This week, my committee met on two bills from other committees. My first glance was that both were simple …
HB 493, requiring healthcare providers to get education on child abuse and neglect, addressed physicians, physician assistants, and nurse practitioners, requiring a one hour course before initial licensing and before renewals, or every two years. It only amended the board of medicine, so I had prepared an amendment that put the same requirement into the board of nursing. Half a dozen people, including the child advocate, showed up to testify. I was concerned that they seemed to think the one hour requirement was just a start, as they had 2, 4, and 6 hour courses (all free, on line) ready. They were concerned that only 57 people had taken the course since it was made available six months ago – but that seemed a good start to the committee. Worryingly, these advocates had already approached the board of medicine about requiring this in the board’s rules on continuing education, but the board took no action. Finally, the child advocate testified that one reason to require this training was to ensure that emergency doctors and primary care providers had the same recommendation in cases of suspected abuse! There were a number of technical problems with the bill (besides ignoring the board of nursing), so we discussed it for a while without reaching a conclusion.
HB 538, reallocating positions in the liquor position, simply deleted two unclassified positions and added two new ones, all at the same pay grade. Seems simple, but nobody showed up to explain – not the sponsor, not a member of the commerce committee which had passed it unanimously, no lobbyists, and nobody from the liquor commission! After a recess, a director from the liquor commission arrived to take our questions – he was in the enforcement division, testifying at another committee. We took no action, pending more information.
The House met for two days, with 104 bills on the regular calendar, and another 112 on consent. With some restraint in speaking (in most cases) and judicious use of non-debatable motions like “table” we finished around 6 pm both days – long, but bearable. Most votes were partisan.
I actually started in the Senate, presenting three bills from my committee to the Senate ED&A committee. HB 85, creating limited, temporary licenses for student respiratory therapists, was well received. One Senator was concerned about patients not being aware their therapist wasn’t yet fully trained; I suggested that the OPLC, by rules, could limit the licenses to specific tasks, and agreed that the employers needed to know what these people could do. In any case, the license, as is typical for healthcare professionals, is only valid for tasks within their training and experience. HB 134, updating the state electrical code and the building code review board meeting date (to include the amendments to the electrical code), was also non-controversial, although the BCRB did ask for an amendment to the meeting date to include the full set of amendments. HB 144, requiring dental hygienists be trained and tested in anesthesia before being allowed to use it on patients (as they actually are, but it’s not explicit in the law), had no questions from the Senators.
When I returned to the House, the consent calendar and four bills had been dealt with. HB 775, requiring an RFP to set up supervised visitation centers, was tabled because the committee had gotten the cost estimate after they recommended the bill – and it was too much for the value expected. HB 467, creating “social districts” and enabling municipalities to create them, had passed on voice votes. Social districts are specified areas where outdoor drinking is allowed, and are seen as economic development tools. HB 198, legalizing cannabis for adults and creating new penalties for public smoking or vaping, had passed on a 208-125 roll call and is now in the Senate. HB 226, on drug checking equipment, had a more exciting time in the House: the committee recommendation to kill the bill was rejected, in a 140-196 roll call, and the bill passed on a voice vote.
HB 466, increasing the penalties for refusing to take a blood alcohol test, was being debated when I walked in. The supporters pointed out that, currently, there is no incentive to take the test if you think you might fail: the penalty is 180 days license suspension for refusing to cooperate, while it’s an 18 months suspension for conviction. This bill increased the penalty to a year’s suspension for refusal to be tested. The opponents spoke about the constitutional objections to self-incrimination and searches without warrants, claiming a fundamental liberty position against the bill, which does not deal with drunk driving so much as refusing a search. The committee’s recommendation to pass the bill failed, 120-216, and it was killed on a voice vote.
HB 137, keeping excess state wide property tax funds in communities, was killed without comment, since the SWEPT has been dealt with in other bills and is now in Finance. HB 90, allowing community college faculty teach part-time in schools as part of the dual and concurrent enrollment program, was amended on a voice vote, then passed, 198-139, after minimal debate.
