What Just Happened: March 6, 2025 NH House Session Recap—Rust Bucket Freedom Edition
It was a good day for people who drive rust buckets—and an even better day for landlords with lead paint problems. But it was a pretty awful day for public health, laid-off workers and, worst of all, NH kids. Here’s a quick summary of the questionable, the ugly, and the horrendous things that happened during the March 7 session of the NH House.
THE QUESTIONABLE
Annual Motor Vehicle Inspections Eliminated. By a surprisingly large majority, HB 649 passed 212-143. The bill would eliminate the state's annual vehicle inspection requirement, a move that now heads to the state Senate for consideration. Speaking in favor of the bill, supporters framed auto inspections as a scam and accused auto dealers and inspection facilities of refusing to come to the table to negotiate. Opponents argued that eliminating inspections could come at a high potential cost. While saving $20-$50 for the sticker sounds great, having more unsafe cars on NH roads will inevitably lead insurers to raise rates for everyone buying car insurance. Something else to ponder in a budget year when the state is expected to downshift even more financial responsibility for services to local communities is the fact that our cities and towns rely on revenue from inspection fees to help balance their budgets. Should the bill make it through the Senate and get signed by the governor, it would also eliminate funding for New Hampshire's Motor Vehicle Air Pollution Abatement Fund and potentially lead to federal intervention on emissions standards (assuming any EPA employees are still around to enforce them) More.
In other transportation-related actions:
HB 419 , a bill requiring vehicle headlights to be on when windshield wipers are also on, was killed 227-129.
HB 305, a bill that would have authorized law enforcement agencies to install and use speed monitoring traffic cameras and red-light cameras for traffic enforcement, was voted down by voice vote. Variations on this approach have been adopted in other states—especially for school zones and work zones. But concerns over the possibility the cameras will be used for surveillance along with the potential for negative public reaction in places where they are installed have kept them off of New Hampshire roadways.
HB 245, which would have established grants for police departments to buy roadside equipment telling drivers how fast they are going (and to slow it down), failed 225-147. Republicans argued the bill would bring back “policing for pay”. Democrats pointed out that the number one complaint most police department get from community residents is about speeders careening down their streets, and that roadside speed displays are an effective way to get people to slow down—voluntarily.
THE UGLY
House Votes to Kill Program That Makes Childhood Vaccines More Accessible and Affordable. By a slim 184-183 vote, the House voted to repeal the New Hampshire Vaccine Association, a nonprofit established by the Legislature in 2002 that serves as a universal purchasing program for vaccines for children. Should HB 524 make it past the Senate and the governor, vaccines will no longer be free to medical practices. Instead, providers will have to purchase them at higher costs, and then bill the relevant payor for each vaccine delivered. Along with the added cost of the vaccines, medical practices would also need to foot the bill for additional administrative costs. For an unknown number, this would lead to some deciding that it’s no longer worth it to offer vaccines. For parents, this may mean having to seek out a different provider—a hassle that could lead some to postpone or even forego vaccinations for their kids. Bottom line: This unneeded action creates the distinct possibility that more New Hampshire kids will be sickened—and even killed—by preventable illnesses. Voting against the bill was Rep. David Nagel (R-Gilmanton) who lost his seat on the House Health, Human Services, and Elderly Affairs Committee after opposing the same bill while it was still in committee. More.
Circumcisions Snipped for Low-Income Kids. By a single vote margin (184-183), the House passed HB 94 , which would prohibit the state from paying for poor children’s circumcisions under the state Medicaid program. While the procedure is no longer recommended by professional medical associations as a matter of medical necessity, it is still practiced in over half of male births in the state. Supporters of the bill argued that the procedure is not medically necessary and diminishes sexual pleasure. Opponents of the bill pointed out that passage of the bill would make Jews and Muslims feel less welcome in the state, while also creating a system where low-income kids are denied access to a common procedure that is covered up to 30 days after birth for families with private insurance. Opponents also pointed out that the procedure is one of a number of medically available but not mandatory procedures covered by Medicaid, including dental and vision care, hearing aids, physical therapy, breast reconstruction, mental health counseling and bariatric surgery. More.
“So What’s a Little Lead Poisoning Among Friends?” With child lead poisoning on the rise in New Hampshire, House Republicans thought the time was ripe to kill two lead poisoning prevention bills.
