Tom Fahey: Broderick says NH has 'too many courts"

By TOM FAHEY
State House Bureau Chief
9 hours, 3 minutes ago

Name a state agency that has more locations than Wal-Mart. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Broderick did last week -- his court system.

"I think we have too many courts, that's what I think," he said at a breakfast meeting. If starting from scratch, he said he would not design a system with a superior court in every county.

But the main issue is the state's 34 district courts. Except for the state Liquor Commission's 77 stores, the judicial system has more locations than any other state agency. That includes the Division of Motor Vehicles and Health and Human Services offices, Superior Court Chief Justice Robert Lynn said.

But when it comes time to close a courthouse, to move runs into headwinds from residents and officials who say their court is critical. Lawmakers blocked a move to save money by closing Milford, Colebrook, Claremont and Keene courts, then told Broderick to run them without providing extra funding.

"We don't have the resources to keep them all going," he said. "We cannot continue with the model we have on the ground."

Broderick has appointed a panel to report by the end of the year on how to shape the court system for the future. It will be chaired by Eric Herr former chief operating officer of AutoDesk. Herr is also chair of the Judicial Council, served on the Citizen Commission on the Courts and has worked as a CASA volunteer.

Broderick would like to see more emphasis on technology, including electronic filing. That would allow a court worker in Lebanon or North Haverhill to work on case file backlogs in Brentwood or Nashua, he said.

He also envisions self-help centers staffed by para-legals, and a streamlined discovery process to cut down on hearings and paper.

Probate Chief Judge Edward King said he's made changes in his 10 court rooms, too. One change has cut down on travel time for state prisoners. King said many would file to change their legal names, which would mean a day out of prison to appear in court. Now that probate uses video-conference technology, meaning no field trip for prisoners, name change requests are way down, he said.

Lawyers in the state may want to polish their resumes. Three Superior court vacancies are being created by retirements of Justice James J. Barry, Kathleen A. McGuire and Philip P. Mangones. Lynn said that on August 1, a fourth justice, William J. Groff, will join them.

That will leave 18 judges doing the work of what Broderick pointed out one analysis says should be at least 25 judges.

Rapid turnover puts new judges in top slots in their counties quickly. In fact, with Mangones retirement, newly appointed Justice Marguerite Wageling will become the supervising, and only justice in Sullivan County.

Lynn joked that if the state really wants to close courts, it will take the equivalent of the federal base-closing commission, which presents up or down recommendations that can't be altered.

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TAX STEW: Sen. Jackie Cilley stirred the pot pretty well last week, with a plan to cut unpopular taxes, and suggesting a new tax on the Seabrook nuclear plant.

First, she proposed a change in tax law that would repeal the LLC tax and the campground tax. No complaints there. But two other ideas prompted quick criticism from Republicans.

Part of her plan would stop the next cut in the insurance premium tax. A series of incremental cuts, from 2 percent to 1 percent, were supposed to produce a lot of new insurance jobs, as many as 4,000. That hasn't happened, by any stretch, and its cost the state $17 million.

Cilley, a Barrington Democrat, said the most generous estimate of new jobs is 300, and most of them were on their way before the tax cut.

Cilley's initial draft called for a nuclear plant tax of 0.3 percent, but she said the figure is a drafting error and should be a straight 3 percent. That would produce about $41 million a year, based on a value of $1.6 billion and after a rebate of other property taxes to Seabrook owners. Other estimates are that the plant is worth more in the neighborhood of $700 million.

Cilley said Seabrook is a merchant plant, owned by Florida Power and Light, that sells most of its power to customers outside New Hampshire. That means the tax will have minimal if any effect on ratepayers here, she said.

Sen. Deborah Reynolds, D-Plymouth, is co-sponsor with Cilley, if you can squeeze that in anywhere.

Senate Republican Leader Peter Bragdon criticized the bill as part of Democrats' "continuing effort to punish the rest of New Hampshire for their own self-inflicted budget problems."

When Cilley was quoted in Foster's Daily Democrat Thursday saying she was misled into voting for the LLC tax in June, state GOP spokesman Ryan Williams turned his guns on Gov. John Lynch as the mis-leader.

Williams said Cilley confirmed that Lynch "dishonestly misled New Hampshire voters when he proposed and personally campaigned for his job-killing LLC small business income tax."

Actually, Cilley said later, she felt misled by a Business and Industry Association statement left on Senate desks last June, along with assurances from Revenue Commission Kevin Clougherty that the tax only closed a loophole and would not hurt small business.

The BIA statement said the rushed LLC enactment was "an example of poor public-policy making." It added, though, that through Clougherty, "our concerns regarding the LLC provisions were answered," and it urged a vote for the 2010-11 budget.

Lynch press secretary Colin Manning said Williams is way off-base. The LLC was designed to close a tax loophole, he said. It "was vetted by the BIA and they ended up endorsing budget." Since June, tax pros have designed ways to open new LLC loopholes, so Lynch wants to repeal the tax bill and take a step back, Manning said.

As for Seabrook, Cilley's tax proposal is being considered by the Senate Finance Committee, chaired by gambling proponent Sen. Lou D'Allesandro, D-Manchester.

Chances are slim at best that he'll go along with a bill that would raise a tax and relieve building pressure to pass some form of expanded gambling.

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ECONOMIC TURNAROUND? Employment Security Commissioner Tara Reardon said last week there are little glints of hope that the economy may be starting to recover.

"We're seeing more overtime in manufacturing, temp agencies are very busy, which is an indication that there is more work out there waiting to be done," she said. "Mom-and-pops are working 14-hour days themselves, which again is a precursor to bringing on a new employee."

Reardon made her observations while talking to the press about the NH Working job training program that starts tomorrow. The program allows business to train workers for six weeks while they are paid with unemployment benefits.

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STEPHEN'S FUNDRAISING FEAST: Bobby Stephen plans his 32nd annual St. Patrick's Day feast at the Executive Court Banquet Facility this Wednesday.

The proceeds will go toward the Bobby Stephen Fund for Education scholarship program, Stephen said.

The event draws notables from all circles, Stephen said, noting he loves putting on the event.

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SEA FINDS SAVINGS: Leaders of the State Employees' Association say they've identified $100 million in savings and additional funding to help the state close a projected $140 million budget gap.

SEA hasn't reached a contract settlement with the state, at least not since last fall, when they reached one and then urged members to vote against it.

Talks have resumed, but without result. "Despite weekly meetings, few of the most-transformational, most cost-saving proposals have been agreed to by the state," SEA said in a joint statement.

Among the savings it suggests is a cut in contractor personnel costs, something allowed in state contract with outside service providers. A 3.5 percent pay cut for those workers would produce $18 million in savings, SEA said.

The biggest chunk of change it identified was $70 million, not through new taxes or spending cuts, but in emergency Medicaid funding that is moving through Congress.

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Tom Fahey is State House bureau chief for New Hampshire Union Leader and Sunday News.