Latest news with #HouseBill60
Yahoo
a day ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Senate passes stripped-back version of ‘no-cause' eviction bill, but House likely to oppose it
Senators scaled back the bill to lessen the effect on tenants — raising the likelihood of a clash with the House. (Getty Images) The New Hampshire Senate passed a bill Thursday intended to make it easier for landlords to terminate tenancies. But before passing it, senators scaled back the bill to lessen the effect on tenants — raising the likelihood of a clash with the House. In current law, New Hampshire landlords must cite a specific reason to initiate evictions, including nonpayment of rent, failure to follow the lease, behavior affecting the health or safety of others, or a business reason by the landlord, such as a renovation. As originally passed by the House, House Bill 60 would have allowed for 'no-fault' or 'no-cause' termination of tenancies for leases six months or longer. In those cases, landlords could ask a tenant to leave at the end of the lease period with no reason given. Republicans argue allowing no-cause evictions would let landlords treat leases as fixed-length contracts with tenants, and relieve them of the burden of finding a reason if they no longer wished to rent to someone. But Democrats and legal aid organizations argue it would increase the pace of evictions and could make it easier for landlords to discriminate. On Thursday, the Senate dramatically altered the bill, keeping the 'no-fault' evictions but adding a trigger provision that prevents application of the law unless the state has had a 4% or higher rental vacancy rate for four quarters in one calendar year, as determined by the Federal Reserve. Currently, the Federal Reserve estimates New Hampshire has exactly a 4% vacancy rate, citing U.S. Census data. The Senate's version would also allow landlords to use no-cause evictions only with leases of 12 months or more. And it would exempt tenants who are subject to no-cause evictions from having those evictions added to their record for the purpose of rental applications and tenant screening reports, easing concerns from housing advocates about the effects of the original bill. Those changes earned the support of Senate Democrats; the amended bill was voted through unanimously Thursday. But before the bill can go to Gov. Kelly Ayotte's desk, it must receive final sign-off from the House, and some House Republicans have made it clear they are not happy with the Senate's changes. Rep. Joe Alexander, a Goffstown Republican and the chairman of the Housing Committee, said he will be requesting a Committee of Conference with the Senate to attempt to find a compromise when the House meets on Thursday. The Senate's version of the bill does not fit with the House's position, Alexander said in an interview. And he noted that the full House already voted down two attempted Democratic amendments to add trigger provisions. 'The House position is the lease is a contract,' Alexander said. 'And (in) every other place in contract law, when a contract ends, both parties go their separate ways unless there's conversation about renewing it. So we're just trying to bring it in line with all other contract law in the state.' Elliott Berry, a former attorney for New Hampshire Legal Assistance who has been following the bill, said even with the Senate changes, he and other housing advocates believe HB 60 could harm tenants. 'It's going to make a lot of landlords take the easy way out,' he said. 'And so tenants who for whatever reason feel any kind of antagonism towards them in general, well-based or not, they're going to be in jeopardy.'
Yahoo
29-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Longtime lawmaker appointed to lead the Montana Hospital Association
Rep. Ed Buttrey speaks about House Bill 60 during the 2025 Montana Legislature. (Photo courtesy of Montana Public Affairs Network). Following a national search, the Montana Hospital Association Board of Trustees today announced that it has appointed F. Edward 'Ed' Buttrey as President and chief executive officer for the Association. Buttrey will begin in the role on July 1. In this role, Buttrey will provide strategic leadership for association activities as well as provide direction to the association's charitable arm, the Montana Health Research and Education Foundation, and for-profit subsidiary, MHA Ventures. 'Ed is uniquely qualified to lead the Montana Hospital Association into its next chapter, thanks to his extensive experience in both healthcare policy and decades leading successful businesses. Ed understands the challenges and opportunities facing healthcare in Montana, the various solutions that can help or hinder them, and how to build and lead successful organizations. He has demonstrated a lifelong commitment to improving the lives of the people and communities he serves, and we believe Montana patients will continue to benefit from his vision and leadership,' said Craig Aasved, MHA Board Chair and CEO of Shodair Children's Hospital in Helena. Buttrey, a graduate of Montana State University, is a business owner and long-serving state legislator from Great Falls. As a lawmaker, he's worked on the state's healthcare policies and future, including improving access and affordability, and was the sponsor of the 2015 Montana Medicaid expansion bill and bills to renew and revise the program in 2019 and during the 2025 session. He has served as a board member on the Benefits Health System (Great Falls) Board of Trustees since 2015. In addition to his legislative work, Buttrey has extensive experience in business, with a focus on real estate, hospitality, technology and manufacturing. He has volunteered with numerous local organizations, including efforts aimed at improving healthcare accessibility, supporting youth programs, and promoting economic development in Great Falls and surrounding areas, according to the press release. 