COMPLICATED MATTERS: The legislative playoffs have officially begun after House and Senate members finished their voting on all bills last week.

The House, however, complicated the picture by deciding not to meet Wednesday, although the deadline to form conference committees to negotiate different versions of bills is Thursday.

When the Senate meets Wednesday at 9 a.m., it could agree to House changes to its bills, kill the bills because of the changes, or ask to negotiate over the differences.

The deadline for conference committees to finish their work is Thursday, May 31, a little more than a week away.

With the House not meeting on Wednesday, if representatives decide not to go along with one of their committees' recommendations on a bill and want to negotiate with the Senate, there will be little or no chance to do that.

Greg Moore, House chief of staff, said that when the House adjourned Thursday, it allowed Speaker William O'Brien to appoint committees of conference. He said the House does need to vote on all final actions, such as agreeing to Senate changes or killing bills, but not on appointing members to conference committees.

If the House does overturn a committee recommendation and decides it wants to negotiate on a bill, Moore said, it could ask the Senate to agree to a conference committee.

“If we went forward with a committee of conference,” Moore said, “we would have to move quickly and set it up, but it would give us a day-and-a-half.”

However, the Senate would not have to agree to a conference committee if the deadline had passed. If the Senate didn't agree to a conference committee, the bill would die.

House members didn't object to the arrangement, but you have to believe some of them are not going to be happy because it leaves many decisions to the House leadership without their input.

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MORE COMPLICATIONS: The House spent most of Wednesday loading up Senate bills with provisions the House passed but the Senate killed.

Senate Bill 399, which was sponsored by Senate President Peter Bragdon and would limit the permit application fees for public dredging projects, now includes provisions to: prohibit taxing Internet access; require legislative approval of Department of Revenue Administration tax forms; and raise the threshold for paying the business enterprise tax. It also includes $1.5 million to help reduce the wait list for services to the developmentally disabled.

The Senate, however, attached the provisions for the Internet access tax and the $1.5 million onto the House bill that raised the exemptions to the business enterprise tax.

That means the Senate will not agree to the House's version of SB 399, which will kill it.

Follow all that?

Similar gyrations will occur with other provisions the House added to Senate bills, including those regarding: right-to-work efforts, exempting employers who object on religious or moral grounds to a state mandate to provide birth control services as part of their health plan for employees, and allowing communities to establish one-year moratoriums on refugee resettlement programs.

Many of these bills are not likely to survive after Wednesday, when the Senate will decide on 60 bills the House amended and 20 requests from the House to form conference committees.

It will be a long day.

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WHAT DIDN'T HAPPEN: Among the shenanigans last week was
Senate Bill 308, which would have proclaimed Jan. 24, 2013, as Granny D Day in New Hampshire.

The House killed that bill along with SB 310, proclaiming a day for epilepsy awareness and cancer prevention, while approving SB 351, proclaiming Blue Star Mothers Day, and SB 398, establishing Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Day.

SB 308 was killed and then tabled, and the next day, Rep. Alfred Baldasaro, R-Londonderry, asked to have the bill removed from the table to add an amendment.

The amendment, sponsored by Republican Reps. Baldasaro, J.R Hoell, Daniel Tamburello, Guy Comtois, Jennifer Coffey, Steven Cunningham, Mark Warden and Kenneth Kreis, would have also added Ronald Reagan Day on Feb. 6, 2013, and the so-called constitutional gun-carry provision to the bill. The provision would allow anyone who can legally own a firearm to carry it loaded and concealed without a license.

The House refused to take the bill off the table on a 166-146 vote on Wednesday.

Proponents tried again Thursday to take it off the table to add the amendment, but that vote failed, 148-97.

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EDUCATION AMENDMENT: One of the key conference committees this session — CACR 12, on education funding — kicks off Tuesday at 1 p.m. in Rooms 301-303 of the Legislative Office Building.

The two sides will try to work out a delicate balance between what the Senate passed and the House leadership proposed.

There are key differences in wording, including use of the words “wholesome” and “responsibility” and the phrases “as (the Legislature) may judge for the benefit and welfare of this state,'' and “the full power and authority to make determinations.”

The House leadership has agreed to the word “responsibility,” but enough rank-and-file members may not to achieve the 60 percent majority needed to pass.

The word “wholesome'' is a head scratcher to many people, although others say it is a kind of substitute for “cherish” in the state constitution.

The wording would give lawmakers the power to determine what, if any, money should go to local education aid to school districts in a budgetary bind, and that scares some people.

Democrats want no part of the House language, and Gov. John Lynch has yet to say whether he would back it.

Lynch did approve of the Senate's amendment.

Optimists say something will be worked out because there will never be a better chance to put something before voters with large Republican majorities in the House and Senate and a governor supporting some form of an amendment to better target state aid.

Pessimists, however, note House leadership did little to work with Lynch during the last two years and is trying to shift the blame to him and the Democrats who were never on board, so little is likely to change.

Don't look for a quick resolution to this conference committee.

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FILING PERIOD : The state Supreme Court released the schedule for the five consolidated challenges to the House redistricting plan, which redraws the political boundaries for House seats.

Oral arguments are scheduled the same day the filing period opens for state offices, June 6.

Deputy Secretary of State David Scanlan said the office is moving forward with the filing period under the House plan, which is state law.

“We'll go ahead with the filing period, and depending on what the House does, we'll react accordingly.” Scanlan said.

The time period is tight, he noted, as absentee ballots have to be in the hands of military personnel 45 days before the primary election.

“If we get into July, the timing is really tight,” he said.

The filing period lasts for 10 days, then political parties can file candidates for vacant seats. Challenges to candidates can be made and may have to go before the Ballot Law Commission, Scanlan noted.

And he said independent candidates will need petitions signed by voters in the district in which they are running, so some may initially collect petitions in towns they may not be running in if the court decides changes are needed.

House candidates have to file for office with their town or city clerk; candidates for governor, U.S. Senate, U.S. House, New Hampshire Executive Council, state Senate or county office must file with the secretary of state.

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EXECUTIVE COUNCIL DISTRICTS: The House districts are not the only ones up in the air; the Executive Council districts have not been finalized between the House and Senate plans for the five districts.

Both the House and Senate plans make substantial changes in the five districts to the benefit and detriment of sitting councilors and candidates.

There has been little discussion between the House and the Senate on the two different plans and not a lot of optimism anything can be resolved.

If there is no resolution, the current districts would remain in place, as they have since 1991.

The Executive Council districts, unlike the Senate and House districts, do not have to be reconfigured because they fall within the suggested federal guidelines for allowable deviations from the ideal number of voters in each district.

If the districts do not change, that would certainly please Councilors Ray Burton and Daniel St. Hilaire, in Districts 1 and 2, but not be quite so good for Councilors Chris Sununu and David Wheeler, seeking reelection in Districts 3 and 5.

District 4 is an open seat, with the retirement of Councilor Ray Wieczorek.

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EIGHT SENATORS LEAVING: Sen. Amanda Merrill of Durham announced last week she would not be seeking reelection after serving two terms as the District 21 senator.

Her announcement brings to eight the senators not seeking reelection to their seats, six of them freshmen.

While eight is a fairly high number of incumbents not to be seeking reelection, it is not unheard off.

But with new Senate districts in place, the turnover is apt to be even larger in November.

Garry Rayno writes State House Dome weekly for the New Hampshire Sunday News. Email him at grayno@unionleader.com