We learned that as our committees are cranking out bills, we’ll be taking a break next week and then going full steam every Thursday in March. Today we tackled 31 bills and were graced with the attendance of about 204 Republicans and 165 Democrats in the House. I’ll just be giving a report today of some of the more prominent bills that we voted on.
First up, we voted OTP/A, with a roll called vote 204Y-165N, on HB504 relative to the state energy policy. A state energy policy has been in statute since 1990 and gives some high level guidance to the NH Dept. of Energy and the Public Utility Commission. HB504 updates the state’s energy policy to ensure affordable, reliable, diverse, and secure energy resources for the Granite State. House Democrats objected to the bill because it mentions and supports “on demand” energy resources, which they believe excludes renewable resources. In truth, this bill just ensures that New Hampshire has in place an energy policy that prioritizes affordability and reliability for families and businesses. With today’s vote in the House, 204 Republicans and 0 Democrats supported a diverse mix of energy sources, strengthening the state’s economic future while keeping costs down for ratepayers… and we want to do that whether the sun is shining or the wind is blowing.
We learned that HB682 also passed (OTP) 206Y-163N. This bill does 3 things. It removes the office of offshore wind industry development from the office of energy innovation. It repeals the offshore wind industry workforce training center committee and the offshore and port development commission. It also, moves the grid modernization advisory council and the hydrogen advisory council to the office of energy innovation. These are timely policy decisions, especially since President Trump signed an executive order eliminating offshore wind and turbine projects. There’s also been data gathered to demonstrate that these projects are disturbing nearby fisheries, lobsters, shellfish and whales and that offshore wind projects also damages the ecosystems with chemicals and electrical current. There has been quite a movement in particular to stop the Maine Offshore wind project because of so many environmental and economic concerns. That being said, Rep. Wendy Thomas (D-Merrimack) was all for killing this bill because, in her opinion, all the aforementioned problems are a result of “climate change” and not offshore wind… and of course we should be addressing “climate change” with green energy initiatives. Rep. Thomas is willing to ditch her life long concern for “saving the whales” (complete with bumper sticker from GreenPeace) and she is willing to keep PFAs laden wind towers in our oceans, just so she can promote these green energy off shore wind project eco-disasters.
We learned that HB 368 was ITL’d and roll called 213Y-157N. This bill would have prohibited smoking and e-cigarettes in motor vehicles when a passenger is under 16 years of age. Government over-reach much? What is next? Banning listening to loud rock music? Or drinking coffee? House Republicans voted to keep government out of our cars and let parents/caregivers use common sense and roll down the windows if need be. House Democrats expressed utter hand wringing concern over the health and safety of children in vehicles, yet they are the very same people that do not have any problem with pushing children to have unfettered access to puberty blockers, hormone therapy, the surgical removal of sexual organs, a lifetime of health and mental issues, plus the inability to have a normal sex life. Go figure.
We learned that HB502-FN was ITL’d with a roll called vote 209Y-163N. relative to complete corporate reporting for unitary businesses under the business profits tax and revenues from the state education property tax. This bill did a number of things … none of them good. This bill repealed the water’s edge combined group provisions of the business profits tax. That method excludes the profits and operations of foreign members of a unitary group. In other words, a multinational corporation is separated into two distinct pieces: one operating in the United States and another operating outside the United States and treated as unrelated separate taxable entities. Repealing water’s edge provisions makes reporting really difficult. The Department of Revenue Administration stated that they did not have the manpower, knowledge of foreign accounting systems, or language skills to visit and review the worldwide accounting of the corporations that pay taxes in New Hampshire, but are part of a larger corporate structure. The bill also required the department of revenue administration to receive the revenues from the state education property tax and deposit them in the education trust fund. Democrats were salivating on this point. The bill revised the procedures for calculating state education grants and modified the criteria for relief under the low and moderate income homeowners property tax relief program. Finally, the bill established a committee to study the low and moderate income homeowners property tax relief program. In the end this whole mess was tossed, and even the crying baby on Democrat side of the House seemed to hate it.
We also learned that HB243 had its committee recommendation of ITL overturned 165Y-205N and it was voted OTP via voice vote. This bill provides that reports of suspected abuse and neglect may include the name of the person making the report and that a report made maliciously or with the intent to cause harm may be subject to civil and criminal penalties. The bill also provides that a person, who in their professional capacity is a mandatory reporter of suspected abuse and neglect, may be subject to civil liability for the failure to report. This bill needed to have the ITL overturned and for it to be passed because people who maliciously report abuse and make families go through misery should have to be held accountable. It also makes sure that people who are supposed to report abuse or neglect do not turn a blind eye. So… if you see something, say something, but don’t make stuff up or you’ll get into trouble yourself.
