Democrat's Wood Stove "Ban Bill" Makes Another Appearance in the NH Legislature - Granite Grok

Democrat’s Wood Stove “Ban Bill” Makes Another Appearance in the NH Legislature

Woodstove fire fireplace

Nine-term Strafford County Democrat Peter Schmidt’s Wood-Stove Ban Bill died (HB290) was rebuked. The legislation would have empowered the State government to regulate certain woodstoves in certain homes depending on the will of certain bureaucrats. By “regulating” I mean force home-sellers to pull them out and destroy them as a condition of sale because they said so.

I can’t say for certain if Schmidt proposes it every session. The last time I wrote about it was 2013. That year Jaqueline Cali-Pitts and the now infamous Cynthia Chase (D- Rhode Island) co-sponsored along with  Schmidt. Rhode Island had passed a similar restriction, so I get Cynthia’s interest. Cali-Pitts did not co-sponsor HB 290 but wrote the committees ITL blurb this session for the House Calendar.

As with previous iterations, to quote Cali-Pitts, “The bill is well-intentioned but needs more work.” Even so, it only failed to get committee support by one vote.

In 2013 the bill crashed and burned on the House floor 338-9 (to kill the bill). This time around it failed 207-131 (207 to kill it, 131 to save it) with only Democrat support to save the bill.

Not the brightest move for an elected official representing people in the Northeast. Especially now that Climate Change could just as easily mean years of bitterly cold weather with no heating fuel or new energy infrastructure in NH of which to speak.

There’s no end to the interference the left will propose. As if sensible New Englanders, on the whole, can’t care for their own home an hearth. Literally.

 

How my Merrimack Reps Voted:

HB290, eliminating wood stoves built prior to 1986 (killed)
65% of House Democrats voted to Pass.
100% of House Republicans voted to Kill.

Murphy, Nancy (D, Merrimack)  Kill
Rung, Rosemarie (D, Merrimack)  Kill
Stack, Kathryn (D, Merrimack)  Pass
Thomas, Wendy (D, Merrimack)  Pass

Barry, Richard (R, Merrimack)  Absent
Hinch, Richard (R, Merrimack)  Kill
L’Heureux, Robert (R, Merrimack)  Kill
Notter, Jeanine (R, Merrimack)  Kill

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