CACR 2, requiring representative districts not favor any political party, was killed, 186-150, without debate. HB 154, enabling voters to request their ballots be hand counted, passed without comment. HB 175, regarding coordinated expenditures in election campaigns, was quietly killed. HB 408, moving the state primary to August, was tabled, 190-147; HB 481, moving the state primary to June, was amended by the committee chair to be effective in 2027. That amendment passed, 337-1, and the bill passed on a voice vote.
HB 514, allowing private persons to sue for violations of election laws, had only minimal debate before passing, 186-152. HB 600, enabling ranked-choice voting for municipal elections, was debated before being killed, 194-145.
HB 152, prohibiting the sale and use of adhesive traps for rodents, was indefinitely postponed, 190-140. This is another animal activist favorite that would otherwise come back next year.
From my committee, I moved to table HB 96, requiring builders to use the 2021 energy code, and it was, 199-135. HB 145, joining the dieticians’ compact, was also tabled, 187-152. HB 252, a state holiday for Daniel Webster, was killed without comment. HB 428, prohibiting municipal amendments to the building code, was amended to allow administrative amendments, 184-149. After a brief debate on the question of local control, it passed, 188-151.
HB 606, a patient’s right to appropriate care for reproductive disorders, passed without comment.
HB 132, repealing the duty of family support for local welfare cases, was amended to, instead, repeal the possible jail time for failure to comply but leaving the duty. It passed without comment. HB 195, restricting third parties (credit cards, cell phones, cable, banks, and so on) from selling or sharing your personal data without your permission, was not tabled, 124-215, then debated. The main issue seemed to be that this should be a national ban, not a state ban, but we can’t pass a national ban in Concord! It passed, 261-79.
HB 400, requiring collective bargaining meetings be public, was not tabled, 163-180, then debated before being killed, 211-135. I voted with the committee, as these negotiating sessions include a lot of tentative offers and compromising that would be misleading if made public. HB 509, detailing annual reports on asset forfeiture, passed without comment.
HB 520, authorizing Department of Education hearing officers to issue subpoenas, was debated on the minority amendment, which put the subpoena power only into the office of the commissioner. Hearings officers in other departments, including the OPLC, have this power, so I don’t see why the education officers should be different. This amendment failed, 154-190, then after further debate the bill passed, 193-155. HB 587, allowing one party consent to some audio or video recordings in some circumstances, was amended on a voice vote, debated on whether the bill was too vague and permissive, then failed to pass, 163-184. After that, it was tabled, 263-64, to allow a better, more narrowly tailored version to come back next year. It was intended to allow victims of threats or abuse to document these crimes, but seemed to allow more recording in different circumstances.
HB 614, allowing a private cause of action for violations of constitutional rights, was tabled, 177-167; I reluctantly voted to table because the opponents pointed out that this would give the judges the authority to invent new “rights” as they did in the Claremont decisions on school funding. At 3:10 pm on Thursday, the sponsor moved to take it off the table, which failed, 76-287. HB 641, a private right of actions for civil rights violations, was debated and killed, 195-146. The committee reported that the Attorney General, who is now authorized to bring these cases, actually does so within his current staff and budget!
HB 487, requiring employers to set workers’ schedules a week in advance, was debated and killed, 196-155. For hospitality businesses in particular, the work schedule may change quickly with the weather or other factors beyond the employer’s control.
HB 142, about the Honor and Remember flag, was not tabled, 167-184, not killed, 125-225, then a floor amendment was adopted on a voice vote. This amendment simply added this flag flying at the state house to the existing Gold Star Mothers Day remembrance statute. With that narrower application, the bill passed on a voice vote.
HB 157, creating a committee to study the usefulness of fiscal notes, was tabled without comment. HB 347, employment protections for legislators, was tabled, 265-85. HB 456, originally preventing state agencies from taking a position on proposed legislation, had a committee amendment that completely replaced the bill with a prohibition on using municipal funds for lobbying. That amendment was adopted, 178-170, then the bill was indefinitely postponed, 187-163. The amendment was an attempt to prevent the municipal association, the school administrators association, etc, from lobbying against some legislators’ positions using their tax money.