'This is an exciting opportunity to move from crafting policy to driving meaningful change in the healthcare system itself. For more than 14 years, I've worked hard on a variety of healthcare policy issues because I have seen firsthand the importance of healthcare to our neighbors, our communities and our local economies. While the MHA is actively involved in the healthcare policy space, it also supports our state's hospitals by providing quality improvement, safety, workforce development, emergency preparedness and other programs that enhance care in rural and frontier communities. I am deeply committed to applying both my legislative and business experience to build a stronger future for all Montanans who rely on the care our healthcare system provides,' Buttrey said. Buttrey will succeed Robert W. 'Bob' Olsen, who has served in leadership positions for the Association since 1989 and has led the organization as president and CEO since 2022. During the course of his more than 30-year career with the association, Olsen has made significant contributions to federal and state regulatory, policy and advocacy matters. He was awarded the MHA Lifetime Achievement Award in 2022 and the Frederick C. Morgan Individual Achievement Award from the Healthcare Financial Management Association in 2025. 'I've witnessed significant changes in Montana's healthcare system during that time, yet one constant has remained: The need to adapt. Montana patients and healthcare providers will be well served by Ed's innovative approaches, ability to bring together diverse stakeholders, and a longstanding commitment to improving healthcare for our state,' Olsen said.
Yahoo
20-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Louisiana could open VA homes to paying National Guard, Reserve military veterans
Military decorations on a U.S. Army uniform. (Photo credit: Wes Muller/Louisiana Illuminator) State residents who served in the military on a part-time basis could soon opt to live at Louisiana Veteran Homes locations, which provide geriatric and psychiatric health care services to qualified residents. House Bill 60, which Rep. Jay Gallé, R-Mandeville, is proposing for the upcoming legislative session, would allow admission for former members of the National Guard and military reservists into Veterans Affairs retirement and nursing homes even if they didn't see active duty. The only catch is that they would have to pay for the services on their own. 'We feel they signed a 'blank check' and were willing to sacrifice but did not serve during a war period and were never activated to active duty,' Louisiana VA Secretary Charlton Meginley said, adding that they deserve to at least be admitted to a veteran home on a private contract. The Louisiana Department of Veterans Affairs, which crafted the legislation, operates five Louisiana Veteran Homes that house and care for a total of roughly 630 residents. They are located in Bossier City, Jackson, Jennings, Monroe and Reserve. Louisiana enacts law to let consultants profit off disabled veteran benefit claims Currently, admissions eligibility rules are fairly strict and exclude many veterans who did not see active duty but otherwise served honorably in the U.S. military, Gallé said. 'It's about being inclusive to allow veterans who didn't serve in a combat zone to stay in a retirement home,' he said. More than 261,000 military veterans live in Louisiana. About 75,000 receive disability benefits totaling roughly $2.1 billion, and 25,000 veterans have earned retirement pensions worth $700 million, according to the state VA office. Meginley said the state currently requires veterans to have served at least 90 days on active duty. Gallé's bill would waive that requirement without affecting the state's federal VA funding. Current state law has a similar exception for veteran spouses and 'Gold Star' relatives of service members killed in action, the VA secretary said. Meginley explained that the state VA receives federal funding for every eligible active duty veteran admitted to a home. If Gallé's bill is enacted, the state would still not receive any taxpayer money for the new class of veterans it admits to the homes, but it would admit non-active veterans who might want to stay at a veteran home and can afford to pay their own way, he said. Lawmakers will consider Gallé's bill during the session that convenes April 14. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
01-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Senate bill barring transgender athletes passes House committee, House bill dies in Senate
