Last week, a bill that would limit the power of local public health officials to impose mask mandates lost by one vote – one Republican vote. The legislation was tabled, often a death knell, but that one lousy vote meant Merrimack (Town, not County) Rep. Bill Boyd could ask for a vote to pull it off the table.
It took work to make that happen.
Local activists dug in their heels and got to work. RebuildNH asked constituents to call Bill and ask him to rethink the value of this legislation after reporting that “Rep. Bill Boyd was the only Republican and deciding vote that stymied this bill.”
Bad news folks. Thanks to Rep. Bill Boyd, who may not even have a 50 percent voting record on our issues, SB 63 was not passed by one vote in the N.H. House and was laid on the table. We think Rep. Boyd ought to hear from you to convince him how important it is for him to undo his bad move.
Currently, health officers have a god-like power to make any ordinance they desire. For example, health officials could mandate you dye your grass blue by whim—let’s not give them any ideas, right? Now, we know the greater issues are local mask and vaccine mandates or maybe even forcing an unauthorized WHO Treaty edict onto local citizens, and the important thing is that the state’s legal definition of the word “nuisances” would limit that authority.
That seems to have worked. Rep. Boyd called for a reconsideration vote this week, and after a handful of parliamentary actions, SB63 passed the House. Here is a bit of play-by-play from our own Rep. Judy Aron.
Things got real fun when SB63 was pulled off the Table with a “Remove from Table” motion that passed 185Y-180N. This bill was laid on the Table last week on a voice vote. The bill seeks to clarify, in statute, the subject matter of which health officers may utilize their authority to draft health ordinances. House Democrats decried the bill as having the basic intent to curtail the authority of municipal public health officers and to limit the ability of towns and cities to enact ordinances in response to public health threats (eyeroll). After the bill was removed from the table an ITL motion failed 179Y-187N, and OTP Reconsideration motion passed 186Y-180N, and then the bill passed on a roll called vote 186Y-180N (with all House Democrats and Dan Wolf (R-Newbury) voting NO). See what good things can happen when we have the numbers!! Now it’s off to the Governor.
The bill limits local action to the state definition of nuisances, significantly limiting their purview.
Currently, health officers have a god-like power to make any ordinance they desire. For example, health officials could mandate you dye your grass blue by whim—let’s not give them any ideas, right? Now, we know the greater issues are local mask and vaccine mandates or maybe even forcing an unauthorized WHO Treaty edict onto local citizens, and the important thing is that the state’s legal definition of the word “nuisances” would limit that authority.
It is unclear (to me) whether Governor Sununu will sign it. His Excellency has a bipolar relationship with the concept of local control, so he may need some polite reminders that you’ve got his back if he does, or he could just let it become law without a signature.
Either way works for us.