Legislative Recap: February 23, 2020
In a week where many high profile bills cleared important House votes, the biggest news was that Granite Staters saw that members of our legislature who blow off mandatory sexual harassment training will actually be held accountable.
Reprimands
I disagree with some of my NH House colleagues fairly frequently. But Thursday was the first time I’ve ever felt ashamed of any of them. Seven GOP members were called up one at a time before the House to be reprimanded for blowing off mandatory sexual harassment and discrimination training, which 99% of legislators (including me) completed in one of the 8 sessions offered.
Instead of expressing anything even close to regret or an apology, we were treated to 4 hours of tone-deaf jokes, long rants about how rules don’t apply them, and to a concerted effort by GOP leadership to turn the legislators being reprimanded into victims. Totally absent was any acknowledgement that when people DON’T take training like this, we are far more likely to have more REAL victims of actual sexual harassment and discrimination. For better or worse, the entire mess was recorded. Unfortunately, several additional legislators who would have received reprimands were unable to attend—so we’ll likely need to take time out of a busy legislative schedule to deal with this issue again in the coming weeks.
Recaps
The House met to vote on bills on Wednesday and during the first part of the day on Thursday. These were some of the more notable votes. Keep in mind that bills winning House approval at this stage still have a very long way to go. Some will go back to second committees for additional work. All must also be eventually approved in the Senate and signed by the governor before they can become law. (Unless noted otherwise, I voted with the majority.)
Two important gun violence risk reduction bills won approval.
HB1101 passed 184-134. It imposes a three-day waiting period on most firearms purchases. Specifically focused on reducing New Hampshire’s plague of firearms suicides, this bill gives a vulnerable person more time to consider alternatives and decreases the likelihood on an impulsive act that has a much higher fatality rate than other forms of attempted suicide. It was also amended to exempt people with valid restraining orders and those expressing fear for their safety to a law enforcement officer.
HB1379 passed 196-152. It requires private commercial firearms sales or transfers in New Hampshire to be subject to a criminal background check. By closing a loophole that allows guns to be advertised and sold without a background check to people not personally known by the seller, it reduces the likelihood of a firearm ending up in the hands or a felon or a someone subject to a domestic violence protective order. I spoke on the floor in favor of this bill and parts of my floor speech were broadcast on WMUR. (I’ve included a copy of my full remarks at the bottom of this post).
HB1648 would permit adults to possess up to 3/4 of an ounce of cannabis and grow up to six cannabis plants. It passed the House by a veto-proof 236-112 majority. However, unlike a bill vetoed last year by the governor, the bill doesn’t attempt to set up a regulated system to sell and tax cannabis. Read more.
HB1141 passed by voice vote as part of the Consent Calendar. Also known as the “cyber flashing” bill, it makes it a crime to electronically send an image of your private parts to another person without their consent.
HB1601 won approval by a 217-136 vote. It would remove the exemption for married minors from our Aggravated Felonious Sexual Assault law. Its passage sends a clear message that the shield of marriage should never be used to justify rape.
HB1642 passed by voice vote. In a state that recently codified the right to privacy from government intrusion in our New Hampshire State Constitution, this bill would generally prohibit the state from using facial recognition technology to mass-identify people while they are out in public. The rapid proliferation of this technology and its potentially unfettered use by law enforcement, represents a clear and very real threat to our civil liberties.
HB1218 passed 215-125. It represents a bipartisan attempt to finally pass a net metering bill that can win the governor’s approval. If you’re not exactly sure what “net metering” is, don’t worry—you’re not alone. Essentially, net metering is the process that allows energy consumers using solar panels to get credits off their utility bill for the extra energy their panels may produce. This bill would increase the pitifully low current size limit on net metering projects from 1MW to 5 MW while adding two clean energy bills proposed by the governor in their entirety. This action came just over a week after Governor Sununu vetoed SB159—a similar net metering expansion bill sponsored by Sen. Jeb Bradley.
HB1281 would require health insurance policies to cover “epipens” (auto-injectors for epinephrine) and would require cost sharing to be similar for other benefits. Costs for these life saving devices have skyrocketed 400% since 2007, leaving many of those with dangerous allergies unable to afford them. The bill passed 228-100.