We learned that today was the first of two days this week that the House will determine the fate of around 66 bills that were retained from last year. We voted on 37 of those bills today.
We also learned that the majority of Democrats attended the House session today wearing face masks as if they pined for the old COVID days in the UNH athletic arena. Rep. Eric Gallager (D-Concord) still wears a bandana on his face, bank-robber style. Maybe it’s all just become some sort of fashion statement…Or maybe just some cult thing?
We learned that first out of the gate was HB185 – a bill having to do with shared parenting coming out of Children and Family Law, passed with 202-172. Apparently, some changes in language will clear up ambiguities for judges when it comes to visitation and parenting rights.
We learned that HB645-FN will allow the establishment of “Decentralized Autonomous Organizations” (DAOs) in NH. Similar to legal entities like LLCs and corporations, this allows people to pursue coordinated projects using predefined rules (codified in software) deployed on public blockchain networks. A DAO allows participants to govern themselves directly over a decentralized computer network. This bill will allow a DAO to register with the NH Secretary of States office, and will make NH a leader in this new technology. Some people say it’s really cool and cutting-edge. I say it’s much better understood by the folks in the Commerce and Consumer Affairs Committee. Chairman John Hunt (R-Rindge) was absolutely thrilled at the passage of this bill 340-33, citing it as one of the most thrilling bills to come out of Commerce in a very long time.
We learned that the House killed HB113 with a vote of 195 No-178 Yes (on OTP motion) and finally a voice vote of ITL. That bill would have eliminated the physical fitness requirements for certified law enforcement officers. So, those requirements will remain in statute. The argument for removing them was that it was an impediment to hiring and that it didn’t need to be in NH statute now anyway because many police agencies and municipalities have their own physical fitness requirements. 195 members of the House felt that we need to keep physical fitness requirements on the books. We can’t have criminals being more healthy, active, and agile than our police officers now, can we?
We learned that 9 out of 12 education bills were tabled. I guess they just weren’t worth talking about, so they were tossed on the table. The three that were debated were: HB354, which passed 190-177 and would allow charter schools to be eligible for state school building aid, HB628-FN which died 195-178 and would have required homeschooling parents (teaching their own kids) to get a background check if they were getting Education Freedom Account money, and SB151-FN which died 186-183 and would have included mental health education in adequate education standards (yet another unfunded mandate in NH curriculum). Now to tackle the 100+ bills coming to their committee in the coming months! Those committee members will be camping out at the State House.
We learned that the House would prefer state primary elections be held on the 3rd Tuesday in August according to the OTP 281 Yes – 82 No vote on HB115. Is anyone even around to vote in August?
We learned that 2 Ranked Choice Voting bills went down in flames. HB345-FN (RCV for state party primary and municipal elections) was killed 207-170 with a roll call vote… and HB350 (RCV for federal and state offices) was killed 248-128, also on a roll call vote. Ranked Choice voting has been an utter mess in Maine and Alaska. Why would we ever want to bring that crazy mess here? If you can’t make up your mind who to vote for then RCV is for you. You rank your 1st, 2nd, and 3rd choice from the candidates, and then the computer algorithm decides who the winner is… umm yeah, that’s transparent and somehow translates into the “consent of the governed”… BIG NOPE! I’m glad the NH House still has some sense and rejected this, although it would have been interesting to see how it would have come out if we somehow ranked choice voted these bills (wink).
We learned that the House passed HB463-FN with 195 Yes-172 No. This bill allows the Secretary of State to establish an online election information portal to make voter registration easier and available online for updates and corrections. Now let’s see what the Senate does with this and if they have any concerns about election security, voter fraud, file hacking, and a host of other problems, this portal might invite.
We learned that HB369, establishing an energy task force to provide energy relief for farms, was voted down 187-186. That was the first real close vote of the day. It ended up being tabled 322-54. The majority did not want to spend $100,000 to give UNH an FTE/person to run a program to help farmers find federal grant money to help them with energy use improvement on a farm. It was claimed by opponents that there are places they can already get assistance, and also, the program should not just be for farmers… but should include businesses and individuals.
We also learned that HB602-FN, yet another landfill siting bill, passed 226-145. This bill ended up being an entire rewrite of the original legislation that was submitted last year and would allow the Department of Environmental Services to come up with a two-step process or preliminary checklist for a landfill permit application. Proponents claim this will avoid applicants and DES investing time and resources in a site that would ultimately be deemed unsuitable for a landfill. Just wait… there are 17 more landfill-related bills coming in 2024! The House is not done talking trash!
We learned that the establishment of a new state retirement plan group (Group 3 – changing to a defined contribution plan for newly hired employees) proposed in HB559-FN died 192-181 and was then indefinitely postponed with a vote of 201-174. This bill would have created a third tier for all new employees in the state retirement system, allowing them to take their contributions with them should they leave state employment (like most companies do these days). Proponents of this bill know that people don’t stay decades at any one job anymore. Now, this topic can’t be discussed again until 2025.
We learned that HB601-FN-Local was killed 189-188. One vote mattered as this bill which would have required the Department of Education to obtain direct certification with Medicaid such that any student on Medicaid would automatically be signed up for free and reduced meals. There’s a reason why families don’t want to sign up for free and reduced meals, and there are privacy issues of their family information involved too… so why do proponents want to automatically enroll them and make them participate? Umm… probably because they know school districts will get more state money (differential aid) based on how many kids get free and reduced meals. Relieving food insecurity?? Nah… Follow the education dollars involved.
We learned that HB620-FN died 188-185. This bill would have established a division of early learning in the Department of Education. It basically would have revived the failed federal Head Start program in NH. Thank goodness three more people in the NH House understood this to be an unwise educational investment.
We learned that SB239-FN was sent to Interim Study by a vote of 186-185. This bill would have amended the Governor’s Commission on Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse Prevention, serving as an advisory capacity to the governor and general court, to include drug misuse prevention and harm reduction. Drug misuse prevention and harm reduction could literally mean a lot of things. Rep. Ken Weyler (R- Kingston) said this legislation needs to be studied more, narrowed down, and set some well-defined limits to any proposals. That was the wisest string of words spoken during the day.
Finally, we learned, as Scarlett O’Hara once said, “Tomorrow is another day.” Stay tuned as we finish up what is left on our legislative plate on Jan 4th…. And then it will be a whirlwind of committee hearings until we see you in February!
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