Updates

On Thursday, the New Hampshire House of Representatives votes on a state new budget. As expected, it differs greatly from the budget proposed in February by Gov. Chris Sununu. Here are ten things to know about the House budget we’ll be voting on.

On Thursday, several bills passed by the New Hampshire House of Representatives earlier in this session, but referred back to a second House committee for additional review, made the trip back the House floor for new votes. With the deadline to act on all non-budget bills also falling on Thursday, we knew we were in for a long day. Here are the highlights.

This coming Thursday, April 4, is the deadline for the New Hampshire House of Representatives to act on non-budget bills originating in the House. If some of them sound familiar, there’s a reason for that. Several have already been voted on—and passed—by the full House. But once passed, they were referred to an additional committee for more work. On Thursday, these bills boomerang back onto the House floor with new committee recommendation and the full House must vote on them once

After a long day of contentious public hearings on Tuesday, the Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee voted by identical 12-8 margins on Wednesday to approve bills enforcing gun-free school zones and other protecting vulnerable adults. A third bill, approved 18-2, raises the fines for violations by off-road recreational vehicles and snowmobiles. All three bills now head to the full House for a vote before moving on to the Senate.

As we move past the one year anniversary of the March for Our Lives, it’s encouraging to know that the outrage felt by so many people had a genuine impact on gun laws in states across the country. But there is still much work to do—especially in New Hampshire.

This week, the New Hampshire House of Representatives acted on hundreds of bills. Here’s a quick summary of some of the key votes.

We’ve hit the stretch where those of us who are members of the New Hampshire House really start earning our $100/year salaries. Last Thursday, we voted on dozens of important bills and this week we meet on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday to vote on hundreds more. The heat is on because this coming Thursday is the deadline for the House to act on bills that aren’t required to be considered by a second committee. Crossover day—the deadline for all bills to be voted on by the full House—is also looming on March 28. Here are the highlights of the week that was—and a preview of the week ahead.

With the full legislature meeting 4 times in the next week, House committees were busy this week making recommendations on dozens of key bills. On Wednesday, the Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee voted on two important gun violence prevention bills, a bill to criminalize possession of dog fighting and cock fighting paraphernalia, a bill to increase the penalty for crop theft, and more. Here’s what we decided.

Another extremely busy week in the legislature was highlighted on Thursday by a veto-proof 279-88 vote to repeal the death penalty in New Hampshire.

After this week’s controversy over pearl-wearing legislators, it’s time for ALL New Hampshire legislators to consider hitting the “pause” button when it comes to donning symbols when conducting public hearings, holding executive sessions, and voting on bills.

This week was the deadline for bills that need to be referred to other committees (sometimes referred to as “early bills”) to be acted on by the New Hampshire House of Representatives. The result was a flurry of important bills that either moved on the the next step, were killed for this session, or were “retained” for further committee work and reintroduction in 2020. I also made my first floor speech.

Serving on the Criminal Justice and Public Safety committee never lacks for drama. This week was a prime example.

Today the Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee of the New Hampshire House of Representatives voted 11-6 to send the death penalty repeal bill on to the full House with an Ought to Pass recommendation

This week, we celebrated Valentine’s Day and remembered the heartbreak of the Parkland school shooting. What’s the status of gun violence prevention efforts here in New Hampshire one year later?

On Thursday, February 7th, the Criminal Justice and Public Safety Commitee had an executive session where we discussed and voted on several of the bills that have had public hearings before the committee over the past few weeks. Here’s what we recommended.

Ranked choice voting makes it possible for people to vote for the candidates they truly believe in, including third-party alternatives without fear of “wasting their vote” or worse—having two good candidates cancel each other out in a three way election, opening the door for a third candidate to win election with a small plurality and nothing close to an actual majority.

The death penalty. Gun violence prevention. Cannabis legalization. Criminal justice reform. In February and March, all of these critical issues will be debated in the Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee of the New Hampshire House of Representatives. Here’s a quick overview of some of the more controversial bills we’ll be considering and information on how you can make your voice heard.

On Tuesday at 10am, I’ll be testifying for HB-202—a bill I’m cosponsoring with Rep. Peter Somssich that would require presidential candidates to disclose their previous 5 years of federal income tax returns as a condition for appearing on the ballot.