What Just Happened? May 12, 2022 NH House Session Wrap-Up
Last Thursday, members of the New Hampshire House of Representatives had the opportunity to listen to a speech from former Polish President Lech Walesa, who broke the stranglehold of communism in his country decades ago. State reps also acted on 81 bills previously passed in the House that were amended by the Senate. Because both bodies must agree on a final version before a bill can become law, representatives had a choice between voting to agree (or “concur”) with the Senate’s changes or disagree (“non-concur). A vote to “concur” means the bill will go to the governor for signature. A vote to “non-concur” means the bill is dead.
Worth noting is that prior to Thursday’s session, 34 additional House bills and 14 Senate bills were identified that will require additional negotiations so the House and Senate can decide on a final version. Over the course of the next week, committees of conference for each of these bills will meet to try to finalize them. Failure to agree on a final version kills the bill. All of the remaining bills must be acted upon during the upcoming May 26 session day.
Here are some of the highlights from Thursday’s session.
Bills Where the House Concurred with the Senate’s Changes
The following House bills now move on to the governor for signature or veto:
HB 1022, a bill permitting pharmacists to dispense Ivermectin (horse dewormer) without a prescription by means of a standing order, was concurred with by a 157-148 vote. The Senate’s amendment phases out the standing order in two years and create a commission to review the use of the drug as a remedy for COVID-19. In arguing against the bill, Rep. Jerry Knirk, a medical doctor, said “said “standing orders with pharmacists should only be used to dispense medications in situations that are clearly supported by the best available medical evidence. Ivermectin does not reach this level of evidence. It is inappropriate and backward for the legislature to pretend there is a consensus and then evaluate to see if one exists. Legislation must be informed by the best available evidence, not poor studies, and wishful thinking.” More at InDepthNH
The House also concurred by voice vote with several additional bills that earlier had raised objections from public health professionals.
HB 1455 would prohibit state enforcement of any federal law, order, or rule that requires an individual, as a condition of employment or any other activity, to provide proof of vaccination against COVID-19 or to submit more than once per month to COVID-19 testing.
HB 1495 would ban state and local authorities from requiring any business to require the vaccination of any customer or employee. The bill also bans them from ordering businesses to require or check for documentation certifying vaccination or immunity status.
HB 1604 is an extension of the state’s current “freedom in immunizations” law requiring state hospitals and medical facilities to grant religious and medical exemptions from vaccination requirements.
HB 1606, would require the state’s new vaccine registry to be an “opt-in” system rather than an “opt-out” system. The registry helps public health officials cross-check hot spots with vaccination rates. And if a particular lot of a vaccine is raising concerns, the state can contact those who’ve gotten it. The governor has given mixed signals about signing the bill. If he does, it will be despite objections from public health officials who have argued that confidential data is protected and the system would be much less effective if a large number of residents chose not to opt-in.
Changes to HB 1178 were concurred with 163-143. This dangerous bill prohibits state and local law enforcement from enforcing federal firearms regulations or executive orders that are not mirrored in NH law. If signed by the governor, only federal officers would be able to enforce the recently announced executive order banning the proliferation of ghost guns—untraceable firearms functionally identical to assault weapons and other popular firearms sold mostly online in kit form that can be easily assembled, have no serial number, and are exempt from background checks. State and local law enforcement officials would be banned from assisting or cooperating with federal officers investigating these violations unless a separate NH law was broken. During public hearings, a spokesperson for the state police testified that HB 1178 would make NH more attractive to gun traffickers.
HB 1682, a bill establishing and funding a law enforcement conduct review committee in the NH Police Standards and Training Council, was concurred with by voice vote. Establishment of the committee was one of the key recommendations of the governor’s Law Enforcment Accountability, Community and Transparency Commission that was established after the 2020 murder of George Floyd.
HB 1131 was concurred with by voice vote. It prohibits school boards and other public education agencies from adopting, enforcing, or implementing a policy that requires students or members of the public to wear a face coverings.
HB 1388, a bill that criminalizes the act of electronically sending a lewd image of yourself to another person who didn’t ask to receive it, was approved by voice vote. “Cyberflashing” has become an increasing common offfense, but until now there has been no way to effectively prosecute it.
