Revision: March 1, 2023, 8:54 a.m.
HB 642-FN - AS INTRODUCED
2023 SESSION
23-0607
04/08
HOUSE BILL 642-FN
SPONSORS: Rep. Stringham, Graf. 3
COMMITTEE: Health, Human Services and Elderly Affairs
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ANALYSIS
This bill prohibits the department of health and human services from establishing or enforcing salary limits on the salary or hourly wages of direct support staff.
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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.
Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]
Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
23-0607
04/08
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Twenty Three
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 New Section; Services for the Developmentally Disabled; Prohibiting Salary Limits. Amend RSA 171-A by inserting after section 1-d the following new section:
171-A:1-e Prohibiting Salary or Hourly Wage Limits. The department shall not establish or enforce, in statute or rule, a limit or cap on the salary or hourly wages of direct support staff. In completing the wait list registry, area agencies may include budgets older than 24 months where funds may be needed to cover additional expenditures, such as cost-of-living or other wage and compensation increases. The department shall use existing budget appropriations to negotiate reasonable wages and appropriate service budgets with area agencies and service providers.
2 Effective Date. This act shall take effect 60 days after its passage.
23-0607
Revised 3/1/23
HB 642-FN- FISCAL NOTE
AS INTRODUCED
FISCAL IMPACT: [ X ] State [ ] County [ ] Local [ ] None
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| Estimated Increase / (Decrease) | |||
STATE: | FY 2023 | FY 2024 | FY 2025 | FY 2026 |
Appropriation | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
Revenue | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
Expenditures | $0 | Indeterminable | Indeterminable | Indeterminable |
Funding Source: | [ X ] General [ ] Education [ ] Highway [ ] Other | |||
METHODOLOGY:
This bill prohibits the Department of Health and Human Services from establishing or enforcing a limit or cap on the salary or hourly wages of direct support staff. In addition, the bill allows area agencies, when completing the wait list registry, to include budgets older than 24 months when funds may be needed to cover additional expenditures.
With respect to the prohibition on salary caps, the Department states that it does not currently impose or enforce a cap on wages earned by direct support staff. With respect to budgets submitted by area agencies, the Department assumes the intent of this change is not to allow for retroactive payments, but rather for the Department to review said budgets to determine whether the costs to provide services to individuals have increased.
To the extent that the bill results in increased costs for services provided by area agencies, it may result in the Department's future budget requests being higher than its currently approved budgets. The decision to approve said budget requests would be made by future legislatures.
AGENCIES CONTACTED:
Department of Health and Human Services