CONCORD, N.H. — The budget battle may be over, but New Hampshire lawmakers won’t be searching for work when they return to Concord in January. So far, nearly 700 requests have been filed for new legislation, and that’s just from the House.
The requests touch on everything from how to fund road and bridge projects to renaming a state beach. But the debate over Medicaid expansion is likely to take center stage, as the program is set to expire at the end of next year without legislative reauthorization.
More than 40,000 newly eligible people have signed up for Medicaid under the expansion. Federal funding for the program will start to drop below 100 percent in 2017, and budget writers estimate it will cost the state about $12 million in this budget to continue the program.
Recurring topics such as allowing a home-grow option for medical marijuana, raising the minimum wage, and removing the licensing requirement for carrying concealed guns will also be up for debate.
House Speaker Shawn Jasper said he and his Republican leadership team will begin to lay out next year’s priorities soon.
If the House wants to pursue reauthorizing Medicaid expansion, Jasper says he will focus on how to continue it without putting state taxpayers on the hook when federal funding drops below 100 percent.
Representative Norman Major is bringing forward a bill to create a ‘‘road usage fee’’ to generate more money for the state’s highway fund. The highway fund gets its money from the state’s gas tax, which lawmakers raised by 4 cents per gallon last session.
But, some argue, relying on the gas tax means people who drive hybrid or high efficiency vehicles aren’t paying their fair share toward upkeep on the state’s roads and bridges. Major’s bill aims to tackle that by creating a new fee to put all drivers on the same page.
Other Republican bills focus on bringing New Hampshire in compliance with the federal ‘‘Real ID’’ law and creating a registry of convicted heroin dealers.
Beyond Medicaid expansion, House minority leader Steve Shurtleff said Democrats will focus on repealing the education tax credit law and creating an independent commission for redistricting.
The education tax credit law, passed in 2012, allows business to receive tax breaks if they donate to scholarship funds that pay for children to go to private or religious schools. Democrats say the law unfairly sends tax dollars to religious institutions. The repeal effort is unlikely to win support from Republicans.