This week, my committee continued public hearings. HB 694, requiring leases by state agencies be at fair market value, looked extremely simple, but the hearing proved otherwise. The problem some counties are facing is that the state rents courthouses and other facilities from them at very low rates, so that the counties are left to cover maintenance and other ongoing expenses. The state “negotiates” by saying what its budget is; the county has problems providing fair market prices for such specialized facilities as courthouses. Sullivan county was noticeably affected by this, but other counties reported similar problems. The bill went to subcommittee to delve into the details.
HB 780, which makes the statutes dealing with the division of state archives gender neutral, was not a big deal for most of us. (the current archivist is female, so I suggested they just use “she” and let the men deal with it, but that didn’t get much traction!) One member thought that the bill didn’t go far enough in removing gender references, so she went and got an amendment that did what she wanted. With that in hand, we voted 15-1 to use her amendment and pass the bill.
My HB 525, transferring the licensing of interpreters for the deaf, deafblind, and hard of hearing from the department of education to the OPLC (office of professional licensure and certification) had a very lengthy hearing, somewhat slowed by having two sign language interpreters present. I had submitted this at Dan’s request; he is the chair of the committee on dedicated funds, and the committee was concerned that this program was piling up money in their dedicated fund. We got the usual resistance to change from the interpreters, but the real issue was that I’d also transferred the training program for interpreters and the deaf, which is part of the division of vocational rehabilitation. That program doesn’t really fit with the OPLC, so it would cost more and be less responsive. We voted to retain the bill since we’re up against the deadline, but I’m not optimistic I got this one right.
HB 536, a cost of living increase for retirees, was debated at some length. One member recused himself from any action on the bill, since as a retired teacher, he would receive the COLA if it were approved. Claiming to support the principle that retirees haven’t gotten any raises lately, one Republican joined all the Democrats in supporting the bill. The rest of us were concerned that COLAs have traditionally been granted when we had surplus funds, and this year we don’t; the bill also directly downshifted the cost to the employers, which is mostly the local property taxpayers, which I object to on principle.
HB 438, setting up a regulatory structure for immigration detention facilities, was debated a bit. I urged the committee to kill the bill since we don’t have any such facilities in the state and it seems to be saying that we will have some – why else establish how to regulate it? We voted 16-0 to kill it (for transparency, Strafford County does house immigrants in its jail, but they are charged by the immigration authorities and not just rounded up.)
HB 570, on the prescription drug affordability board, had an amendment to simply repeal the board as redundant. That passed, and the bill was recommended to pass, on a 9-7 partisan basis.
HB 702, exempting details and extra duty from the part time limit for retired police officers, was killed, 14-2, since current retirees had these details count towards their pensions. The committee remains opposed to allowing retirees to work as substitutes for regular hires.
HB 581, Dan’s defined contribution plan for new state employees, had a clarifying amendment adopted, 9-7, and then tied, as expected, as our firefighter joined all the Democrats in opposition. I expect a floor fight.
HB 210, a study commission on the state flag, had more discussion than I had anticipated. One member pointed out that if there was a commission established, this committee wouldn’t get any more flag bills! After the talk, the vote was 8-8; I recessed the executive session since we don’t really want a floor fight on this one. We’ll take it up in March.
HB 227, repealing an exemption to psychotherapy licensure for government employees, was unanimously recommended to pass.
HB 278, requiring state purchasing agents to use the bill’s formula for proxy carbon pricing (instead of their professional best judgment for future energy prices) was debated and recommended to be killed, 11-5, with two Democrats joining all the Republicans.
Thursday the House was in session. After the consent calendar (with two bills from my committee) passed on a voice vote, we started to debate three energy regulation bills. HB 169, defining the public utilities commission as a regulatory agency and requiring a quorum of two members for all actions, was debated on whether the chair should have rulemaking authority by himself, and what being a regulatory agency involved. It was finally killed, 203-160.
HB 504, on the state energy policy, was also debated, primarily on whether all recommended energy sources should be “on demand.” The vote was 204-165 to agree with that policy. HB 508, decreasing taxes on land lines, had a floor amendment to fix a typo then passed on a voice vote.
HB 682, restructuring the department of energy to delete a number of offices supporting offshore wind and consolidate the office of energy innovation, was debated primarily over the deletion of explicit support for offshore wind, since the speakers were in strong support of using it as an energy source. So we heard about how the wind turbines disturbed the fish and the whales, polluted the lobster beds, and produced extremely expensive energy – when the wind blew. The bill passed, 206-163.
HB 260, creating a commemorative license plate for the 250th anniversary of the battle of Bunker Hill, passed without comment. HB 287, requiring police departments to share personal data with fire departments after an accident, was killed, 201-163.
HB 368, prohibiting smoking or vaping in a car with a passenger under 16, was debated and killed, 213-157.
HB 255 and HB 318, increasing the percentage of revenue from the BPT and the BET going into the education trust fund instead of the general fund, were each minimally debated and killed, 341-29 and 340-28. Neither of these bills increased (or decreased) revenue, they changed the accounting split; the education fund is currently rather flush, but the general fund is anticipating a deficit this biennium. And in many cases, if more money is wanted towards education, the general fund will take care of it – education funding is not limited by the trust fund.
