3 days ago
Stripped-down auto inspection plan in proposed Senate budget
Senate budget writers review auto inspection program changes
Senate budget writers approved a stripped-down program of inspections for car and truck owners. In March, the House had voted overwhelmingly to get rid of the annual exams.
A stripped-down, safety inspection requirement for New Hampshire car and truck owners has emerged in the latest state Senate budget proposal as Republican leaders revived an issue that looked like it had been put off until 2026.
The Senate Finance Committee unanimously embraced the plan of Sen. Howard Pearl, R-Loudon, and three colleagues that seeks consensus with the House of Representatives that overwhelmingly voted to get rid of these inspections altogether (HB 649).
'I feel like this is down-the-middle approach to where we want to get to. We all hear from our constituents that this was an important topic for them that they wanted to see some action on,' said Pearl who chairs the Senate Executive Departments and Administration Committee.
A final House-Senate compromise on this and the entire budget are weeks away, but this could improve the tenor of those talks since both sides are addressing this inspection testing mandate.
Leading House members working on the auto inspection issue bitterly criticized the Senate earlier this month after it voted, 19-3, to again refer the House-passed bill to repeal the program which meant it would be on the sidelines until early next year.
Here's how Pearl's proposal would work:
• New cars and trucks owners: They would have to pass a safety inspection, but then not have to have one for another three years;
• Older vehicles: All those owning vehicles three years and older would have to pass a safety inspection each year, but one that checked out a lot fewer items than the current tests do;
• Diagnostic/Emissions: This would direct the Department of Environmental Services by Jan. 1 to ask the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for permission to do away with on-board diagnostic and emission testing of tailpipes, currently the part of all annual inspections and,
• Delayed Start-Up: This would put off all these changes until Jan. 1, 2027, to give DES time to get an answer from the EPA and for lawmakers to make any adjustments based upon that response.
New Hampshire has had these tailpipe tests done since the early 1990s so it would be following the federal Clean Air Act.
Pearl's nine-page amendment (on pages 21-29) includes explicit language that auto shop owners may not flunk for inspection incidental items such as an auxiliary light, mirror crack or some other computer glitch in the car or truck that doesn't affect its operation.
Sen. David Watters, D-Dover, credited Sen. Dan Innis, R-Bradford, and Pearl with working out this language.
'This program will ensure we have safety on our roads, and we deal with what some people call the nuisance factor of these inspections,' Watters said.
Sen. Tim Lang, R-Sanbornton, estimated the changes reduce the number of factors affecting a pass or fail inspection from 'more than 55 down to about 20.'
'We intended it to be a safety program; with this, it would be back to being a safety program,' Lang said.
Pearl said this would not alter up or down the cost that garage owners could charge for inspections.
House budget writers put repeal of these inspections, and the layoff of all state staff to run the program into the trailer bill of the two-year state budget it approved last month.
Health insurance premiums
Senate budget writers endorsed a modified way for income eligible families on government insurance programs to pay a monthly premium for coverage.
Gov. Kelly Ayotte had proposed those making over federal poverty level limits to pay 5% of their monthly income in these premiums.
Senate Majority Leader Regina Birdsell, R-Hampstead, has countered with a flat monthly premium based on the number of people in the family.
The two Democrats on the Senate Finance Committee opposed the plan.
On health insurance premiums, Ayotte had proposed last February:
• Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP): 8,000 families with children in CHIP would pay if they made at least 255% of the federal poverty level, which is roughly $72,500 a year. The 5% premium would be about $300 a month or $3,600 a year.
Birdsell's plan changes it to a flat monthly premium of $190 for a family of two, $230 for a family of three and $270 for a family of four.
• Granite Advantage: The premium would be charged to 12,000 for low-income adults in the Medicaid expansion program who made at least 100% of the federal poverty level, which for a single person is about $16,000 annually. The 5% translates to about $66 a month or $800 a year in client payments.
Birdsell's proposal alters this to a sliding scale based on family size of $60 for a single monthly to $100 for a four-person family.
What's Next: The Senate Finance Committee will make its final votes on the spending plan Tuesday.
Prospects: House leaders could decide this change to inspections achieves its top goals, getting rid of the 'nuisance' tests and giving newer car and truck owners a break since the failure rate for these vehicles is so low.
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