After last week’s marathon, this was a very easy week. My committee got 24 Senate bills, some quite complex, just after the calendar deadline, so I couldn’t even schedule them.
I did visit the Senate on some of my bills. HB 1398, a study committee on centralized record checks in education, was presented to the Education Committee, with support from the department and the state police (who wanted to be involved in the study and appreciated that centralized records checks would eliminate a lot of redundant work for them.) The Senate was interested, and thought of one profession I hadn’t realized could work in more than one school: substitute teachers.
HB 1681, updating the state building code and fire code, had the fire marshal and several building officials in support and no opposition. The committee immediately and unanimously recommended it to pass with an amendment to make it effective on passage. HB 1446, converting the boards of recreational therapists and respiratory care practitioners to advisory, had the support of the Office of Professional Licensing and Certification (OPLC) and was also recommended to pass. HB 1354, on real estate regulation and modifying the procedure for recognizing out-of-state licenses, had the sponsor, a real estate broker and trainer, and the OPLC testifying in support, so it also passed unanimously.
HB 1059, clarifying that if a board didn’t meet, the OPLC could only grant a license to meet a deadline if the applicant appeared to meet the statutory requirements. Right now, someone who applied (and paid the license fee, of course) would be granted a license in 60 days, if the board didn’t meet, even if they obviously did not meet the educational requirements! One well-timed snowstorm and I could be a doctor…
HB 1581, on the use of open-source software, had the sponsor to testify, and I supported him. This last bill was also approved unanimously.
The redistricting committee will be meeting again. The governor has signed the bills for state representative districts, county commissioners, and delegates to the state convention. So I’ll start getting more involved with Hooksett… On the other hand, we have the Congressional districts, state Senate districts, and will be getting the executive councilor districts. The governor has threatened to veto the Congressional map, so I expect some more activity on it.
The House meets for the last of its House bills on March 31, then we’ll be deep into the Senate bills.
