Legislative Update: September 26, 2019
NHAR priorities included in budget
By BOB QUINN
Vice President of Government Affairs
After a nearly three-month impasse, Governor Sununu and the legislature reached agreement on a new state budget. Yesterday, both the House and Senate passed this new version of the biennium budget. Several NHAR priorities were included in the final bill.
- New Hampshire Housing Appeals Board: Over $400,000 will be appropriated in June 2020 to set up the Board. The legislative language creating the Housing Appeal Board was SB 306 before it was moved into the budget.
- $5,000,000 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2020 to the Housing Finance Authority for use in the Affordable Housing Fund: Starting in October 2020, the state will appropriate $5,000,000 annually into the housing fund. The Affordable Housing Fund grants and loans are available to both nonprofit and for-profit organizations. Projects containing the highest percentage of housing units which are affordable to low income people are given priority. The legislative language was SB 15 before it was moved into the budget.
- $3,000,000 for a Lead Paint Hazard Remediation Fund to make loans to owners of properties for the costs of remediation of lead paint hazards: Any rental property where the household income is no more than 90 percent of the median income for the metropolitan area or county in which the housing is located would be eligible. The fund is administered under the New Hampshire Housing Finance Authority. Rulemaking make be completed before funds become available.
- The budget also contains enacting language for Association Health Plans, originally in SB 228, although the statute will not go into effect unless the federal courts overturn a lower court prohibition on AHPs.
The budget will provide $130 million in extra school funding, $40 million in state aid for cities and towns. It also keeps the business profits tax rate at 7.7 percent with a series of triggers that might cause that tax to increase or decrease in 2021 if revenue exceeds or underperforms expectations.
If you have questions regarding these or any other pieces of legislation from the 2019 New Hampshire legislative session, please contact New Hampshire REALTORS Vice President of Government Affairs Bob Quinn at bob@nhar.com or 603-225-5549.
