SB 401-FN - AS AMENDED BY THE HOUSE

03/17/2022   1062s

03/31/2022   1269s

03/31/2022   1293s

4May2022... 1844h

4May2022... 1927h

2022 SESSION

22-2934

05/10

SENATE BILL 401-FN

AN ACT making appropriations to the department of transportation for local highway aid and to the body-worn and dashboard camera fund, permitting the department of transportation to operate dash cameras in fleet vehicles, and relative to the duration of unemployment benefits.

SPONSORS: Sen. Bradley, Dist 3; Sen. Hennessey, Dist 1; Sen. Watters, Dist 4; Sen. Rosenwald, Dist 13; Sen. Sherman, Dist 24; Sen. Carson, Dist 14; Sen. Gray, Dist 6; Sen. Whitley, Dist 15; Sen. D'Allesandro, Dist 20; Sen. Perkins Kwoka, Dist 21; Sen. Ricciardi, Dist 9; Sen. Prentiss, Dist 5; Sen. Avard, Dist 12; Sen. Gannon, Dist 23; Sen. Cavanaugh, Dist 16; Sen. Kahn, Dist 10; Sen. Soucy, Dist 18; Rep. Umberger, Carr. 2; Rep. Wallner, Merr. 10; Rep. Tucker, Coos 5

COMMITTEE: Health and Human Services

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AMENDED ANALYSIS

This bill:

I.  Makes appropriations to the department of transportation for state bridge aid and municipal bridge aid.

II.  Makes an appropriation to the body-worn and dashboard camera fund.

III.  Permits the department of transportation to operate dash cameras in fleet vehicles.  

IV.  Authorizes the department of transportation to proceed with the Dixville-Colebrook road project if certain criteria are met and make an appropriation to the department of transportation for this purpose.

V.  Specifies the duration of unemployment benefits based on the state's average unemployment rate.

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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.

Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]

Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.

03/17/2022   1062s

03/31/2022   1269s

03/31/2022   1293s

4May2022... 1844h

4May2022... 1927h 22-2934

05/10

STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Twenty Two

AN ACT making appropriations to the department of transportation for local highway aid and to the body-worn and dashboard camera fund, permitting the department of transportation to operate dash cameras in fleet vehicles, and relative to the duration of unemployment benefits.

Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:

1  Department of Transportation; Municipal Bridges; Appropriation. There is hereby appropriated to the department of transportation the sum of $36,000,000 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2022, which shall be nonlapsing and expended for municipal bridges by municipalities with existing bridges.  One half of the funds ($18,000,000) shall be distributed to municipalities with municipally-owned bridges based on each municipality’s total bridge deck area per department inventory, as of January 1, 2022.  The other half of the funds ($18,000,000) shall be distributed to municipalities with municipally-owned bridges  based on each municipality’s share of total state population based on the office of planning and development’s population estimate with each municipal population in proportion to the total population of the state as of July 1, 2021.  The funds to be distributed under this section shall be in addition to all other state and federal aid specifically authorized by statute.  The governor is authorized to draw a warrant for said sum out of any money in the treasury not otherwise appropriated.  No funds appropriated under this section shall be used to supplant locally budgeted and approved funds for bridge maintenance or construction.  The funds appropriated in this section may be considered unanticipated money under RSA 31:95-b and may be accepted and expended pursuant to RSA 31:95-b, II through IV, whether or not a political subdivision has adopted the provisions of RSA 31:95-b.

2  Department of Transportation; "Apportionment A" Distributions; Appropriation.  There is hereby appropriated to the department of transportation the sum of $30,000,000 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2022, which shall be nonlapsing and expended as additional “Apportionment A” distributions under RSA 235:23, I.  The governor is authorized to draw a warrant for said sum out of any money in the treasury not otherwise appropriated.  No funds appropriated under this section shall be used to supplant locally budgeted and approved funds for road maintenance or construction.  The funds appropriated in this section may be considered unanticipated money under RSA 31:95-b and may be accepted and expended pursuant to RSA 31:95-b, II through IV, whether or not a political subdivision has adopted the provisions of RSA 31:95-b.

3  Body-Worn and Dashboard Camera Fund; Appropriation.  The sum of $1,000,000 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2022, is hereby appropriated to the body-worn and dashboard camera fund established in RSA 105-D:3.  The governor is authorized to draw a warrant for said sum out of any money in the treasury not otherwise appropriated.  The funds appropriated in this section may be considered unanticipated money though fiscal year 2023, under RSA 31:95-b, and may be accepted and expended pursuant to RSA 31:95-b, II through IV, whether or not a political subdivision has adopted the provisions of RSA 31:95-b.