HB 138, requiring warrant articles with multi-year tax impacts include the tax impact for the first five years on the warrant, was debated and passed, 189-159. Some towns or school districts manipulate some articles to minimize the effect on the first year, then have it jump for the remainder of the article: either by funding the first year with surplus, or starting it late in the year (school articles might legitimately start in September, thereby including only three months in the first year.) HB 147, attempting to clarify which parts of charitable properties are tax exempt, was tabled without debate.
HB 582, safety requirements for personal water craft (jet skis), was killed without comment.
HB 674, various complex power metering alternatives, was tabled without comment, as was HB 692, adopting “smart meters;” HB 755, on utility markets; HB 759, community energy generators; HB 760, default service; and HB 761, customer energy storage. This was the smoothest debate from the committee on energy that I’ve ever seen – usually they debate the details at excruciating length!
HCR 3, applying for an Article V convention of states, was tabled before debate, 267-76; similarly, HCR 5, rescinding a previous resolution for such a convention, was tabled, 176-168. HCR 10, calling for the repeal of the federal Jones Act, was debated and passed, 172-171. The 100+ year old Jones act requires shipping between American ports to be in American-built, owned, and crewed ships, and has resulted New England getting fuel from South America rather than Louisiana, for example.
HJR 1, establishing that the state and federal government are established to protect natural rights, was tabled without discussion, 182-160.
HB 249, allowing bicyclists to treat stop signs as yield signs, was debated and killed, 207-135. HB 461, forbidding translations for driver’s license training and testing materials, had the committee amendment adopted without comment, then was debated before passing, 187-159. Since road signs, emergency signs, and other important signs are all in English, it makes sense that drivers licensed here should understand English, as all federal commercial licensees must. HB 489, allowing volunteer emergency responders to use a rear facing blue light on their private vehicles, was not killed, 125-217, then passed on a voice vote. Since we have so many volunteers – fire or EMT, mostly – this makes sense – red lights can be confused with brake lights.
HB 553, revising definitions of abuse and neglect, was tabled, 342-1, with both progressives and conservatives worried about the activities specified as “abuse.”
HB 316, reimbursement for ground ambulance services, was debated before passing, 250-85. This bill mandates private insurers pay 325% of the Medicare rate, prohibits balance billing, and creates a study commission on ambulance rates.
HB 191, creating criminal and civil penalties for transporting a minor to get an abortion without a parent’s permission, was not tabled, 162-172, and the committee amendment adopted on a voice vote. This amendment made it for “any surgical procedure,” not just an abortion, and requires the permission be notarized. A floor amendment excluding emergencies was opposed by both sides for sloppy language, and killed, 57-286. After some debate, the bill passed, 180-164.
HB 380, removing criminal penalties for sale of cannabis obtained through the therapeutic cannabis program, was not killed, 143-200, after some debate. The minority amendment, which left the normal penalties for sale of cannabis plus revocation of the medicinal card, passed, 185-157, and the bill passed on a voice vote. Seems fair.
HB 638, allowing an older prisoner serving life without parole to be paroled, was debated and killed, 214-127. Proponents kept saying that some people can be rehabilitated, and that it’s expensive to keep old people in prison; opponents were concerned about the victim’s family being traumatized again by the parole hearing, and insistent that “without parole” means just that.
HB 549, forbidding education freedom accounts from being used for religious schools, was indefinitely postponed, 186-156. HB 50, revising the prohibition on teaching discrimination, had the committee amendment approved on a voice vote, then a floor amendment tweaking the language passed, 174-166. After some debate, the bill passed, 183-157.
HB 292, creating a commission to study SAU consolidation, had the committee amendment adopted, 187-155, then the bill passed, 194-148, with minimal debate.
HB 324, prohibiting obscene or harmful sexual materials in schools, had two floor amendments. The first, deleting the definition of harmful sexual materials and instead having the attorney general provide guidelines for determining obscene materials, was debated and failed, 151-185. The second, allowing the court to award lawyers’ fees to a school that successfully defended its materials, was debated and also failed, 153-186. Finally, we had a long debate that included the sponsor reading some materials found in middle schools. I found one disturbing – not so much the sex, I’ve been married over 40 years – but that it was non-consensual sex. That is not appropriate for children (or anyone!) The bill passed, 183-148.
