We learned that one of the most outstanding renditions of the national anthem was sung by the Seacoast Men of Harmony and that the Scottish Arts Center entertained us for Tartan Day with bagpipes and fiddle music. It was superb.
Many House members, and the House Clerk and staff wore kilts and tartans today. It was a grand celebration of NH’s Scottish Heritage and their winning their independence from Britain. Tartan Day has been a House tradition since 1997. Rep John Hunt (R-Rindge) led the ceremonies.
We learned that the House warmly greeted the Consul General of the Republic of Korea, Kim Jae-hui. He addressed the House and spoke of the large and vibrant Korean community in NH and how NH and Korea are working together in areas of commerce and sharing of culture. He spoke of the gratitude that Korea has for the 10,000 Americans who fought in the Korean War between 1950 and 1953 and how those who sacrificed their lives are remembered and commemorated, both here and in Korea.
We learned that Rep. Mel Myler (D-Contocook) delivered a heartfelt memorial to the Hon. Arthur Ellison who passed away on March 23rd. Members of the House Democrat caucus also wore decals with the words “Feed the damn children”, which was a quote (and some say a last wish) from Rep. Ellison in regards to HB1212 – a bill relative to the eligibility for free school meals (see more below).
We learned that today was Crossover Day (the last day to act on all House bills) and House Finance Day. All the Early bills that went to Finance came back to us, and we began working to pass or kill them at 11 AM after all of the morning festivities and speeches were concluded. We had around 36 bills to get through, plus a motion to concur on HB261, Relative to tenants’ rights, which passed on a voice vote.
We learned that House Democrats still want no part of removing obscene and harmful sexual materials from NH school libraries. After they succeeded in Indefinitely Postponing HB1419 weeks ago, this meant that no similar bill could be considered without a 2/3 vote of the House. So today, House Democrats blocked the bill introduction of SB523 (regulation of public school materials) with a vote of 182Y-192N, which clearly did not have enough to clear the 2/3 vote hurdle. House Democrats want to keep age inappropriate and pornographic materials in our schools, Please remember this in November.
We learned that HB318 (relative to bail commissioners and making appropriations to the Judicial branch) passed on a voice vote. This bill incorporates SB249, SB252, and HB1005. The Finance Committee adopted earlier approved House actions on bail reform. This bill supports a new bail information system (a one-time $1.7 million expense), increases the bail commissioner fee, and establishes a new training coordinator who will oversee judicial and bail commissioner training and continuing educational requirements. This bill also appropriates $750,000 to the Department of Safety to develop and implement a system to electronically share an individual’s bail condition status with law enforcement and $986,000 to the Judicial Branch to develop and implement a Judicial Branch bail data platform to enable electronic sharing of an individual’s bail condition status with law enforcement. That being said the next bill on our agenda, HB1005, was tabled (348-33) and did not get a “Get of jail free card”.
We learned that HB1199 ended up being Indefinitely Postponed (192-190) after a motion to OTP failed (190-191), and then a motion to OTP failed (191-192) and a motion to Table failed (189-193. It appeared we had run out of motions at that point. In any case, this bill deserved to die. The bill’s aim was to use one-time ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act) funds to establish a new position in the Office of the Child Advocate to deal with child homelessness. And although well-intentioned, House Democrats still do not understand the financially sound concept of not funding ongoing positions with one-time money. By the way, a child is now apparently defined as someone up to the age of 25. This bill would have placed under the supervision of the Office of Child Advocate any persons under the age of 25 whose parents are unable to provide shelter, who live in a trailer park, or who share housing and this bill was also written to include adults who are employed and renting a mobile home with friends. Hah! and I bet you thought that those who are over the age of 18 are considered adults, should be treated as such, and who should be able to live life in society on their own. The sponsor of this bill, Rep. Patrick Long (D-Manchester), doesn’t think so.