CHEYENNE — Last fall, the University of Wyoming women's volleyball team pulled out of a match against San Jose State University, which reportedly had a transgender player. This incident helped inspire two different bills filed this legislative session to ban transgender athletes from women's sports teams. Sen. Wendy Schuler, R-Evanston, is the primary sponsor of Senate File 44, 'Fairness in sports-intercollegiate athletics,' which bars transgender athletes from participation in intercollegiate female sports. Female students are allowed to compete on men's college sports teams, under the bill, if there is no women's team available for that particular sport. The House Education Committee unanimously passed Schuler's bill Wednesday in a 9-0 vote. Rep. Martha Lawley sponsored a similar bill, House Bill 60, that prohibited transgender athletes from competing on women's or girls teams in grades K-12, as well as college sports. However, HB 60 was laid back in the Senate Education Committee on Wednesday over concerns about the bill's structure. Instead, part of HB 60 was amended into Schuler's bill in the House committee. The new amendment to SF 44 prohibits transgender athletes from participation on women's sports teams and prohibits women's teams from competing against other teams with a transgender player, including individual sports. Earlier this month, President Donald Trump signed an executive order to ban transgender athletes from competitive girls' and women's sports teams. The executive order rescinds federal funding to any programs found out of compliance with it. 'We've had people say, well, do we still need it even though there's an executive order out there? And I think we do need it,' Schuler told House Education Committee members. 'We don't know in four years who the administration might be. … As the administrations change, the executive orders change.' SF 44 provides a person the? right to a civil cause of action against any Wyoming college found in violation of this bill, where the public higher education institution could be liable for up to $50,000. The bill protects people from retaliation for reporting a violation of the law, and it also allows the institution to discipline any student or employee for making a false report. 'Women's sports and Title IX exist because men and women are biologically different,' Wyoming Superintendent of Public Instruction Megan Degenfelder said. 'And standing up for women's rights in this regard is not about hatred, it's not about bigotry — at least it certainly is not for me. What it's really about is safety in sport.' Wyoming Equality Communications Director Santi Murillo was the first openly transgender athlete at the University of Wyoming. Speaking on behalf of herself, Murillo said athletics taught her invaluable life lessons that she now passes on to the kids she coaches. 'If this law had been in place when I was a student, I would have been denied those opportunities,' Murillo said. 'Let me be clear that we're not asking for an extreme position. But the only options that are being presented seem to be total exclusion or complete inclusion without accountability. And neither of those are real solutions.' Murillo said if she were taller and heavier, with a clear biological advantage, she would have taken accountability and not competed in women's sports. She asked lawmakers to consider policy changes that take into account the fairness and lived experience of all athletes, instead of a blanket ban that targets 'an already vulnerable population.' 'Beyond the harm that this bill does to transgender athletes, it also fuels fear, rather than fostering understanding,' Murillo said. 'It tells transgender women we are something to be afraid of, instead of human beings who deserve dignity and respect.' University of Wyoming student government representative Sophia Gomelsky told lawmakers other UW students do not want this bill. Players on the UW volleyball team did not support pulling out of the match against San Jose State, she said. 'But after a series of threats from state legislators, the university decided for the students and for our volleyball team that they would not play,' Gomelsky said. Both Gomelsky and Murillo said the National Collegiate Athletic Association already has rules and procedures in place for college sports teams, and that this legislation is a form of government overreach. 'The only thing Santi here could dominate me in is a hair and makeup competition,' Gomelsky said. 'But I think I have 20 pounds on her. … This bill is a step in the wrong direction, and it's government overreach students do not want and athletes do not want.'
Yahoo
21-02-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Today at the Roundhouse, Feb. 21
Feb. 21—The bill filing deadline has passed, and there are more than 1,000 bills, resolutions and memorials all looking to survive the Roundhouse this year. While legislators are fast-tracking crime and behavioral health efforts, it remains to be seen what else will make it through the Legislature. Here are a few things to watch out for on Friday, Feb. 21. CYFD: Efforts to reform the long-troubled Children, Youth and Families Department go before the House Health and Human Services Committee in the morning, including House Bill 5, which would create an Office of the Child Advocate, and House Joint Resolution 5, which would establish an independent Children, Youth and Families Commission. AI: House Bill 60 would create a regulatory framework for artificial intelligence systems. It's scheduled to be heard in the House Judiciary Committee. Alcohol taxes: An effort to impose a 6% tax on alcohol sales at the register is moving along quickly, having passed its first committee Wednesday and on the list to be heard in House Taxation and Revenue in the morning. Viva Las Vegas (N.M., that is): It's Las Vegas Day at the Capitol, as well as Multiple Sclerosis Action Day and Hunger Action Day.