HB 502, eliminating the “water’s edge” accounting method for multinationals, was debated and killed, 209-163. This is an attempt to get more tax money from multinationals, at the cost of vastly increasing the cost and complexity of tax collection and auditing. It would make New Hampshire the only state using this method and has no guarantee that tax revenues would actually increase.
HB 243, creating a penalty for false reports of suspected abuse and neglect of children, was debated extensively. The supporters reported that in conflicted divorce and custody matters, most reports of abuse or neglect are fabricated; opponents claimed that since such complaints can be made anonymously, there would be no way to enforce the crime. Not all complaints are anonymous, and false claims keep the investigators too busy to actually investigate real ones. It was not killed, 165-205, then passed on a voice vote.
HB 56, requiring a background check for private firearms sales and a 72 hour waiting period before delivering any firearm (after the criminal background check) was debated between the sponsor who claimed it was a suicide prevention measure, and the committee, which pointed out that a true suicide prevention waiting period would have a number of exceptions (for people with a protective order, for example.) The bill was killed, 216-154.
HB 75, legalizing possession and use of cannabis for adults (but no sales or tax structure) had a minor debate before not being killed, 167-190, and passed on a voice vote. This is not assured to pass the Senate, and if it does Governor Ayotte is opposed to any legalization; we’re just establishing the House position by passing it.
HB 207, repealing the prohibition on sales of blackjacks, slung shots and brass knuckles to adults, had a brief debate before passing, 207-162. HB 257, establishing the crime of neglect of a child, was recommitted to the committee, 371-2.
HB 352, prohibiting possession of a firearm at a polling place on election day, had a very dull debate before being killed, 211-161. HB 381, exempting firearms manufactured for in-state use from federal firearm regulations, was briefly debated before passing, 205-168. This bill was explicitly intended to force a court case on federal overreach. HB 778, allowing staff of the police standards and training council to work details, passed without discussion.
HB 494, reorganizing the math learning communities program to be administered by the community college system rather than the department of education, include all students in the program, and fund it at the same level as last biennium, passed without comment. This program has been successful at preparing high school students to take college level math rather than remedial courses. HB 716, funding the dual and concurrent (high school plus community college) enrollment program also passed quietly.
HB 76, requiring the department of education to track complaints about special education programs, was debated as to how visible this information is at the moment, and whether personally identifying data could be protected if more information was made public. We voted, 208-161, to pass the bill.
HB 107, deleting the requirement for newspapers, billboards, etc, to include “political advertisement” on all such ads, passed, 209-162, without much debate. HB 327, which allows state representative candidates to file with the secretary of state as well as with their town clerk, passed on a voice vote. This is a minor convenience for the candidates, as some town clerks have very irregular hours.
HB 61, creating a committee to study the laws on oyster harvesting, was debated as to the importance of oysters to Great Bay, which has suffered a massive decline in oyster populations due to over-harvesting and pollution. Oysters are now being cultivated in the bay, and the operations are supervised by Fish & Game and environmental services. The bill was killed, 209-161.
HB 53, allowing therapeutic cannabis patients to grow their own, passed 328-42, without debate.
HB 66, updating the right to know law, specifies that out of state requestors must have a valid connection to the office being requested, or physically show up to request the data. It also defines draft documents circulated to a quorum of a body as open to public inspection. Without debate, it passed 321-48.
HB 80, allowing remote participation in meetings only when physical presence is “unavoidable” (as decided by the chair of the body meeting) and requiring voting only be done by members physically present, was debated on both issues: if a three person board has one member absent and one participating remotely, then only one member gets a vote. (these restrictions are only on members of the public body, not the public.) The concern about “unavoidable” was that it is vague, but most of us felt that having the chair make the determination settled that problem. The bill was not killed, 179-190, amended, 190-179, to strip out the section on physical voting, and passed, 188-181.
HB 111, extending the position of the right to know ombudsman for 2 years, passed without comment.
HB 282, increasing the benefits for first responders critically injured in the line of duty from $500,000 to $1 million, was debated rather heatedly. Since this benefit is limited to $125,000 per person, and the $500,000 limit has never been reached, the bill seemed unnecessary to me. Still, it was not killed, 175-195, and passed, 202-169.
HB 299, expanding the cases that allow awards of attorney’s fees in worker’s compensation cases, was also debated and killed, 193-177. There’s no need to make more work for the attorneys by creating more cases where their clients don’t have to pay them…
Finally, HB 586, extending the state employee assistance program to small town first responders, was tabled on a voice vote.
Next week is school vacation week, and there will be no House session. My committee is also off for the week, since we’re well on schedule.
We’d like to thank Carol McGuire for this Op-Ed. As a reminder, authors’ opinions are their own and may not represent those of Grok Media, LLC, GraniteGrok.com, its sponsors, readers, authors, or advertisers. Submit Op-Eds to steve@granitegrok.com
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