4  New Subparagraph; Highway Surveillance Prohibited; Exception for Dash Cameras in Fleet Vehicles.  Amend RSA 236:130, III by inserting after subparagraph (g) the following new subparagraph:

(h)  Is undertaken for safety and security by the department of transportation to operate dash cameras in its fleet.  Except as otherwise provided, no video recording shall be stored longer than 3 business days.  Any video recordings requested by the department of transportation or another legal entity, and retrieved prior to expiration of the 3 business days, shall be copied and retained by the department of transportation's transportation management center.  The stored recording may only be used by the requesting party for a lawful purpose, including as evidence in a judicial or administrative proceeding.

5  Department of Transportation; Dixville-Colebrook Road Project.  The department of transportation is authorized to proceed with the road project named Dixville-Colebrook, project number 40518, subject to the following contingencies:

I.  The department of transportation shall not commence construction on project number 40518 until such time as all approvals necessary for the road project are received and financing is secured.

II.  Financing must be sufficient for the redevelopment of the resort facility and property formerly known as "the balsams grand resort hotel" and for the commencement of commercial operations at the former resort facility.

III.  Prior to construction of project number 40518, the towns and/or county shall execute an agreement with the department, agreeing to take ownership of the road with responsibility for continuing maintenance and repairs.

IV.  Construction costs and other project costs associated with project number 40518 shall not exceed $4,100,000.  The governor is authorized to draw a warrant for the necessary sum out of any money in the treasury not otherwise appropriated, for construction costs and other project expenses.  The appropriation shall be non-lapsing.  Project costs shall not be charged to the highway fund.

6  New Paragraph; Unemployment Compensation; Weekly Benefit Amount.  Amend RSA 282-A:25 by inserting after paragraph III the following new paragraph:

IV.(a)  Notwithstanding RSA 4:45 and the maximum benefit amounts in paragraph I, for unemployment compensation claims submitted during a calendar year, the duration of benefits under this chapter shall be limited to 16 weeks, if the state’s average unemployment rate is at or below 3 percent, plus one additional week for each 0.5 percent increment in the state’s average unemployment rate above 3 percent, up to a maximum of 26 weeks if the state’s average unemployment rate exceeds 8 percent.

(b)  In this paragraph, "state average unemployment rate” shall mean the average of the 3 months for the most recent fourth calendar year quarter of the seasonally adjusted total unemployment rates as determined and benchmarked by the department of labor.

7  Effective Date.  

I.  Section 6 of this act shall take effect 120 days after its passage.

II.  The remainder of this act shall take effect upon its passage.

LBA

22-2934

Amended 5/13/22

SB 401-FN- FISCAL NOTE

AS AMENDED BY THE HOUSE (AMENDMENTS #2022-1844h and #2022-1927h)

AN ACT making appropriations to the department of transportation for local highway aid and to the body-worn and dashboard camera fund, permitting the department of transportation to operate dash cameras in fleet vehicles, and relative to the duration of unemployment benefits.

FISCAL IMPACT:      [ X ] State              [ X ] County               [ X ] Local              [    ] None

METHODOLOGY:

This bill includes various separate provisions.  Each will be discussed in turn.

Sections 1 through 3, State Aid Related Appropriations

These sections make three general fund appropriations in FY 2022:

• $36,000,000 to the Department of Transportation for the purpose of providing additional state aid to municipalities with municipally owned bridges. Of this amount, half ($18,000,000) will be allocated based on deck area and half ($18,000,000) will be allocated based on population.  This appropriation is nonlapsing and assumed to be expended in FY 2023.
• $30,000,000 to the Department of Transportation for the purpose of distributing additional "Apportionment A" (highway block grant) aid to municipalities.  This appropriation is nonlapsing and assumed to be expended in FY 2023.
• $1,000,000 to the body-worn and dashboard camera fund administered by the Department of Safety, to provide grants to county and local law enforcement agencies.  It is indeterminable how much may be distributed to counties versus local law enforcement agencies, or in which fiscal year(s) the distributions would occur.

Section 4, Department of Transportation Fleet Dash Cameras

This section allows for the Department of Transportation to operate dash cameras in its fleet. The Department expects in FY 2023 it would expend $2,500 to equip five service patrol vehicles with a camera.  At this time, the Department has no strategy to outfit other vehicles in future years.

