What Just Happened: May 26, 2022 NH House Session Wrap-Up
On Thursday, members of the New Hampshire House of Representatives took final action on remaining committee of conference reports. For some bills it was the final step before moving on to Gov. Sununu for signature or veto. For others—thankfully—it was the end of the line. Meanwhile, it was also the last chance to try to deal with gun violence in this session as well as the last hurrah for a Portsmouth legend. Here are some of the highlights.
Education
In a surprise, HB 1431, a “don’t say gay” bill masquerading as a “parents’ rights” bill, was killed by a close 169-173 vote. While consolidating parental rights into a single place in NH law is a good idea, amendments requiring teachers and other school personnel to out LGBTQ kids to their parents was one of several additions that took the bill off the rails and headlong into extremism. The bill also ignored the rights of children, which was a huge area of concern for former state Child Advocate Maura O’Neill. More from NHPR.
Elections
SB200, which establishes lines for revised congressional districts, passed 176-171. While the bill would have allowed Portsmouth to remain in the first congressional district, it also would have placed both incumbent congresspersons in the same district. On Friday—the very next day—Gov. Sununu quickly vetoed it, citing concerns over lessening the impact of rural voters in the second congressional district as well as placing Annie Kuster and Chris Pappas in the same district. Meanwhile, a special master assigned by the NH Supreme Court has designed new redistricting maps based on a “least change” principle with a court review scheduled for next Tuesday. More from NH Bulletin and WMUR.
HB 1567, a bill sponsored by the “stop the steal” contingent of the legislature, passed 184-161. The final version of the bill establishes criminal penalties for election officials who “knowingly” fail to perform an election duty. In a nutshell, this bill is an insult to every person who volunteers to work at the polls. The bill also establishes a lower threshold for removing a person’s right to vote than established in the New Hampshire Constitution.
Guns, Guns, and More Guns
In a move prompted by this week’s school mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas, Rep. Deborah Altschiller made a motion to suspend House rules to allow reconsideration of HB 1668–a bill killed earlier in the session that would close loopholes in New Hampshire firearm background checks. Unfortunately, her motion was killed by a 163-188 vote.
Unless a special session is called (unlikely with a governor who has vetoed every gun violence prevention measure to reach his desk), this was the last opportunity to pass legislation reducing the risk of gun violence in New Hampshire in 2022. At the end of the Thursday session, Rep. Altschiller delivered a separate speech on the threat of gun violence in New Hampshire that was interrupted as a GOP legislator made a motion for her to suspend her remarks. But by a vote of the full House, she was allowed to finish. You can read her full remarks at InDepthNH.
Criminal Justice
HB 1476, a controversial bill that glued together two separate bail reform rollback efforts into a single bill was killed by the Senate before a vote could be taken in the House. Drafting errors by the committee of conference at the end of the process sunk the bill, which would have required people accused of 13 types of crimes to be held without bail until a hearing can be held in front of a judge. Constitutional issues, the impact and cost of unfunded changes on the court system, and a “strange-bedfellows” alliance opposing the bill made up of the ACLU, Americans for Prosperity, Democratic House liberals, and some GOP liberty conservatives also doomed the bill. The issue is very likely to come up again in the next session where a new approach to solving the problem will likely be introduced. One of the fixes being discussed would set up a magistrate system to replace key players in New Hampshire’s current bail system, where inconsistently-trained, poorly paid, semi-volunteer bail commissioners are responsible for many bail decisions. More from NH Bulletin and Union Leader.
HB 1333, which would have increased the “lookback” period after which drunk driving offenses are removed from criminal records from 10 years without another offense to 15 years, was killed 154-193. New Hampshire is one of 23 states with a 10 year lookback period. No data was presented during hearings that supported the change and legislators decided to pass on changing New Hampshire’s already-tough drunk driving laws.
Health Care/Public Health
HB 103, a bill establishing a dental benefit under the state’s Medicaid program passed by voice vote. Gov. Sununu vetoed a similar bill in the last session, but the hope is he will sign it this time. Poor dental health can be a confidence-killer and a huge barrier to a better job and a better life for many people living on the margins of poverty.
HB 1487, which allows individuals and parents to withdraw from the state’s vaccine registry, passed by voice vote. A signature will required from a health care provider to opt-out and the duty to maintain vaccination records becomes the responsibility of the patient or a parent.
Taxation
HB 1221 passed by voice vote. The final version of this bill cuts the state’s business profits tax 0.1% and includes a one year 7.5% state payment to help defray municipal retirement expenses. Legislation re-establishing state aid for municipal retirement expenses—which heavily impact local property taxes—was a top priority for House Democrats. Although an ongoing appropriation would ensure local property tax reduction on an ongoing basis, it faced stiff opposition from GOP leaders in both the House and Senate. Getting one year covered is a win for cities and towns and is a step in the right direction.
Legislative Smorgas-bills
HB 1661, a bill that started out as a simple bipartisan effort to make life easier for Career and Technical Education students entering the trades—that blew up over the course of the legislative process to add over two dozen additional provisions taken from other bills that stalled in the House or Senate—passed 244-99. The final bill includes money to jumpstart planning for a new legislative parking garage (before the current one falls down into a heap of rust like a dried-out sand castle), an extraordinary needs grant for schools, and incentives and financial investments for affordable housing development. More from NH Business Review.