We learned that HB1212 was tabled 192-191, and the Speaker broke the tie vote. The bill would have expanded free meal eligibility in schools. In his speech, Rep. Daniel Popovici-Muller (R-Windham) mentioned that HB1212 proposes a budget-breaking expansion of the federal lunch program, asking the New Hampshire taxpayers to pay $50 – $75 million or more a year to address a hunger problem that nobody even showed exists in New Hampshire public schools. Later in the day there were two failed attempts made by Rep. David Luneau (D-Hopkinton) to remove it from the table. His attempt at 4:10 PM failed 188Y-189N, and his subsequent attempt at 4:44 PM failed 185Y-188N. In a related story, Walmart treated everyone to lunch in the cafeteria today… so no wonder that House Democrats think there really is such a thing as a free lunch. Psst … Walmart paid for it.
We learned that HB1288 passed 196-184 after a move by House Democrats to Table it failed. This bill establishes certain due process rights for students, student organizations, and faculty members facing disciplinary actions by state institutions of higher learning. The framework presented in the bill is a guideline, and if a state institution already has these rights respected (as the institutions claimed in hearings) then they don’t need to change their procedures. Testimony from a state higher education executive was that of the 2,000+ cases in 2023, only 80 had a formal hearing, which would be the same under these guidelines. Rep. Mary Hakken-Phillips (D-Hanover) argued that the state could be sued by the federal government, and federal funding could be put into jeopardy with these guidelines in place. Rep. Bob Lynn (R-Windham) said there was no conflict between this bill and federal law, or that we’d get sued because the federal government would say that they should defund NH because we have a system in place to resolve disciplinary problems that’s “too fair”. He ended by saying,”I would pay to sit in the back of the courtroom and listen to that argument before a judge…. defund NH because they have a process that is too fair… that argument would go nowhere”.
We learned that HB1363 was Tabled 195-186. This bill would have added members of the General Court and their families to the Employee Assistance Program (EAP) operated through Health and Human Services with the cost paid for by the legislative branch. We know the EAP is a great state employee benefit however, your elected officials have no business partaking of these benefits courtesy of NH taxpayers. We elected legislators are neither employees nor entitled to a fully funded benefit (which would be applicable to every legislator and his/her family in this bill) without making any financial contribution towards the new expense of this government expansion. It’s a shame this was not roll-called because then you would see who believes in featherbedding.
We also learned that unfortunately, HB1394 passed 195-187. This allows music therapists to be licensed and regulated, of course, so they can bill insurance companies for their “therapy” services. Testimony in the committee revealed that approximately 30 music therapists practice in New Hampshire, either for private pay or in clinics that provide their services. Will this turn good music into a real “racket”?
We learned that HB1466 passed the House with a unanimous Voice Vote. This was my bill, which provides disaster relief funding to municipalities. Currently, there is no statutory mechanism for towns to get financial help from the state after a disaster (like flooding) occurs. Please ask your Senator to support this. Thanks in advance!
We further learned that HB1577 – relative to digital images of ballots – was Tabled 193-188 (roll called). New voting machines scan ballots and then store the images and related information on internal memory cards. This bill and the amendment would have allowed citizens to view ballots and purchase copies of memory cards from the Secretary of State. Municipalities store ballots and other election information, and the Secretary of State only obtains them in the case of a recount. This bill would enable an inexpensive means for the public to informally audit election results. People could see for themselves if there were possible irregularities (ex: determining if the vote totals agree with the machine report totals).
We learned that HB1583 passed 205-177 after a motion to Table failed 180-201. This bill, as previously approved by the House, establishes an adequate education payment by the state of $4,004, and it sets forth guidelines for fiscal disparity aid for districts where property valuations are lacking to support educational needs. The changes affect the calculation of final adequacy grants to public school districts, aid to public charter schools, and education freedom accounts (EFAs). The Legislative Budget Assistant (LBA) estimates the average cost for this program at $68 million/year for each of the next three years. Seeing as the New Hampshire Supreme Court is hearing a case relative to base education adequacy grants and the general education funding formula, it would seem that this kind of bill is jumping the gun and perhaps holding off on changing the funding formula until the Supreme Court decides something might be more prudent. But hey – it’s off to the Senate now, and we’ll see what they do with this $68 million off-budget year can of worms.