We learned that HB56, yet another anti-gun bill proposed by Rep. David Meuse (D-Portsmouth), died (ITL) 216Y-154N. This bill would have required a background check and mandatory waiting period for certain firearm transfers. Rep. Meuse keeps bringing the same old gun control bills back year after year claiming it’s about suicide prevention, when really it’s plain old gun control and an assault on 2nd amendment rights. Rep. Jennifer Rhodes (R-Winchester) stated that people who voted for this bill to protect people from suicide are also the ones who push for assisted suicide legislation. Oh the irony!
Another gun bill, HB352, was also ITL’d with a roll call vote of 211Y-161N. This bill would have prohibited possession of a firearm at a polling place and included certain exceptions. This bill further allowed individuals who are unwilling or unable to comply with this prohibition to vote by absentee ballot. The bill was sponsored by Rep. Timothy “Biological sex – what exactly is it?” Horrigan (D-Durham), who claimed to want to prevent “voter intimidation”. The truth is that it’s just another garden variety attack on 2nd amendment rights. Rep. Horrigan mentioned in his parliamentary inquiry (PI) that out of 22 states, the 4 which border the Gulf of Mexico passed this law. Rep Terry Roy (R-Deerfield) retorted in his PI that we should vote Green on the ITL and not take the advice of someone who doesn’t know his geography (It’s the Gulf of America). Roger that, plus he apparently doesn’t know his biology either.
We learned that the committee recommendation of ITL for HB75-FN was overturned on a roll called vote of 167Y-190N. This bill legalizes the possession and use of cannabis for persons 21 years of age and older. The committee held an ITL motion because the bill had little provision and was too simplistic, and they understood that the Senate and Governor would kill it anyway. That being said, the House voted to overturn the ITL and voice voted to pass it with an OTP motion. It now goes on to the Senate… where we know it’ll get smoked.
We further learned that repealing the prohibition on the possession of blackjacks, slung shots and metallic knuckles, except by or to minors, was a bill that returned to the House this year. We learned that this passed on a roll call vote of 207Y-162N. Rep. Roy, in his PI said that the right to protect oneself does not only include firearms, and that we should allow people to use a similar type of weapon that David used to beat Goliath.
We learned that another gun bill HB381-FN passed with a roll called OTP motion 205Y-168N. This bill exempts firearms and firearm accessories manufactured for in-state use only from the National Firearm Act. This bill does propose a constitutional challenge to the application of the federal Commerce Clause by asserting the state’s right to regulate firearms internally. Let’s see what the Senate does with this one!
HB76-FN passed 208Y-161N and it is about transparency in tracking special education complaints. Complaints may rise out of a parent refusing to accept a certain Individual Education Plan for their child or for other reasons. This bill requires the department of education to establish and maintain a tracking system for all state complaints related to special education services, and issue an annual report summarizing the complaint data. It’s all about transparency.
We also learned that another cannabis bill passed with a roll call vote of 328Y-42N. This bill allows for home grow for therapeutic use by qualifying patients and their caregivers. This is a popular bill in the House winning by a very large margin.
We flipped another ITL committee report on HB80. With an adopted floor amendment, the bill passed 188Y-181N to say that you must be present at a public body meeting to vote – but that you could still attend remotely but not be able to vote. This was the closest vote of the day.
We finally learned that HB282-FN passed 202Y-169N, but not after overturning the committee recommended ITL by 175Y-195N. This bill seeks to double the limit on total compensation payments paid to all claimants to $1,000,000 per biennium. The majority of the committee stated that the current cap of $500,000 is sufficient based on testimony that the cap has not been reached in past years. The most that has been used in previous years is $350,000. For this reason the committee recommended ITL. People didn’t vote to ITL the bill because they don’t support our first responders critically injured in the line of duty, they voted because it did not seem necessary. That being said, the House voted down the ITL and passed this bill on to Finance. This will come back to the House.
So kids… that’s it for today. The budget sausage is being made and more bills are coming to us from House committees working hard on your behalf! Gotta earn that $100 a year! See you in two weeks!!
