NH House 2020 Day 1 Preview
On January 8, the New Hampshire House of Representatives kicks off the 2020 New Year by voting on bills that were “retained” (or delayed for consideration) in 2019. While over 100 are non-controversial enough to be voted on by voice vote as a single block as part of the Consent Calendar, the House will debate dozens of more contentious bills, ranging from an Extreme Risk Protection Order (or “red flag”) bill to a $10/hour state minimum wage, to independent redistricting legislation, to paid family leave insurance. Here’s a preview:
First Things First: What Exactly is a “Retained” Bill? (A Brief Explainer)
Most bills receive up (“Ought to Pass”) or down (“Inexpedient to Legislate”) recommendations from their committees shortly after their initial public hearing. But in cases where more time is needed to discuss changes and/or to build consensus around a recommendation, retaining (or holding on to) a bill gives a committee extra time to meet and address issues over the summer.
As a result, retained bills are often amended to make changes agreed to by a majority of committee members. For those of you watching the House livestream or attending the session in person, this means many of the bills will be voted on in two steps—an initial vote for the amendment and a second vote on the amended (or unamended) bill itself. Worth noting is that not every bill that gets retained has been changed or even worked on. During the first year of the session, it’s fairly common for similar, or even identical, bills to be filled in the House and the Senate. Committee chairmen have the option of working on one and holding the other one in reserve until they see how the first bill has fared. If the first bill is vetoed by the governor or gets stalled somewhere in the process, the retained “mirror” bill represents a way to get legislation that will achieve the same objective back to the full House vote for a vote.
Here Are Some of the Key Bills and Votes to Watch For
Extreme Risk Protection Orders. HB687 would allow law enforcement and family members to petition the court to temporarily restrict access to firearms by individuals posing an immediate or significant risk to themselves or others. These laws are broadly supported by many Americans and are an effective tool for minimizing the risk of suicides and mass shootings. In 2019, 7 states passed ERPO or “red flag” laws bringing the total to 17. On October 30, the Criminal Justice and Public Safetycommittee deadlocked 10-10 on an Ought to Pass recommendation for HB687—an amended and substantially improved red flag bill. Unfortunately, the tie vote meant the Ought to Pass motion failed. However, since a separate motion to kill the bill as Inexpedient to Legislate also failed, House rules allow the bill to move forward for a House vote without a recommendation. The amended bill is the product of half a dozen work sessions by a subcommittee (on which I served) of the Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee. During these sessions, legislators from both parties worked together across the aisle to identify their issues and attempt to resolve them. Potential changes were discussed and several were agreed to. The amended bill:
Keeps the ex parte process for obtaining temporary orders (which opponents sought to eliminate), but raises the burden of proof for issuing an order from “reasonable suspicion” to “a preponderance of the evidence” (more than 50% certain).
Reduces the maximum time that can elapse between an order being issued and a court hearing from 14 to 7 days.
Requires the court to state the reasons for granting or denying (not just denying) an order.
Replaces a detailed (and contentious) list of circumstances under which issuing an order is appropriate with a general guideline for the courts to consider “relevant, reliable and material evidence.”
Allows the court to order a mental health evaluation if the court finds clear and convincing evidence that the person in question has a serious mental illness or recurring mental health condition that is likely to lead to him or her being a danger to themselves.
Bottom line: the amended bill will give law enforcement a much needed tool to temporarily remove firearms from someone found to be an immediate risk to harm others or to attempt suicide. This sensible legislation will reduce the risk of gun violence in our state without jeopardizing the rights of responsible firearms owners to use their weapons for protection and for sport. I fully support it and plan to vote for it.
Independent Redistricting. One of Gov. Sununu’s more disturbing 2019 actions was vetoing HB706, a bipartisan independent redistricting bill. SB8 is a nearly identical bill whose passage would go a long way towards ending the potential for the sort of partisan gerrymandering seen after the 2010 election and census. Meanwhile a proposed constitutional amendment, CACR9, would require the establishment of an independent redistricting commission to draw boundaries for state and federal elections. As a constitutional amendment, the bill wouldn’t be subject to a gubernatorial veto. But it would require a 2/3 majority in both the House and Senate to pass—and then it would need to be approved on the 2020 ballot by a majority of voters in November. Hopefully we can get one—or both—done.
Curbing Plastic Pollution. Two bills will be up for votes that would empower communities like Portsmouth to regulate the distribution of single use plastics. The narrower of the two bills, HB102, would let cities and towns regulate distribution of single use plastic bags and paper bags via local ordinances. HB559 would give communities the option of banning any or all single use sources of plastic pollution, including plastic bags, styrofoam cups and food containers, and plastics straws. Both approaches leave it up to local people in local communities to decide what’s best for city or town rather than having legislators in Concord make the decision for everyone. With recycling impractical or impossible for many of these items—and landfills nearing capacity—it’s time to give communities the power to reduce the amount of solid waste they are forced to truck to landfills.
Harsher Penalties for Human Trafficking of Children. HB201 would increase the penalty for people convicted of having sex with underage prostitutes from a Class B felony to a Class A felony with a maximum 15 year sentence. This would bring our laws more into line with those of other states. Worth noting is that the penalty was raised to a Class B felony only in 2019. Opponents wanted to allow more time to see if the increased penalty was having the desired deterrent effect before increasing it again. However, judges will still have a great deal of sentencing discretion and I feel a harsher penalty fits an incredibly heinous crime.
Making a Difference for Working Families. HB731 would establish a $10/hour state minimum wage in 2021 and would increase it to $13/hour in 2024. Meanwhile, HB712 would establish a state-operated family and medical leave insurance program. Like the bill vetoed earlier in 2019 by the governor, this bill would provide up to 12 weeks of paid time off at 60% of wage replacement for care of one’s self or a family member. Two similar bills were vetoed by the governor earlier in 2019. I support both.
Moving Towards a Renewable Energy Future. HB735 would use carbon pricing as a tool to incentivize a shift in fuel purchases to home-grown energy sources. SB122 would use Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) energy efficiency funds to pay for energy efficiency projects capable of making a big difference rather than using them to fund small customer rebates spread across all ratepayers. SB124 would establish specific 2040 goals for the use of renewable energy sources, such as wind, geo-thermal, solar, and biomass. SB159 would raise the limit on customer generators eligible for net metering rates from 1 MW to 5 MW. This would make it possible for larger users, such as schools and towns, to generate electricity from solar more economically. It is identical to a bill vetoed in 2019 by the governor.
Holiday Changes. HB221 would rename Columbus Day in New Hampshire to Indigenous People’s Day. Meanwhile, HB506 would establish state holidays for state biennial general elections (but not primaries) allowing employees up to 3 hours of time-off to vote. Employers would not be required to pay employees for lost time. Worth noting is that many larger employers already allow employees to take personal time off to vote, serve on juries, and meet other civic obligations with no loss of pay.
Condominium Dispute Resolution. HB308 would establish a condominium dispute resolution board. Currently, disputes are handled exclusively by the court system. The bill would establish a board to mediate disputes similar to the Manufactured Housing Board, which has been in place for 20 years.
For a full listing of all of the bills that we’ll be voting on, see the House Calendar.
Watching the Action
Keep in mind that if you don’t have time to travel to Concord and watch the debates in the gallery of Representatives Hall, you can watch from the comfort of your home or local coffee shop.
You can access the House Livestream here.