HB 2022, the state’s new 10 year transportation plan, passed by voice vote. Unfortunately, conference committee members agreed to remove a section on Electric Vehicle Charging Stations and Electric Vehicle and Infrastructure funding. This means New Hampshire will leave federal money on the table to build electric vehicle infrastructure at a time when gas prices have hit record levels.
SB 401 was approved by voice vote. It approves funding for local highway aid and bridge repair, makes an appropriation for the state’s bodyworn and dashboard camera fund for police, and lets the Department of Transportation operate dashboard cameras in its vehicles. A controversial House amendment that would have cut unemployment benefits in half was removed from the bill by members of the committee of conference.
Other Bills of Note
The following bills also passed by voice vote:
HB 355, extending keno from bars and restaurants to convenience stores.
HB 1503, which in theory provides a regulatory framework for cryptocurrency. Cut from the bill was a provision requiring state contractors to use domestic steel, language that earlier had been tacked on to the bill by Sen. Tom Sherman and other Senate supporters of NH steel producers.
SB 271 which, in a huge boost to the northern part of the state, extends ratepayer subsidies for the Burgess BioPower plant in Berlin for another year.
Celebrating a Portsmouth Legend
Shortly after the session started, the New Hampshire House of Representatives honored Portsmouth’s own Rep. Laura Pantelakos, who after 44 years in office has decided to retire after a trailblazing legislative career.
In a gesture that shows how much she is admired on both sides of the aisle, House Speaker Sherman Packard invited her to take the gavel as Speaker of the House. She worked through several bills flawlessly (she’s seen this movie before) before handing back the gavel and being honored with speeches from Speaker Packard and former Speaker Steve Shurtleff, who served with her on the House Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee.
Rep. Pantelakos’s accomplishments in the legislature are legendary. Serving at various points as ranking member, vice-chair, and chairperson of the House Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee, she has worked tirelessly to improve the criminal justice system for both law enforcement and defendants. Throughout her career, she has fought for safer gun laws and a decade ago pushed through legislation that forced colleges to report rapes on campus to local police rather than conducting investigations themselves. Her constituent service is beyond compare. Responsive to a fault, she has always been willing to meet with people who reached out to her—and she never had a problem contacting governors, attorney generals, commissioners, mayors, or anyone else if she thought they could help her resolve an issue.
With the retirement of Rep. Laura Pantelakos, Portsmouth is losing our most dedicated public servant ever. But what our city and the state of New Hampshire have gained over the past 44 years thanks to her service is immeasurable.
Signings and Vetos
In addition to vetoing SB 200 and HB 52 (congressional redistricting) this week, Gov. Sununu vetoed the following bills:
HB 1625, an act repealing the prohibition on entering or remaining on a public way or sidewalk adjacent to a reproductive health care facility. This bill would have eliminated the buffer zones near abortion clinics that protect women entering them from verbal harassment from protesters. Framed by supporters as a “free speech” bill, the governor apparently didn’t buy the argument that unwanted harassment in close quarters of people already in crisis somehow counts as free speech.
HB 1677, an act providing $100 million in funding to settle sexual and physical abuse claims at the state-run Sununu Youth Services Center. The Manchester detention center has been the target of a criminal investigation since 2019, and 11 former workers were arrested last year on abuse charges. A coalition of survivors and advocacy groups has criticized the amount and the terms of the settlement, claiming the maximum settlement for victims is too low and that victims of abuse whose cases don’t involve sexual assault have been unfairly excluded. More from the Union Leader.
HB 275, an act relative to the declaration of a state of emergency. This bill was an attempt to rein in the powers of the governor during a state of emergency. It would have permitted the governor to declare a state of emergency of up to 21 days that could be renewed up to three times for up to 21 days each, without involving the legislature. It would have capped the length of time the governor could maintain emergency powers at 84 days. Rolling back the governor’s emergency powers after accusations of “overreach” during the 2020 COVID-19 state of emergency was a big issue for most Republican legislators as well as for more than a few Democrats in this session.
The legislature will return in September to vote on whether to sustain or override Gov. Sununu’s vetoes. But at this point, it seems unlikely that any of the vetoed bills will have the 2/3 support required in both the House and Senate to override them.
Meanwhile, the governor has signed 80 bills into law in the past two weeks. While some are slightly exasperating (for example, a bill banning police from “motorcycle profiling” in a state where there is currently no law banning racial profiling), the majority were non-controversial. But the headliner of the signings was HB 1609, which creates a fetal anomaly exception to the 24 week abortion ban he signed in 2021 and removes the mandatory ultrasound requirement for women seeking abortions between 8 and 24 weeks. However, the remainder of the law stays in effect, including penalties for health care providers who perform abortions after 24 weeks. More from APNews.
You can view a full list of the 55 bills signed into law that were announced the week of May 20th on the governor’s website.
Meanwhile, you can view a list of the 29 bills signed into law that were announced on Friday, May 27 at InDepthNH.
Re-election Stuff
A quick personal announcement: I’ll be filing for re-election next week to District 37. This is a new district comprised of Portsmouth Ward 5, Portsmouth Ward 1, Newington, and New Castle. As always, I appreciate your support, I value your vote, I’m looking forward to lots of door-knocking and great conversations over the course of the summer and fall.
I’d be honored to keep serving you in the legislature in 2023 and 2024 if you decide to send me back to Concord.