Carol McGuire, Author at Granite Grok

Your State House 1/17/2025

January 19, 2025 Carol McGuire

This week, my committee started with orientation, getting presentations from the JLCAR staff on the administrative rules process; from the retirement system on pensions; and the OPLC (Office of Professional Licensure and Certification) on licensing and board operations. This was good background information for the new members and reminders for the experienced ones. We also … Read more

Your State House Jan 9, 2025

January 12, 2025January 12, 2025 Carol McGuire

In November, I was reelected to represent the people of Allenstown, Dunbarton, Epsom, and Hooksett for another two years – thank you for your vote! I was also re-appointed chair of the Executive Departments and administration (ED&A) committee, dealing with professional licensing, the state pension system, the state building code, administrative rules, and the organization … Read more

Your State House – The Last Session

January 12, 2025June 20, 2024 Carol McGuire

[Last] week, the House met for the last time to vote on all committee of conference reports. No amendments allowed – just yes or no. And a motion to table is a non-debatable motion to kill the bill.

Your State House – 5/30/24

January 12, 2025May 30, 2024 Carol McGuire

This week, the House met to vote on all remaining Senate bills. Since the Senate has been working away, quite a few bills some members strongly supported have been killed or drastically amended, one way or another.

Your State House – 4/28/24

January 12, 2025April 28, 2024 Carol McGuire

This week, my committee met twice on Senate bills. Tuesday we voted on six of them. SB 439, prohibiting boycotts of Israel in state procurement, was the most divisive. I moved to kill the bill, since the committee has long opposed using the state procurement system to make political statements.

Your State House – A Comprehensive Look At Last Week’s Legislative Activity

January 12, 2025April 3, 2024 Carol McGuire

This week, the House met to consider all bills that didn’t go to a second committee. Since this was a deadline, many bills we wanted to kill would be tabled instead since the motion to table is not debatable. Anything on the table after this week would need a 2/3 vote to do anything, so … Read more

Your State House – 3/10/24

January 12, 2025March 10, 2024 Carol McGuire

This week, my committee met to recommend eleven bills to the full House. Most had gone to the subcommittee, and as usual, we nearly always agreed with the subcommittee recommendation, and most recommendations were unanimous. HB 1387, my bill on the state building code adoption process, had a minor amendment to allow consideration of a … Read more

Your State House – 2/27/24

January 12, 2025February 27, 2024 Carol McGuire

This week, my committee continued with public hearings. HB 1188, qualifications of licensed nursing assistants, was an attempt to ease the requirement for fluency in English for this lowest level of nursing licensees. The bill separated the requirements for LNAs from those for other nurses, who still need to show their proficiency.(Interestingly, no other medical … Read more

Carol McGuire: Your State House 2/6/24

January 12, 2025February 6, 2024 Carol McGuire

This week, my committee continued with public hearings. HB 1292 allows state retirees to include adult children up to age 25 in their health insurance, whether or not they are students; this is the same as the employee plan and private health plans. Since the parents pay the full cost for their dependents, the committee … Read more

Your State House 1/16/24

January 12, 2025January 16, 2024 Carol McGuire

This week, the House started public hearings on the new bills. My committee first met to review the performance audit of mental health professional licensing. There were no surprises; the auditors found conflicting requirements, various laws not enforced, and leisurely activity by the licensing boards. Most of the statutory changes suggested have been submitted already, … Read more

Your NH State House (1-11-2024)

January 12, 2025January 11, 2024 Carol McGuire

This year started with two days of session to consider all the bills held over from last year. As usual, the consent calendar of 146 non-controversial bills passed on a voice vote, after five were removed. Those bills would be considered individually at the end of the session. A great many of these bills were … Read more

Your State House 06/23/23: Committees of Conferences – the Winddown

January 12, 2025June 26, 2023 Carol McGuire

This week, we met in committees of conference. Since the budget was agreed without one, the atmosphere was much less stressed than previous years. My committee’s bills had generated six committees, and as chair, I served on four of them… HB 358, my bill on the administrative rules process, had a three-part Senate amendment. The … Read more

Your State House 05/12/23: The Session Is Winding Down

January 12, 2025May 23, 2023 Carol McGuire

This week, we met in session for what should have been a short day. We started by agreeing with minor Senate amendments to four bills and a not-so-minor amendment to HB 252, which exempts agriculture from municipal noise ordinances. The Senate deleted “agritourism,” which had been debated in the House but narrowly (176-164) kept in … Read more

Your State House 05/28/23: Dealing With The NH Senate Bills

January 12, 2025May 5, 2023 Carol McGuire

This week, my committee met for the last public hearings on Senate bills and to vote on many of the bills in committee. SB 74 was a housekeeping bill, updating language relative to the state Department of Personnel. I brought in an amendment with similar language changes, also a request from the Department of administrative … Read more

Your State House: Licensing, Specials, Education, Gun Control, and Blaine Amendment

January 12, 2025March 30, 2023 Carol McGuire

This week, I helped the Finance committee make sense of all the licensing provisions that the Governor had included in HB 2, the budget trailer bill. They agreed to pull all the sections recommended by ED&A (the OPLC – Office of Professional Licensure & Certification) structural changes already passed in HB 655; the new massage … Read more

Your State House – February 24, 2023

January 12, 2025March 7, 2023 Carol McGuire

This week, we met in session for two days. First, we approved the committee recommendations on 40 non-controversial bills, then special ordered HB 20, naming a bridge in Merrimack for Speaker Hinch. After a laudatory speech, the bill passed 356-4. HB 459, exempting some businesses from the consumer protection act, was killed without comment. HB … Read more

Your State House 2/17/23: Budget, Sununu Youth Center, HHS Privacy, Land Use Court Judge, Gas Tax and More!

January 12, 2025February 19, 2023 Carol McGuire

This was a very busy week for me; the House met on Tuesday, my committee met as usual on Wednesday and Thursday, then JLCAR on Friday. Fortunately, I’m not planning any committee work for the next two weeks: just sessions and subcommittee work. The House session began with SB 1, a bill from Finance to … Read more

Your State House 02/10/23: Sexual Harrassment, Licensing, Early Childhood Education, and …

January 12, 2025February 14, 2023 Carol McGuire

This week, I was very busy. First, I presented my HB 147, which addresses the way sexual harassment policies are adopted. It was a request of the staff from the ethics committee, who were concerned that these policies were imposed by the joint facilities committee. It is a well-established principle that a committee cannot impose … Read more

Your State House 02/03/23: More Rulemaking, Granny D, Funding Road Maintenance, and More

January 12, 2025February 7, 2023 Carol McGuire

This week, my committee met for a day of public hearings. HB 519 creates the position of a chief information security officer in the department of information technology. The commissioner pointed out that the position already exists (and is filled) so the bill is to establish how this person fits into the department, and what … Read more

Your State House 01/27/23: Massage Establishments, Medical Spas, Early Childhood Ed, and Pensions

January 12, 2025January 31, 2023 Carol McGuire

This week, my committee met for two days of public hearings. HB 445, on the OPLC fund, was a request of the study committee on OPLC operations. It keeps all license fees within the OPLC, rather than being lapsed into the general fund, and restricts anything above normal operating expenses to capital projects (software, most … Read more