Starting again on Thursday, HB 361 would prohibit mandatory mask policies in schools. After some debate, it passed, 203-164. HB 431, setting up a commission to review rules on school approval and academic standards, had a non-germane amendment (properly noticed and approved by the committee) to instead create a study committee on special education. This was debated and passed, 202-163; special education absorbs so much money that it deserves some study. The bill then passed on a voice vote.
HB 446, making the last non-academic survey in schools opt-in rather than opt-out, dealt with the Youth Risk Behavior Survey, which collects data, largely on mental health issues, that is used by various organizations to get grant money. Some speakers told us that some of these questions are triggering for some students, and are so intrusive that many students don’t answer honestly. So, after the debate, the bill passed, 204-166.
HB 557, requiring school district ballots inform voters of the average cost per pupil and the most recent achievement scores, was briefly debated and passed, 202-166. HB 669, updating various definitions used in special education, was debated on whether it was complete enough, then passed, 200-168.
HB 741, allowing students to attend any public school in the state, was debated at length. This essentially makes every school an open enrollment school, with the home district paying 80% of their average cost per pupil to the receiving school. The opposition seemed more concerned with the administrative inconvenience of the proposal than any benefits to students, and I can see several. First, there’s the matter of school culture – someone may fit in better at a different school. Then there’s the chance for schools to specialize: around Epsom, for example, there are quite a number of similarly sized elementary schools, all trying to be all things to everyone. Why shouldn’t Pembroke have a robust French culture, while Barnstead has Spanish? Epsom could have a strong music program, while Allenstown specialized in the visual arts? For many students, just being introduced to a language or art is enough; others will prefer to specialize. And these schools are close enough that parents could manage the transportation. It passed, 198-174.
At this point, a member moved to take HB 254, medical aid in dying, off the table. After a few remarks, the motion failed, 169-205.
HB 749, requiring high schools to instruct on the nature and history of communism, had the committee amendment, which deleted the requirement for private schools, adopted on a voice vote. A floor amendment to include fascism along with communism was debated and failed, 162-209. The bill passed, 200-173. HB 768, allowing public schools to contract with any approved private school, expands the town tuitioning program, usually for grades not provided in town, to religious schools. This was debated; supporters pointed to various court cases approving the practice, opponents staunchly against spending public money on private schools in any case. It passed, 202-170.
HB 141, requiring campaign contributions from LLCs be allocated among the owners, was killed without comment. HB 217, requiring proof of citizenship when registering to vote and when requesting an absentee ballot, passed without discussion. HB 274, changing the purging of voter rolls from every ten years to annually, was debated on whether it would remove legitimate voters who only voted in presidential elections, and passed, 200-174.
HB 311, allowing direct campaign contributions from labor unions, was killed without debate. HB 356, enabling school districts to have partisan elections, was amended to correct a reference, then passed, 200-173, with minimal comment.
HB 363, forbidding redistricting to use political alignments, was debated and killed, 203-167. I worked on redistricting, and I don’t believe it would be possible without considering partisan issues. State representative districts have so many restrictions that there aren’t very many opportunities to gerrymander, but larger districts (senate or congressional) have more options.
HB 367, changing the method of adopting partisan town elections, had a procedural mix-up in committee, so we had a floor amendment that the committee had approved incorrectly – it added an unofficial ballot system, such as traditional town meeting can use. That passed on a voice vote, as did the bill, with only explanations from the committee chair. HB 385, reinstating exceptions to voter identification repealed last year, was killed without comment.
HB 357, repealing the department of health and human services’ authority to mandate vaccines by rule, had a brief debate before passing, 195-174. HB 358, allowing a parent to exempt a child from vaccination due to a religious belief with a note rather than by filling out a specified form, was actually debated about the usefulness of having a form, then passed, 206-169.
HB 377, prohibiting hormone treatments and puberty blockers for children, took over an hour to resolve. The committee amendment, a complete rewrite to forbid chemical transitioning, but allowing current patients to wean off the drugs, was adopted without comment. A floor amendment, allowing these treatments for children diagnosed with “sexual dysphoria” was debated and killed, 168-203. A very lengthy debate started, with the opponents (all Democrats) telling stories (their own or letters from others) about successful transitions. A member moved the question, in an attempt to end the debate, but that failed, 177-194, as 27 Republicans joined all Democrats in opposition. Further debate ended with the one Republican speaker, and the bill passed, 197-167.
