Constitutional amendments are back.

In the never-ending battle to find a solution to the state school-funding dilemma, the Senate will have public hearings Tuesday on the latest proposal, sponsored by Senate Majority Leader Joseph Foster, with support from Minority Leader Ted Gatsas and Gov. John Lynch. Three others are scheduled for a hearing, too.

We'll hear plenty about these in the next few months. In fact, the fighting has already started. Lawyers are picking sides. Republicans question whether the wording gives the state enough funding flexibility. Some Democrats complain it gives the Legislature a giant loophole out of adequate funding.

Tomorrow, the Business and Industry Association will host a press conference with a group of business organizations supporting the bill.

The Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce, home builders, grocers, retailers, restaurant owners and car dealers are part of the BIA coalition. "Primary and secondary education is a shared responsibility between municipal, state and federal governments, and the most effective use of state education funds is through thoughtful targeting of aid to cities and towns that need it most," BIA's Andrea Rupp said.

On Friday, attorney Scott Johnson, co-counsel in the Claremont Coalition lawsuits, released an op-ed piece arguing that the amendment will send the state back to the old Augenblick days, referring to an aid formula that fizzled under a veto by then Gov. Steve Merrill.

If the amendment passes, Johnson says, it will lock in a too-low level of school aid that hasn't changed in a nearly a decade.

Lynch, he wrote, "might as well say 'Hope you enjoy your local property tax increase,' because when you limit state funds for education, you just increase the amounts that local communities have to pay." He also worries that the amendment lowers the standard for Supreme Court scrutiny to its lowest level, through the repeated use of the word "reasonable." Now, education is considered a fundamental right and gets the highest level of court protection, Johnson said.

Budget battles

It could get testy at the Ways and Means Committee this week when it reviews state revenue estimates through 2009.

Republicans challenged the assumptions in the state budget even before it passed. They argue now that this year's $50 million projected deficit will grow to $150 million by the end of fiscal 2009 in June of next year. They complain big spending by Democrats -- a 17.5 percent jump over the biennium -- got us in this fix.

Rep. Susan Almy, chairman of Ways and Means, remains calm.

"State revenues for January came in almost exactly as projected last spring, after bookkeeping adjustments," and for the year are off $1.1 million from the budget plan, she said in a statement.

"So far, New Hampshire's revenues have held up well relative to the rest of the country, a testament to the prudent nature of the original revenue projections. However, we need to recognize that economic conditions are worse than anticipated last spring, and revenue projections should be updated in light of this change," she said.

The view-tax issue

Amendments, taxes, budget deficits, all are guaranteed to be election year issues.

But the "view tax?" It's starting to look that way.

State Sen. Joe Kenney and Manchester Mayor Frank Guinta attended Tom Thomson's presentation on inequities in factoring the view tax.

Both Guinta and Kenney are preparing a run for the Republican nomination for governor. They stuck around after the presentation to talk with attendees while Thomson, a timberland owner from Orford, handed out "Ax the View Tax" bumper stickers.

Guinta said he worries that the issue of unfair assessments will spread throughout the state, "thereby increasing unfairly what a property taxpayer pays on their property." He said the state needs licensing and better oversight of assessors.

"When proper oversight is not utilized, there is an opportunity for people to make mistakes," he said.

Kenney has sponsored a bill to eliminate views as a factor in a property assessment. He thinks the arrival of professional assessors has hurt property owners.

"It used to be that we had elected tax assessors in our communities. They understood local concerns and situations. Not anymore," he said.

Nashua and Manchester might not care much, but the further into rural areas one gets, the bigger this issue becomes.

Parole hearing notices

The Senate this week takes up a 5-0 recommendation that the state publish parole hearing notices on the parole board's Web site instead of in newspapers. The board would still mail crime victims hearings notices.

This bill follows a change in law last year that ended the placement of Health and Human Services job ads in newspapers (job seekers now check the HHS Web site), and a bill that repeals Fish and Game's responsibility for publishing hunting season notices in newspapers.

Sen. Bob Letourneau supports the bill, which saves about $10,000 a year.

Foster described it as "modernization of a process" that needed an update to the electronic age.

Tobacco taxes

Store owners along the Massachusetts border are crossing their fingers.

The Massachusetts Legislature is considering a tobacco tax increase to cover a $400 million deficit in the state's health insurance program. The Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids is pushing for a $1 tax increase on each pack of cigarettes. A pack already costs a Bay State smoker between $4.50 and $5.50. The tax-hike effort is still in the early stages, but any increase would make Granite State butts a bigger bargain.

Our own House votes this week on a bill to extend the tobacco tax to mini-cigars that are packaged like cigarettes. They're wrapped in tobacco instead of paper, so they haven't been taxed like cigarettes -- yet.

House Ways and Means is mulling a bill to include cigars and snuff under tobacco taxes. HB 1510 would more than triple the tax on all non-cigarette tobacco to raise $4.5 million for tobacco-use prevention and cessation programs.

House Commerce will hear HB 1553 Thursday, which would bar cigarette vending machines and free samples.

Darfur divesting

The House two years ago condemned genocide in the Darfur region of Sudan. A new bill would force the state's two public pension plans to divest holdings in any company that does business in Sudan.

James Mangok Wol, 25, who fled as a refugee at the age of 5, lives in Greenfield. He said he doesn't understand the need for debate.

"We've seen war from generation to generation. When and where are we going to act to solve this problem?" he asked.

Both the state retirement system and the judicial retirement system oppose the bill, saying it creates a direct conflict with their duty to act in a prudent fiduciary role.

So far, 22 states have passed a divestment law.

The tax ax

Rep. Dave Campbell, a Nashua Democrat, couldn't resist boasting about House action last week on tax bills.

"I just want it noted that the Democratic House defeated the gas tax, the bottle tax and the income tax, all in one day," he said.

Stay tuned -- the House has two more income tax bills to vote on this week, both with a thumbs-down from Ways and Means.

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