Today, we learned that this was the last day of the House Session until the Fall when we come back for “Veto Day.” Today’s program included three memorials by colleagues who remembered past House Members who passed away this year.
The Hon. David Babson (Ossipee), the Hon. Timothy O’Connell (Milford), and most recently, the Hon. Russ Ober (Hudson). They all contributed so much to the NH House in service to their constituents, and they will be missed by many.
Today, we also learned that our House Speaker temporarily passed his gavel to Speaker Emeritus, Rep. Steve Shurtleff (D-Penacook), and Minority Leader, Rep. Matthew Wilhelm (D-Manchester). Rep. Shurtleff will not be seeking re-election and his contributions to the NH House were lauded. We wish him well in his future endeavors. It is customary for the Speaker to allow the Minority Leader to have some time as acting Speaker as well. My thought was although Rep. Wilhelm presided well enough, he should not get used to it.
We learned that at the beginning of the day, we had 186 Republicans voting and 182 Democrats voting. By the end of the day, the numbers dwindled to 175 Republicans and 178 Democrats. Unfortunately, we lost some important bills because of that.
We learned that most of the Committee of Conference (CoC) Reports were passed via voice vote. Starting the day, there were five Senate bills on the Consent Calendar and eight Senate bills on the Regular Calendar. All of those CoC Reports passed on a voice vote, except one that had a division vote and passed 188Y-179N. That was SB340 CoC Report. The bill included an amendment that addresses issues found in the recent LBA Performance Audit on Special Education Due Processes. It contained measures that will assist the Department of Education in monitoring and tracking the status and resolution of issues between districts and parents regarding services to their children. It will also give the Office of Special Education Advocate the tools to perform their statutory functions. This is a win for parents.
We learned that there were 5 House CoC Reports on the Consent Calendar. We then tackled 33 additional House CoC Reports on the regular calendar, which took us until 4:30 pm to finish. Of the 33 House bills, 20 of those CoC Reports passed on a voice vote; the rest were debated.
We also learned that HB1018 CoC Report passed 190Y-176N and it allowed land owners of land in current use to get an extra discount as long as they allow recreational use of their posted land. The bill also reduces the restrictions relative to the laws on-premise and off-premise liquor licenses. But please, don’t drink and bird watch!
We learned that HB1091, relative to financing political campaigns, passed 190Y-181N. This bill mandates that if someone makes small donations and over time passes the $50 mark, then the contributor’s information (name, address, phone, etc) must be reported. This means every time a small contribution is made (even passing the hat or in a raffle), you still have to collect information in order to aggregate the amount for that person. This is an awful Democrat-sponsored bill, and I hope the Governor vetoes it. It will be a record-keeping nightmare for campaign treasurers.
We also learned that HB1127 CoC Report passed on a voice vote. The original bill ends the physical return of a suspended license allowing its use for ID and closed a loophole where a person with a surrendered suspended license could avoid a search of their driving record in NH if they move out of state. It also included the “Right to Mow”, which rightfully corrects our statute to prohibit operation of a motor vehicle “on a way in the state” instead of “in the state” with a suspended license. This impacts farmers, landscapers, and individuals. It does not permit a person to take a riding mower on the road with a suspended license. So, individuals with suspended licenses can mow lawns without penalty, they just can’t drive the mower on a road. As they say, “Grass doesn’t grow on a busy street”… or something like that.
We learned that HB1215 CoC Report died with a roll call vote of 102Y-261N. After a lengthy debate, the House decided not to give the selectboard of Hampton special dispensation to decide on closing “D Street” and leasing it for 99 years to a developer. Normally, if a town wants to do something like this, they draw up a warrant article and hold a special town meeting for the voters to decide on what to do with, or how to dispose of, a town road. Supporters claimed that current RSA’s only allow for a 5 year lease, but the statute is very clear, and it looks to me (and many others) that the town can vote to lease for 99 years (RSA41:11-a II).”The authority under paragraph I shall include the power to rent or lease such property during periods not needed for public use, provided, however, that any rental or lease agreement for a period of more than one year shall not be valid unless ratified by vote of the town.” According to paragraph III the selectboard can lease up to 5 years WITHOUT ratification from the town. Passing this CoC Report would have set a nasty precedent for selectboards to make decisions that the taxpayers should be making.