HB 548, allowing healthcare facilities to operate on a membership basis, rather than accepting all patients, passed without debate, 200-157. HB 559, allowing ambulances to have one practitioner observing the patient, rather than two, was debated and passed, 216-149. This is an option to relieve some staffing problems: clearly, two is better, but it’s also better for the ambulance to head for a hospital rather than wait around for another EMT. HB 679, specifying that mandated vaccines must have been shown to prevent transmission, was debated and passed, 204-165.
HB 712, limiting cosmetic breast surgeries for minors, was debated at excruciating length, with a great deal of very personal information shared. Besides reading the testimony from parents of cross sex children, four members told us of their experiences as trans people. Nonetheless, the vote was 200-165 to pass the bill.
HB 584, stating that the UN, the World Health Organization, and the World Economic Forum have no jurisdiction here, was debated and passed, 198-162. HB 620, on the exercise of freedom of religion, was tabled, 290-72, before any debate.
HB 666, adding restitution payments for unauthorized release of confidential information about library cards, had the committee amendment, a minor correction, and a floor amendment, allowing parents to be informed about their children’s information, approved on voice votes. Debate was largely on the amount of the restitution required; the bill passed, 189-172. HB 687, allowing any portion of a class action settlement that was not claimed by members of the class (or, of course, the lawyers) to be escheated to the state, was debated and passed, 198-165.
HB 200, modifying the procedure to override a local tax cap, adopted the committee amendment, 191-156, then debated on some technicalities. The bill passed, 195-165. HB 284, requiring tax impact statements on local warrant articles, changes the current option of including an impact estimate to a requirement. The arguments against were the same as when I first submitted a similar bill in 2009: things change, they can’t be sure of what the impact will be; they ignore the fact that most voters really just want to know if it’s five cents, 50 cents, or five dollars. It passed, 198-160.
HB 372, on leased improvements, was tabled, 196-162, before debate. HB 373, on management of towns’ real property, clarifies how real property can be leased and who needs to approve it. The committee amendment and a floor amendment, both just tweaking the language, passed on voice votes, then the bill was debated before passing, 190-167. Both sides seemed to be arguing on technicalities rather than real issues. HB 374, clarifying statutory references in local tax cap and budget laws, was also debated on minor points before passing, 195-159.
HB 413, on subdivision regulations, extends the grandfathering period against changes in zoning or building regulations from two to three years. It also updates the appeal process for building or fire code decisions to agree with other statutes and also allows local zoning appeal boards to hear appeals for local amendments to the building code. After some debate, it passed, 185-167. HB 432, on recovery houses, was tabled on a voice vote. HB 475, tightening some loopholes in the default budget process, passed 195-159, after a short debate. Being on the budget committee again, I was able to see how the default budget was manipulated and hope that this bill will stop some of that. HB 613, enabling a arbitrarily reduced default budget, was also briefly debated and passed, 197-158.
HB 568, allowing subdivision regulations concerning the water supply, was tabled on a voice vote.
HB 460, on utility investments in distributed energy, was tabled, 210-141, without debate, as was HB 537, electric rates for condominiums, on a voice vote. HB 690, directing the department of energy to investigate withdrawing from the regional electric grid, was debated before passing, 200-155.
HB 402, declaring education freed om account payments as taxable income to the recipients, was tabled, 202-149. HB 483, requiring the organization running the education tax credit program to be incorporated in New Hampshire, was also tabled, 198-153. HB 530, increasing the allocation from the real estate transfer tax to the affordable housing fund, was also tabled on a voice vote.
HB 517, repealing the paid family leave plan, had been amended by the committee to simply repeal their marketing budget. The bill was not tabled, 155-193, and that amendment passed on a voice vote. After some debate, the bill passed, 316-32. I’d have preferred to repeal the whole program, but was willing to settle for eliminating the marketing.
Finally, HB 251, allowing ownership of some squirrels and raccoons, was tabled, 226-115.
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