We learned that it was a good day for 2nd amendment rights, parental rights, health freedom rights, and school choice. The Republican-led House passed some really good bills today.
We learned that long-winded debate speeches do not do anything to change anyone’s mind prior to voting. The new ventilation system must be working overtime to circulate all that hot air. To that end, with the huge stack of House bills before us, it would be appreciated if House members, particularly our liberal friends across the aisle, would just cut to the chase and offer brief remarks before we press that red or green button.
We learned that NH Constitutional amendments are not the place to stick cannabis legalization laws, therefore CACR 20, CACR34, and CACR 35 all got canned via ITL or Table motions. After the smoke clears on all that, we do know that cannabis legalization will return in a later House session when HB1598 emerges from Ways and Means Committee.
We learned that the ridiculous land posting bill, HB1108, died with a vote of 239-102. This bill would have allowed people to post their land by painting trees and stones with purple paint instead of placing notices on them that contains names and contact information. Just because other states, like Maine (who now regrets the decision), do this doesn’t mean NH has to follow in foolish lockstep. Apparently, Rep. Casey Conley (D-Dover) would rather have Granite Staters deface trees with purple paint than with “nails and plastic signs.”
We learned that innovation in our financial systems with regard to cryptocurrency came one step closer to reality as House Republicans passed legislation promoting blockchain technology. We passed HB1503-FN (187-150) exempting the developer, seller, or facilitator of the exchange of an open blockchain token from certain securities laws and adopting the Uniform Commercial Code relative to controllable electronic records. NH will be a leader in this revolutionary technology by being the first in the nation to move forward with this trillion-dollar industry, creating jobs and investments. Now, if we only had purchased Bitcoin way back when….
We learned that House Republicans protected our 2nd amendment rights by passing HB1178 (190-147), which prohibits the State from enforcing federal statutes, regulations, and Presidential Executive Orders designed to trample your right to bear arms. Who listens to Joe Biden anyway?
We learned that after hundreds of years of being able to open carry a firearm at polling places, your right to do so would not be removed by HB1096, as that bill was defeated 190-153. In his floor speech, Rep. David Meuse (D- Portsmouth) tried to conjure up all sorts of hideous fiction regarding voter intimidation and open carry… but 190 House Reps knew better.
We also learned that the bill requiring background checks (HB1668) was killed 179-144. This bill would have made gifts or loaning firearms to friends, family, and neighbors into crimes. We see this bill every year. It is as perennial as the grass. It is good we mowed it down – again.
We learned that HB1476’s (bail reform) prime sponsor, Rep. Ross Berry (R-Manchester), can deliver an amazing floor speech as he talked about keeping our streets safe from repeat offenders. Passage of this bill means repeat offenders will be brought before a judge instead of a bail commissioner and cuts the maximum time someone can be held without seeing a judge from 72 to 36 hours. Catch and release is not working, and this bill fixes that and gets people off the street and sent towards the help they need sooner. This bill passed 199-134. Word has it that people in cities like Manchester are cheering.
We learned that House Republicans care about protecting children’s health choices today. We passed HB1131 (166-157), prohibiting school boards from making policies that require masks. Wearing masks should be by individual and parental choice. Now many can breathe easier as this moves to the Senate. We also passed HB1241 (166-148) which prohibits schools from mandating COVID-19 vaccinations to attend school.
We learned that various efforts to kill the Education Freedom Account program failed as a number of bills (HB1114, HB1115, HB1120, HB1152) meant to change the rules and weaken the program failed. It’s been a successful program and many kids and their families are reaping the benefits from school choice. Class dismissed.
We learned that the “woke” bill HB1261, which would have prohibited the use of Native American mascots in public schools, colleges, and Universities was defeated 170-143. Republicans understand that employing the qualities and symbols of our Native Americans is not inherently disrespectful or derogatory, in fact, they honor the many fine attributes of our Native Americans. Also, the decision to use names like warriors, braves, etc. is entirely up to the local school districts and institutions. One has to wonder why the Democrats are on the warpath to erase words that imply strength, bravery, and fortitude.
Finally, we learned that we have 154 more bills to cover by Thursday. Any bets on whether we’ll finish up or not? Stay tuned to see whether we’ll have to pull another all-nighter as we did 2 years ago!
