Todd started as a news correspondent with NHPR in 2009. He spent nearly a decade in the non-profit world, working with international development agencies and anti-poverty groups. He holds a master’s degree in public administration from Columbia University.
A day after the New Hampshire House voted down a Senate-backed gambling bill, it was the upper chamber’s turn to weigh in on some key House legislation.
And there may have been some tit-for-tat.
The GOP majority quickly snuffed a House bill calling for a $0.20 increase in the tobacco tax.
Republicans did much the same with an effort to reinstitute a state minimum wage, and a bill that would have added $0.12 to the state’s gas tax over three years.
Saying there’s simply too much uncertainty, top Senate budget writers voted 4-2 against expanding the state’s Medicaid program on Wednesday.
Senate President Peter Bragdon (R-Milford) says he has concerns the Federal government won’t be able to meets its promises to fund the expansion long-term.
And he says it’s unclear if the program would even improve care for the uninsured.
Health providers, small business owners and reform advocates attended a brainstorming session in Concord on Friday. State Insurance Department officials organized the event, seeking input on how best to implement the new health exchange in New Hampshire.
A range of ideas were offered, from social media campaigns to informational events at hardware stores to old-fashioned word of mouth. Participants stressed a need to reach all communities, including minority and non-English speaking groups, and to do so quickly.
On the night of February 27th, 1971, dressed in a vintage fur coat, Susan Randall, met up with a friend for pizza. After leaving the restaurant, shortly after midnight, a woman fitting Randall's description was observed hitchhiking near Manchester’s Granite Square. Witnesses say a white car driven by a lone man stopped to pick her up.
Randall’s body, badly beaten and naked from the waist down, would be found two days later, thrown from a bridge onto the frozen Merrimack River in Concord.
State officials continue to press for action on $340,000 in federal money meant to help implement the health exchange in New Hampshire.
Speaking to the Joint Health Care Reform Oversight Committee, Insurance Commissioner Roger Sevigny repeated the need for quick acceptance of the grant money. Last month, a different legislative body, the Joint Fiscal Committee, delayed the funds, citing concerns over a lack of information.
Sevigny says the money would help "put flesh on the bones" of his Department's effort to help consumers understand the new health law.
While work on the state’s next two year budget continues in the Senate, the Medicaid Enhancement Tax (MET), a levy on hospital revenue, still sits in the spotlight.
MET collection is $34 million short of estimates for this fiscal year. In Monday's Senate Finance Committee meeting, lawmakers expressed concern about overly optimistic forecasts for the next two year cycle.
Health and Human Services Commissioner Nick Toumpas testified before the committee. He says that while his agency oversees Medicaid, it doesn’t handle taxes.
This was no place for marching bands, pep rallies or cheerleaders. Fifty four teams, each composed of two students, met on the dark waters of Lake Winnipesaukee under threatening skies.
“I’ve got a spinning rod set up, I’m going to be fishing mostly spinners,” says Campbell High School Junior Connor Perry. “My other teammate is going to be fishing mostly some worms. See what works out today, got to see what they want.”
Lawmakers and members of the public met in Concord today to learn more about refugee resettlement efforts in New Hampshire. The breakfast gathering was organized by Lutheran Social Services, a non-profit that offers new refugees a range of services including short-term housing and English-language training.
Steve Duprey, a prominent real estate developer, helped launch a work-skills program in conjunction with Lutheran Social Services for new arrivals. He says it is one of the best moves he’s made in business.
The new health exchanges are often described as something akin to Orbitz or Travelocity. A central place--a website--where insurance can be researched, compared, and purchased.
“Competition in markets, of course, is the way in this country we try to make reasonable prices and good quality available to people and so that is one of their roles,” says Professor Timothy Jost with Washington and Lee University in Virginia.
Jost says another key role of the exchanges is subsidies.
An effort to decriminalize a small amount of marijuana in New Hampshire was voted down in the Senate today. The legislation would have made possession of up to a quarter ounce a violation, subject to a $200 fine.
Senator Donna Soucy, a Democrat from Manchester, says the policy has merit with some lawmakers in the upper chamber, but the bill has serious technical flaws.
She pointed to a provision that anyone under 18 found in possession complete an approved drug awareness program. However, no such program exists in the state.
On a 13-11 vote, the New Hampshire Senate has blocked a House-backed measure to prohibit private prisons in the state.
Senate Republicans killed the prohibition effort, saying that the legislature needs to be able to keep all options on the table. Senator Andy Sanborn told colleagues that private prisons can be more efficient, lowering overall corrections costs.
"I believe we have an obligation to prove to the tax payers of New Hampshire, every day, that we are trying to spend their money wisely."
The state senate approved a bill Thursday declaring the white potato as New Hampshire’s official state vegetable.
The bill comes in recognition of the spring of 1719, when settlers in what is now the Town of Derry were the first to plant the tuberous vegetable in the new world.
Virginia had challenged that first-in-the-nation status, but the U.S. Potato Board has substantiated the claim and Virginia has since yielded.
State officials are warning residents to be cautious when consuming wild mushrooms. The Department of Health and Human Services says only experts in wild mushroom identification should forage.
"We want to make sure everyone knows about the dangers of wild mushrooms potentially being poisonous especially since they may encounter them doing outdoor spring activities," says Dr. Jose Montero, Public Health Director for New Hampshire.
As part of the Affordable Care Act, pharmaceutical company payments to doctors will become public information starting in 2014. But a slice of those disclosures is already available, and the impact of transparency is being felt across New Hampshire.
In the last four years, New Hampshire doctors and nurse practitioners have taken in $5.8 million in money from drug companies.
Senate budget writers turned their attention Monday to the state’s biggest agency, the Department of Health and Human Services.
The proposed budget for DHHS comes in at just more than $2 billion. It seeks to restore the CHINS program and increase payments to hospitals for uncompensated care.
The budget also lays out $24.5 million over the next two years to shore up the state’s troubled mental health system.
Senator Lou D’Allesandro questioned if the state can wait that long for a fix.
Commissioner Nick Toumpas replied there really is no choice.
