This week, my committee met to recommend eighteen bills to the House. HB 1121, proclaiming PANS/ PANDA Day, was recommended it be killed, 17-2, because the previous proclamations by the governor had not enlightened any of the members of the committee!
We thought that training for teachers and others in the school system would be more useful, and recommended the sponsors work with the department of education.
HB 1188, deleting conditional licenses for allied health professionals, was passed unanimously because criminal background checks are being completed so rapidly (in 2-3 days, usually, versus months) that conditional licenses are unnecessary. This has been a major accomplishment of the state police in the last two or three years: they cleared their backlog and streamlined the process for background checks, improving turnaround times at all the licensing boards!
HB 1228, proclaiming climate change awareness day, was amended to combine it with Earth Day and passed, 11-8. I voted against because it seems redundant to Earth Day, and I’m not in favor of proclaiming “days.” HB 1242, proclaiming Jamaican Appreciation Day, was also killed, 18-1, because we thought it would be more appropriate to have a town by town appreciation of their immigrant or transient groups, rather than a statewide proclamation on a random summer day.
HB 1253, establishing an advisory council on eyeglass and contact lens dispensing, was debated and passed, 11-8. I was opposed because the dispensers are registered, not licensed, and the requirements to start in the profession are minimal (high school, a clear criminal record, and the ability to pay the fee.) And complaints have been so few that I can’t see the office of professional licensing needing help to investigate them! Why create an advisory council, with quarterly meetings and all, unless this is a first step towards licensing one of the few professions we have left that one can learn on the job?
HB 1286, licensure of music therapists, was also debated and passed, 14-5. The amendment vastly improved the bill by deleting the language that seemed to encroach on other professions, but the idea of creating a new board for 33 music therapists is ridiculous. HB 1314, on the other hand, was amended to eliminate references to one private organization of acupuncturists and offer alternatives to the qualifying examination. It passed, 18-1, with the opponent a curmudgeon who doesn’t believe in acupuncture. (I don’t believe the theory myself, but the practice has been proven effective.)
HB 1367, on out of state applicants for occupational licensing, went to interim study, 18-0. The idea was good – establish a path for immigrants from states where a license is not required for that profession – but the language was not clear enough. I expect I’ll be working on this bill over the summer.
HB 1382, proclaiming April 8, 2024 as Solar Eclipse Day, was briefly debated and passed, 17-2. That eclipse will reach totality in the northern part of the state, and based on the 2017 total eclipse (visible in southern states) our department of travel & tourism should start planning now.
HB 1407, on adopting rules relative to forms, was amended and passed, 18-1. Since rules have the force of law, and most people deal with the forms, not the actual rules, it’s important to get the forms right. This bill settles some disputes I’ve been seeing in JLCAR between various agencies and the staff, and makes it easier to modify forms, when necessary. HB 1485, requiring video cameras in group homes, went to interim study, 19-0. The concern is real – to document abuse to both residents and staff – but there are serious questions as to consent, privacy, and cost that need to be settled before anything is put into law.
HB 1494, adding public works personnel (state and local) to those eligible for a line of duty death benefit, was debated over the question of liability by municipalities, and that line of duty deaths in municipalities are often not fully investigated. It was passed, 15-4; I voted against because I believe the issue of liability was not resolved and I’m concerned about the state paying benefits to municipal employees.
HB 1498, creating a state hiring preference for members of a national service organization (like Americorps), was killed unanimously, on the sponsors’ request; the service organization will work with the bureau of personnel and doesn’t believe a law is needed. HB 1536, on investigations by the pharmacy board, went to interim study, 19-0, because the work session revealed a nasty situation between the pharmacists, doctors, nurses, and hospitals, all of whom had different (and often conflicting!) concerns.
HB 1550, granting accidental death benefits to police or fire suffering from heart attacks, was killed unanimously because it belongs in the workers’ compensation law, not pension law, and that’s not something my committee is familiar with. We might have sent it to another committee if we’d realized that earlier, but the deadlines are past.
HB 1711, creating a study committee on the appeals process for child daycare violations, passed unanimously because all of us have heard complaints from daycare agencies in our districts, and the whole licensing and inspection process seems adversarial, not cooperative. HB 1713, decreasing the continuing education requirements for child daycare workers, was debated at length. The majority stated that the requirements were set in rules, not laws, and so the fix should be in rules; they had an agreement with the licensing agency to start rule-making and include CPR and first aid in the courses allowable. I was opposed because I’m concerned that the continuing education requirements are a burden to the low pay workers in the industry, and increasing their pay to compensate will make daycare unaffordable to many. Many of the people testifying in support of this bill were talking about the ideal daycare workers they wanted to teach their children, but our laws should be the minimum to ensure the safety of the children.
HB 1644, taking the “race” question off the marriage license form, went to interim study because the department of health & human services was concerned it might jeopardize some of their grant funding. The vote was 16-3, with another three (including me) voting for interim study with the provision that we not be assigned to do the study! Race may not be needed on marriage licenses to prevent inter-racial marriage, but it has been a valuable element in genealogical research.
This week, we had a rather quieter session than last week, with no reprimands scheduled. HB 1112, amended to be a study committee on programs for female parolees, passed without debate. HB 1130, making assault against an elderly person a class A felony (rather than a misdemeanor) was debated and killed on a voice vote. The sponsor might have had more luck if he’d defined “elderly” as something more than age 60!
From my committee, HB 1292, reforming the Manchester city retirement system, passed quietly. The sponsor debated HB 1447, changing the penalties for retirees exceeding the part-time hourly limits, but he didn’t seem to realize that the bill applied to all retirees, not just the part-time police officers he talked about, nor that there were significant problems with the bill violating federal law. It was killed; 339-8.