We learned that HB1564 (relative to the child support guidelines) passed on a Voice Vote. The bill makes welcome adjustments to the child support guidelines. The bill increases the self-support reserve, allows for expenses related to childcare, healthcare and extracurricular activities to be split, and allows for rebuttable presumptions of deviations based on shared parenting time. In contrast, HB1595, which also makes adjustments to child support guidelines, went to Interim Study with a vote of 208-176 after an OTP/A motion failed 190-193.
We also learned that HB1633 – Cannabis legalization and regulation – passed 239-136 on a roll called vote. This bill legalizes and regulates cannabis to ensure that these products are tested and labeled and that consumers are informed and protected. Cannabis will not be sold to minors under the age of 21. The bill would limit initial cannabis retail outlet licenses to 15 while providing a pathway for expanded licenses. The Finance Committee amendment tightened up the bill, corrected penalty vagueness, and moved financial responsibility from the general fund to the New Hampshire Liquor Commission. Opponents of the bill echoed the language that Virginia Governor Youngkin used in his veto message, “States following this path have seen adverse effects on children’s and adolescent’s health and safety, increased gang activity and violent crime, significant deterioration in mental health, decreased road safety, and significant costs associated with marijuana that far exceed tax revenue. It also does not eliminate the illegal black-market sale of cannabis, nor guarantee product safety. Addressing the inconsistencies in enforcement and regulation in our current laws does not justify expanding access to cannabis, following the failed paths of other states and endangering our health and safety.” Rep. Erica Layon (R-Derry) said, “It’s high time we pass this legislation”. Even though it is known that the Senate and the Governor both hate the provisions of this bill, it is off to the Senate now, and maybe it should have been sent along with a box of munchies.
We learned that the biggest debate of the day was for, HB1649 (prohibiting certain products with intentionally added PFAs), with three amendments offered. The first amendment offered by the bill sponsor, extended the effective date out 18 months. That amendment passed 233-147. The next two amendments intended to narrow the scope of PFAs chemicals defined in the bill. Both of those amendments failed 165Y-216N and 156Y-223N respectively. The bill passed OTP/A 233-140 on a roll call vote. We all know PFAs are toxic and don’t belong in our landfills, but the problem with this bill is that not all chemicals or products defined in this bill can really be considered toxic. Also, instead of states banning products, it would seem that the federal government, through the EPA, should be regulating certain products so that a patchwork of regulations isn’t created from state to state. Consider too that even California, which has some pretty stringent PFAs legislation, is having difficulty implementing their own legislation. The other issue is that producers are already making great strides in taking the PFAs chemicals out of their products. We are already starting to see labels saying “PFAs Free” because that is what consumers want. In any case, our friends in the Senate will be digging though yet another landfill reduction bill and deciding whether or not we should ban things like textiles, upholstery, linens, menstrual products, cosmetics, toys and other common consumer products.
We also learned that HB1678 passed 191Y-182N after a motion to Table failed 181Y-192N and a motion to ITL failed 179Y-193N. This bill establishes a Farm to School pilot program costing $241,000. The Finance Committee recommendation was not to pass the bill (ITL 13-12) because most of the money will be used to administer the program and last summer the Fiscal Committee accepted $559,000 from the federal government for essentially the same purpose. This program is duplicative of that effort, and more bureaucratic. But hey (say it with me)… “It’s for the children”.
Finally, we learned that Finance Committee Chair Rep. Ken Weyler (R-Kingston) tried twice to remove HB1560 off of the Table. Both attempts failed 177Y-201N and 167Y-204N. He needed 2/3rds to prevail. The House Democrats would have none of it because HB1560 allows access to unassigned moneys in the Education Trust Fund (ETF). The problem is that a whole load of money is now tied up in that fund and unavailable to use to pay for all the things everyone passed today! Chair Weyler was quite annoyed, I dare say irate, that all of the Finance bills passed today needed funds tied up in ETF to pay for implementation. I suppose the Senate will now have to figure all of this out in a nonbudget year. Good luck with that.
Next week, we get a break, but we’ll be back with more bills and motions on April 25th, when we will begin work on Senate bills and Concurrences for House bills that the Senate, in their infinite wisdom, has changed.