HB 724 was “indefinitely postponed” 202-167. This is a parliamentary maneuver that not only kills the bill in question, but also keeps any similar bill from being considered in the House for the next two years. Among other things, the bill would have lowered the child blood action level to be consistent with CDC recommendations. It also would have authorized inspections of multi-unit dwellings when high blood levels are detected in a child resident. The reason for killing the bill and feeling the need to drive a stake through its heart? “It would be expensive for landlords.”
Also killed, this time by a 202-169 margin, was a bill that passed last year only to be vetoed by Gov. Sununu. HB 756 would have established a blood level testing requirement for kids entering daycare or public school. More on both bills in this opinion piece from New Hampshire Bulletin.
“Wait…Kids Trying to Learn at School Need Food?” A bill that would have expanded school lunch assistance died by a 196-174 vote, HB 583, a bill that would have automatically given access to free or reduced-price school meals to low-income students whose families participate in Medicaid, was tabled 196-174. A compromise Democratic amendment would have turned the program into a two-year pilot program that would have been budget neutral. But the tabling motion was made by GOP leadership before debate began—and before any amendments could be introduced—stifling debate on a program whose only goal is to feed hungry kids to improve performance in New Hampshire schools. More.
“Tariffs Driving Up Energy Costs? Now Is the Perfect Time to Deny Climate Change and Gut Renewable Energy Efforts!”. In keeping with a theme that has played out many times over the past 5 years, the House passed two bills that further slash renewable energy efforts along with an inflammatory House resolution.
HB 224 passed 200-162. It effectively guts the Renewable Energy Fund instead of investing in renewables. It also lets utilities off the hook for meeting clean energy targets. The $10 million currently in the fund is slated to be redirected to the General Fund, despite the Renewable Energy Fund being a non-lapsing, dedicated fund. This means the state’s only source for funding renewable energy projects will be eliminated.
HB 723 also passed 201-160. The bill repeals the statute that created the NH Energy Data Hub before the cost-benefit analysis derived from the data takes place, effectively blocking any potential cost savings for ratepayers.
HCR 1 passed 197-156. The resolution decries “the long history of climate alarmism” while declaring that “fraudulent research and media reporting threaten the development of practical and well-founded climate policies.” (Such as “drill-baby-drill.”)
The Self-Proclaimed “New Party of the Working Class” Screws Working People…Again. HB 378, a bipartisan bill that would have required employers to pay workers for unused vacation time and other earned time-off who are laid off or terminated due to a business sale or closure, was killed 193-169.
THE HORRENDOUS
At the conclusion of the session, Rep. Erica Layton (R-Derry), rose to deliver a speech purportedly to honor International Women’s Day. It started well but quickly veered into an anti-transgender screed that caused some Democrats to vocally object and many other Democrats to walk out. Afterwards on social media, Rep. Alissandra Murray wrote, “Only bullies and bigots feel the need to cheer and laugh with glee as they pass legislation dehumanizing an entire population. It’s not enough for you to win, you have to mock our pain as you strip away our rights. These are not Granite State values, and you are not good people.”
At a time when a number of discriminatory and mean-spirited anti-transgender bills are moving forward in the House, this was a preview of things to come. If you can stomach it, you can watch Layon’s speech and the response here.
COMING UP
Have Feedback About the State Budget? Let’s Fill the Hall! The public hearing on both HB 1 (the operating budget/departmental spending bill) and HB 2 (the “trailer bill” that contains additional appropriations as well as changes to the law that may or may not involve appropriations) will be held on Wednesday, March 12th at 2:00 pm at the State House in Representatives Hall. It’s your chance to let members of the House Finance Committee know what you think about key spending items as well as proposed service cuts that inevitably get passed on to local property taxpayers. From bail reform, to health and human services, to roads, to public education, to the proposed multi-million dollar universal school voucher giveaway to private and religious schools, it’s your chance to tell the folks who write the budget what you want to see added, what you’d like to see erased, and what you believe needs to be prioritized or changed. For real-time updates on the budget as it moves through the legislative process, sign up here. For more information on the budget process and the challenges for this year, see NHFPI’s excellent slide presentation and this overview.