We learned that before we headed out the door to enjoy the Speaker’s ice cream social (which was wonderful!) some pink haired lunatic started throwing some leaflets down to the State House floor from the gallery. The Speaker started yelling for the person to stop and apparently security was not quick enough to subdue such activity before the person dumped a load of paper over the gallery rail and fled out the gallery door. I did not happen to read what was written on the papers, but I heard it had something to do with trans rights.
We learned that HB1265 CoC Report passed with a roll called vote 183Y-172N. It was clear that House Democrats did not want transparency with regard to how schools spend our money. This legislation requires school districts to post mandatory reports of school expenses, including average cost per pupil, average teacher salaries, and top administrator salaries. It also creates a civil remedy for the enforcement of this requirement. For consistency and accuracy of data in the district reports, the department provided information identifying the expenses to be included.
We learned that HB1292 CoC Report regarding sanctuary cities in NH was Tabled 192Y-165N. The CoC language removed the overly broad requirement for law enforcement to assist with Federal immigration law and only required law enforcement to honor criminal detainers that are discovered subsequent to someone being arrested for a violation of New Hampshire law. Furthermore, the language specifically prohibits law enforcement from questioning people about their immigration status. The bill did not prohibit any town from adopting an ordinance or resolution welcoming immigrants to their community. As stated, the bill only prohibits towns from ordering their law enforcement to ignore requests from immigration to either notify or temporarily hold someone already in custody who is wanted by immigration for either being a deportable person, which means they have already met the threshold requirements and orders exist to deport them; or they are wanted on a criminal detainer for being suspected of, or charged with committing another crime in the United States in a different jurisdiction. United States Department of Immigration and Customs Enforcement has specifically asked under the current Administration, that localities refrain from adopting any laws or ordinances that would prohibit cooperation with ICE. They say that doing so not only interferes with their ability to carry out immigration law, but also puts citizens and other immigrants in danger by allowing known criminals and dangerous offenders to remain in our communities. Suffice it to say, we already know that Lebanon, Harrisville, and Hanover have “welcoming policies” in place for immigrants.. whether legal or not. It’s too bad this bill was tabled, but it could have been a stronger bill to begin with. House Democrats were very happy with this CoC Report being Tabled.
We also learned that HB1370 CoC Report was Tabled 223Y-141N. This bill would have eliminated voter identification exceptions. It removed any exceptions for proving voter identification and removed the voter affidavits as proof of identification. It also repealed the procedures for affidavit ballots and creates a judicial review or data verification process for persons aggrieved by the decision of an election official which denies that person the opportunity to vote. The amended version of the bill provided that once the voter has called the hotline, they must be taken care of within 20 minutes, or they may vote anyway. Opponents of the bill said this was an unwieldy process and probably would not be able to be put into place by November’s elections. The affidavit process will still be in play in this upcoming election, but at least a ballot won’t be included in the count unless they provide their information within a certain timeframe.
We further learned that HB1633 CoC Report, the legalization of cannabis, was Tabled 178Y-173N. Any hopes of legalizing weed in NH this year went up in smoke, even as the Senate passed it. It’s just as well…the bill was a hot mess anyway. Later, a motion to remove it from the Table failed 162Y-189N.
We then learned that HB1665 CoC Report, which would have raised eligibility for Education Freedom Accounts died on a Roll called vote of 168Y-185N… with ALL 178 House Democrats and 7 House Republicans voting against it. Losing this bill was a heartbreak as this bill could have easily passed earlier in the day. I’m sure this will be back next year.
Finally, we learned that all of the CoC reports that passed will go to the Governor for signature if the Senate approves them as well. We now wait to see what will get signed into law, vetoed, or passed without signature. Then, we’ll return in the fall to deal with Vetoed bills. House members will be off for July and August, with some working on legislation for next year and/or interim study bills. About 1/3 will not be seeking re-election, and the remaining 2/3 who have filed to run again will be busy campaigning. Have a great summer, and support our candidates! Let’s elect a much bigger majority of great Republicans next time around because “this slim margin” thing was really for the birds! Cheers, and thanks for reading!