HB 84, which declares May 21, 2022 as Ona Judge Staines Day, was passed by voice vote and now goes to the governor. Staines was enslaved to President George Washington. She escaped in 1796 and lived the remainder of her life free in New Hampshire.
HB 1185 was also concurred with by voice vote. It allows wastewater treatment plants that accept industrial or commercial waste from industrial or commercial facilities or septic haulers to test it to determine the level of PFAS in the discharge. It also lets them reject it if PFAS is found. (I was a cosponsor on this one).
Bills Where the House Did Not Concur with Senate Changes
Because the House voted to “non-concur” on the following bills, they are dead for this session.
HB 144, a bill that would have modified absentee ballot request forms and permitted absentee voting due to illness or other medical condition that prevents the voter from appearing at the polls, failed to win approval. While Democrats argued that expanding the allowable reasons to vote absentee to include illness and other temporary medical conditions is common in many other states, Republicans argued that a change to the state’s constitution would be needed to do this.
HB 1203, another attempt to revise voter residency requirements amended previously by SB3 (which the NH Supreme Court struck down in 2017), also heads to the scrap heap after the House decided not to agree with the Senate’s changes.
House Bills Headed to Conference Committees
Next week, House and Senate committees will meet to try to hash out differences on 34 additional bills. If they succeed, the bills will head back to each chamber where members must accede to the changes in order for the bills to pass. If they fail to reach agreement—or both bodies fail to approve with the agreed on changes—the bills die. All conference commitee meetings are public and a complete list can be found here.
Here are some of the ones to watch:
SB 200 is the legislature’s last chance at coming up with a fair way to redistrict New Hampshire’s two congressional districts. The New Hampshire Supreme Court has ruled against using current political maps as a stop-gap measure and said it will redraw the state’s congressional districts using the “least change” best practice if lawmakers fail to enact a new plan by June 1, when the candidate filing period opens.
HB 307, a troubling bill that would remove local firearms ordinances from the books and punish local officials who allow them to remain in place or adopt new restrictions, will be in the hands of six pro-gun legislators and one advocate for gun safety (Sen. Jay Kahn). If negotiators can agree on a final version, the bill would take effect as soon as it is signed by the governor. Several New Hampshire communities, including Portsmouth, have ordinances that restrict firearms from public parks and other areas. HB 307 has a provision allowing any public official refusing to remove a firearms-related ordinance from the books to be removed from office by the governor.
HB 1661 started out as a bill to fund the much-needed replacement of the rapidly deteriorating parking garage used by legislators in Concord. But it came back from the Senate with a string of provisions added from other bills that had stalled or died earlier in the legislative process. The amended bill includes a bail reform bill (SB 294) that was tabled by the House; a housing bill that was also tabled; a school funding bill that had been altered by the House; and a laundry list of health care law changes requested by the Department of Health and Human Services. More from the New Hampshire Bulletin.
HB 1099, an extremist blow to public health that would expand NH’s current ban on state and local governments requiring proof of vaccination to access public facilities or obtain public services to the state’s primary public health agency—the Department of Health and Human Services—faces an uphill battle. That’s because the Senate amended the bill to include a mixed bag of other bills either killed previously in the House or in jeopardy because the House amended the original bills. They include provisions re-establishing the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) Farmers Market Nutrition Program; establishing an “association health plan pilot program”, and expanding Medicaid to include certain postpartum health care services.
HB 1431, a highly controversial bill opposed by the state’s Child Advocate, attempts to define “parents rights”. But in doing so it ignores the rights or children and punishes teachers and school board members for violations. While the bill makes some needed changes, the inclusion of many troubling and unnecessary provisions—such as requiring parents to be notified if a student shares information with a teacher or school official that touches on the student’s gender expression or identity—tilts it towards extremism. Unfortunately, the Senate’s changes leave in many of the House’s more extreme provisions. This makes it highly unlikely that a sensible parents’ rights bill will emerge from the conference committee process.
SB 401, a much-needed bill that appropriates money for bridge repair and police bodycams, was amended in the House to include a provision from controversial House bill killed earlier in the Senate that would slash the duration of state unemployment benefits.
You can view this week’s conference committee negotiating sessions on YouTube. 🍿 🍿🍿🍿🍿