backing Ayotte in this race over former state Senate President Chuck Morse of Salem.

Contract hits pothole

For nearly two years, the leadership at the Department of Health and Human Services has pursued creating a "closed loop" information sharing system that would allow state government agencies and its contractors to share information about people who are getting some form of public assistance.

HHS Commissioner Lori Weaver will have to wait at least another few weeks after the council unanimously tabled the $8 million contract this past week.

The agency is recommending United USA of New York, which was the lower of two bidders.

What complicates this one is HHS last fall recommended that the other bidder, Public Benefit Corp., get the contract during an initial competition.

Weaver pulled the contract back and went out with a second round of offers after deciding the project needed a broader scope.

Anthem problems linger

Catherine Keane, deputy commissioner of the Department of Administrative Services, said Anthem Blue Cross of New Hampshire has been more responsive of late, but glitches persist in state retirees getting prescription drug benefits since the insurer took over the massive contract on Jan. 1.

"The call volume (of complaints) has dropped a bit, which indicates things are getting a little better, but we are not satisfied" as the same snafus keep occurring for some seniors, Keane said.

"Anthem is working with us, but we aren't there yet."

Keane said the state already has given Anthem a notice of default on its performance to date and is seeking a full audit of their service delivery.

State officials noted that Anthem is processing the same level of claims as the previous vendor, Express Scripts, was filling before Jan. 1.

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