Section 5, Relative to the "Dixville-Colebrook" Road Project (40518)

This section provides funding to the Department of Transportation, after certain conditions and approvals have been met, for construction and project the Dixville-Colebrook road project #40518.  This bill provides up to $4,100,000 in general funds to cover construction and other project costs.  Since certain conditions must be met prior to the project commencement, it is indeterminable as to how much of, or in which fiscal years, this appropriation may be expended, however it is likely no funds would be expended until at least FY 2023.

Section 6, Relative to the Duration of Unemployment Benefits

The Department of Employment Security offers the following information concerning the fiscal impact of this section:

• State Unemployment Compensation (UC) benefits are paid from the Unemployment Compensation Trust Fund (“Trust Fund”).  A new provision at RSA 282-A:25 which could shorten the number of State UC benefit weeks would potentially have an impact on the Trust Fund.  However, forecasting the economic impact to the Trust Fund would be speculative.  
• Under current law, RSA 282-A:25, each claimant receives a specific maximum benefit amount based on their annual earnings.  The benefit duration period is determined by dividing the maximum benefit amount payable by the individual’s weekly benefit amount.  In New Hampshire, the maximum number of weeks available is currently 26 weeks and has been since 1951.  Additionally, the maximum benefit amount may be used for weeks of total or partial unemployment.  
• Department statistics show the average duration of benefits claimed in NH has historically been less than 13 weeks despite 26 weeks being available.  Currently, the average duration is less than 15 weeks despite the experience of the pandemic when over 175,000 citizens utilized and depended upon the unemployment program.  In addition to New Hampshire’s low average duration, the state also has fewer people exhaust all of the benefits that are available with less than 16% of claim filers exhausting benefits prior to the pandemic.  
• The maximum weekly benefit amount in NH is $427, and because that amount equates to only a 31% wage replacement rate for the person earning the average private sector weekly wage, it tends to act as a control for the length of time someone claims benefits.
• As a result of the historically low benefit duration, low claim exhaustion and low weekly benefit amount, New Hampshire also has one of the lowest Unemployment Insurance tax burdens in the country.  Prior to the pandemic, New Hampshire had the 2nd lowest average tax burden in the country with 0.14% of total wages paid.  Florida had the lowest at 0.12%.
• Prior to the pandemic during 2018 and 2019, nearly 50% of claimants filed for less than 10 weeks of unemployment benefits.  However, New Hampshire had over 7,600 individuals during this two-year time period file benefits for more than 16 weeks.  This bill would set the number of weeks available at 16 weeks.  Of those 7,600 individuals that filed for more than 16 weeks, over 2,000 of them reported working part-time employment thus had a reduced weekly benefit amount.  New Hampshire allows an individual to have part-time employment while collecting benefits thus promoting a faster attachment to the labor market which often translates to part-time employment in the hospitality and retail sectors.  The wages earned from part-time employment reduce the individual’s weekly benefit amount when the earnings exceed 30% of that benefit amount.  However, because the weekly benefit amount is reduced by these part-time earnings, this can cause a higher number of weeks, albeit at a lower weekly benefit amount, being paid from the trust fund.  Based on current law, an individual can collect partial benefits if otherwise eligible until they’ve reached their maximum benefit amount.  Thus, part-time workers collecting partial benefits could collect for longer than 26 weeks.  It is not possible to predict the behavior of individuals should this bill  become law but, if we assume individuals behave reasonably, then an individual would have less  incentive to seek part-time employment while filing for benefits due to the proposed cap of 16 weeks.  There would be no incentive for someone to reduce their weekly benefit amount with part-time earnings when the benefit is limited to 16 weeks.  This would  result in less part-time employment amongst people filing for unemployment benefits and more people simply exhausting their 16 weeks of full benefits.  
• Attempting to calculate any impact to the Trust fund based on limiting part-time earners from filing for partial benefits to 16 weeks during periods of low unemployment would require hypothetical analyses including whether there would be an effect on an individual’s decision to pursue part-time employment while filing for benefits.  Thus, any attempt to predict the impact on the trust fund would be entirely speculative.

The Department has indicated the impact on state, county and local expenditures are “indeterminable”.  The proposed limit on the duration of State UC benefits and linkage to unemployment rates may result in increased costs to governmental entities through an increase in the need for welfare, SNAP benefits, and Medicaid.  It is unknown how this would affect the tax rates of governmental entities as employers and the reimbursement charges to the state, county, and local governments.

It is assumed that any fiscal impact would occur after FY 2022.

AGENCIES CONTACTED:

Department of Transportation and Department of Employment Security