HB 677, on the discipline of students and addressing students’ behavioral needs, passed 259-90, with its $1 appropriation and no debate. HB 705, increasing the maximum payment from the victims’ assistance fund; HB 1224, appropriating $500,000 to the lakeshore redevelopment planning commission, with the proviso that it would take the former Laconia State School grounds off the state’s hands; and HB 1234, appropriating the last of the funds to finish the new heating system for the capital complex (it’s taking longer than planned, but not costing any more), all passed without debate. SB 7, adopting “motor-voter” registration, was not debated but passed, 202-146, looking like a party-line vote. I was amused to notice this week that Massachusetts – which is a motor-voter state – was complaining about it and some legislators were pushing to become a same-day registration state!
CACR 14, attempting to put abortion rights into the state constitution, was tabled. 244-105, before the (probably lengthy) debate, with the opponents being either those who wanted to actually kill the amendment (most Republicans, including me) or those pushing to pass the amendment (some of the more fervent Democrats.) CACR 15, regulating searches and seizures, was debated before being killed on a voice vote. This extremely detailed constitutional amendment is more appropriately dealt with in statute, as we have a privacy clause in our constitution that seems to cover this issue. HB 1353, on the ancient right of quo warranto, was killed without comment as nobody felt it was necessary (or, for many, what quo warranto actually is.)
HB 1181, allowing the public employer labor relations board award pain and suffering damages, was killed without debate. HB 1221, forbidding hiring managers to ask for personal financial and credit history, was amended, 213-129, and passed, 210-139, without debate as this was a repeat bill that had been vetoed last year. HB 1290, allowing labor unions to request mail-only elections, was debated and passed, 209-134. HB 1322, forbidding the university system from spending to oppose union formation, was so broadly written that it would also forbid many other employee communications during a union organizing drive. It passed, 207-137. HB 1399, reinstating “card check,” which allows a bargaining unit to be established by submitting signature cards from a majority of employees, also passed, 205-142, after some debate. HB 1554, requiring a union recertification vote when the majority of employees have not actually voted for their union (as when it was a long time ago, or before a hiring boom), was killed 211-136, without debate. All the votes on these labor bills were essentially party line.
HB 1125, enabling towns to vote to exempt volunteer firefighters from property taxes (up to the total value of their home!), was debated and killed, 310-31. I voted to kill it because it had no benefit for firefighters who rented, and was wide open on who qualified as a “volunteer firefighter.” As far as I can tell, the supporters wanted a way to give their firefighters a raise that would not also increase their federal income taxes…
HB 1155, exempting from the timber tax the first 10,000 board feet, was briefly debated and killed on a voice vote, as were HB 1158, which would require towns to cite the specific law that authorized an ordinance; HB 1197, completely exempting disabled veterans from property taxes; and HB 1210, exempting energy storage systems from one’s property assessment. HB 1276, making ex-officio members of budget committees and planning boards (usually selectmen or school board members) non-voting, was debated before being killed, 216-122. I voted to support the bill because I’ve seen these members be very protective of their budgets, not considering the overall town situation as budget committee members must.
HB 1277, requiring towns to send notice to dog owners who have not renewed their dog license, was debated and killed on a voice vote. That seemed a clear-cut unfunded mandate to me! HB 1372, electing Carroll county commissioners by districts instead of at-large, was debated and passed, 203-141. It was amusing to listen to the debate, which did not mention that this was a gerrymandering bill, intended to elect one Democrat county commissioner: Carroll county is more Republican than not, and the Democrats are clustered in one district.
HB 1441, changing the perambulation of town lines from every seven years to “as needed”, was killed 271-74. I voted against it because I’d talked to one of the Epsom selectmen, who said it had been done recently and had resolved a border dispute with Deerfield. HB 1546, which would allow a county convention to avoid taking minutes at a meeting that was convened only to approve the minutes of a previous meeting (!) was killed without debate.
HB 1629, about procedures for planning and zoning boards, had a thorough debate that confused a lot of people. This is a long, complex bill with a lot of pieces, some excellent, some questionable. The committee amendment passed 276-63, and the bill passed 276-60. After some thought, I decided the good (putting deadlines on planning board actions, requiring fees that are not posted be waived, and streamlining the appeal process) outweighed the bad (requiring “workforce housing” in every residential zone and granting more centralized control over the planning and zoning procedures.)
HB 1480, reinstating the need for legislative approval of changes to the systems benefits charge on electric bills, was debated and killed, 201-130, with one Republican voting with all Democrats in favor of the bill.
HB 1383, prohibiting commercial trucks from left lane travel, was killed without comment, as was HB 1427, removing the authorization for OHRV use on some highway sections. HB 1408, specifically allowing clear covers over license plates, passed on a voice vote. HB 1621, requiring motorcycle helmets, was laid on the table by the majority leader, 193-141. Despite the committee recommendation to kill the bill, apparently the supporters wanted to debate the issue.
HB 1492, establishing a sales tax on some electronic devices, was debated by the sponsor who wanted to overturn the committee recommendation to kill the bill. He lost, 320-11.
HB 1652, including ski lift tickets under the meals & rooms tax, was killed, 323-7, without debate. HB 1699, increasing the tax on e-cigarettes 400%, was not tabled, 144-185, debated and passed, 172-142. Nineteen Democrats joined all Republicans in voting against it. Since the tax on these devices was only established this year, it’s hard to say the current level is incorrect.
Representative Carol McGuire
carol@mcguire4house.com
Editor: This is Rep. McGuire’s regular constituent email. The title has been changed for publication here.
