This week, the House met on 35 bills, fourteen on consent. Only two committees reported bills – Finance and Ways & Means – and all had passed the House from the policy committee. This created a strong presumption that we should pass these bills again!
The consent calendar passed on a voice vote, then we debated HB 112. This required all students in the state university system pass a civics test, if they haven’t already (it’s a requirement to graduate from high school.) The opposition was concerned about micromanagement of UNH – a reasonable concern – but also seemed to believe the lavish fiscal note on how much it would cost to administer the (free, on line) test and keep track of who has passed it, or is exempt from the requirement. The sponsor spoke in favor, also mentioning that taking tests is a normal occurrence on college campuses, and we voted for it, 191-157. By the number of constituents who seem to think I’m in Washington, not Concord, I can vouch for the need.
HB 629, raising the cost of a boat decal and sending the increase to the dam maintenance fund, was not tabled, 155-192, and passed on a voice vote. The majority office had been pushing us to not pass this – and the similar HB 1655 – so that the governor could propose a unified, comprehensive funding source for lake maintenance in next year’s budget. This argument did not impress the House.
HB 1130, on judicial performance evaluations, was not tabled, 156-194, then adopted the committee amendment on a voice vote. Debate followed, with the sponsor pointing out that the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court had worked with him to develop this bill. It passed, 194-156.
HB 1421, title exemptions for cars over 20 years old, and HB 1457, natural organic reduction of human remains, both passed without comment.
HB 1458, requiring proprietors of massage parlors and bodywork establishments, had a motion to table. This surprised me because the issue in committee was that it didn’t do enough, but that motion was defeated, 158-193. The amendment clarifying the FBI criminal background check, and the bill, were then adopted on voice votes.
HB 1469, on licensing and inspection requirements for massage establishments, was amended (to delete a new position) on a voice vote, then passed, 323-28. I made a few remarks against, and voted against it, since I’m more concerned with the effects on local establishments than having the license clerks act as law enforcement. Obviously, not very convincing!
HB 1477, permitting and regulating anchored seasonal floats, was not tabled, 169-178. After some debate, it was not killed, 172-180, and passed on a voice vote. Opponents, including me, were concerned about the cost of collection and the appropriateness of regulating these floats; supporters seemed so focused on funding cyanobacteria cleanups that they didn’t care.
HB 1483, a license plate for amateur radio operators, passed without comment, as did HB 1492, regulation of towing from highways.
HB 155, enforcement of the state fire code, was debated and passed, 192-162. The opposition was concerned about local control, supporters wanted the fire code to be enforced fairly throughout the state.
HB 1563, revising the special education aid formula, passed without comment, as did HB 1571, requiring the department of education review academic standards and curriculum. HB 1576, enforcement of criminal restitution obligations, also passed on a voice vote.
HB 1602, creating a battery stewardship program, was debated at length. Supporters kept saying that we need to recycle batteries. Dan spoke, pointing out that this bill does not actually mandate recycling, and it allows the producer organization to set charges (with no oversight) and blocks producers, sellers, and recyclers that don’t pay into their consortium. Most damning is that it exempts most batteries: nothing that cannot be easily removed, no car batteries, no disposables – only power tool batteries and e-bike batteries that we can determine. In any event, the enthusiasm was so great that these pesky details were not convincing, and the interim study motion failed, 128-226, a floor amendment to fix many of the reference errors Dan had pointed out passed on a voice vote, and the bill passed, 244-112.
HB 1633, expanding the information given to survivors of sexual assault, passed 340-1 with only a few words from me.
HB 1705, allowing small town first responders to sign up with the state employee assistance program, was debated and not sent to interim study, 167-181. This was another well-intentioned bill that would have to be almost completely rewritten to be effective, but everybody liked the idea so much only the nit pickers like me were opposed: the amendment, deleting the funding and delaying implementation, passed, 299-49. Then the bill passed by acclamation.
HB 1775, utility ownership of small gas and nuclear generators, was debated and passed, 198-153. I spoke in favor, the opponents argued on the cost and the policy of letting utilities own power generation plants.
A member moved to take HB 1446 off the table. This would declare that therapeutic cannabis use does not disqualify one from buying or owning firearms. The motion failed, 81-270, at least partly because it would need a 2/3 vote to actually act on the bill!
HB 1809, authorizing the medical use of psilocybin, was debated and not killed, 127-222. An amendment to eliminate the pilot program (and most of the cost) leaving only an advisory board passed 248-101, then the bill passed on a voice vote.
HB 1542, refunding to ratepayers the renewable energy fund and the payments to it, was debated and passed, 189-162. Opponents claimed it was shortsighted to stop subsidizing local energy production for minor cuts to electric bills, while supporters wanted to stop the subsidies.
HB 1655, setting up a property-based fee around lakes to fund cyanobacteria mitigation, had been tied in committee. It was tabled, 187-161.
This completes our action on House bills, and now we start in on Senate bills. Nothing in Finance yet, so probably no newsletter.
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