Updates

With little notice, New Hampshire passed a very unfortunate milestone last week as our state hit and then surpassed 3,000 deaths from COVID-19. A few thoughts…

While housing, energy costs, abortion rights, and the future of public education have dominated local news reports in this session of the legislature, efforts are also underway in Concord to further reduce the risk of tragic incidents involving interactions between police and members of New Hampshire’s minority communities.

A disappointing day earlier this week for me personally along with legislative advocates and citizen supporters of bills that would reduce the risk of gun violence and gun suicide in NH.

An intense month of public hearings wrapped up on Friday for the House Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee. Up next: completing votes on all 56 bills by February 24.

Summer in New Hampshire is beach, boat, and fireworks season. But it’s also the time of year when bills that made it through New Hampshire’s legislative Hunger Games finally reach the governor’s desk for action. Here’s a quick recap of some of the good, the bad, and the ugly bills that have made it to the finish line so far.

On Thursday, members of the NH 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. Here are some of the highlights.

Last Thursday, members of the NH 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. They also decided the fate of 81 bills and formed conference committees to hash out differences with the Senate on dozens more. Here are the highlights.

On Wednesday and Thursday May 4-5, the New Hampshire House of Representatives voted on the remaining bills already passed in the Senate. Complicating matters were potential “poison pill amendments” added to several bills. Here were some of the key votes from this week’s session.

On Thursday, the New Hampshire House of Representatives met for the first time in 2022 without Rep. Katherine Rogers (D-Concord), who died of cancer earlier this month. Over the course of the day, the House voted on close to 30 bills already passed in the Senate. Here are the highlights.

On Thursday, the New Hampshire House of Representatives voted on the remaining House bills in the 2022 session. Here is a wrap-up of some of the key votes.

Last Tuesday through Thursday, the New Hampshire House of Representatives met at the State House in Concord to vote on close to 400 bills. While some were non-controversial, debates on many others were heated and contentious. Here are some of the highlights.

As New Hampshire readies for a Thanksgiving holiday where twice as many people are expected to gather together to celebrate as in 2020, hospitals are under tremendous strain to not only deal with the patients they already have—but to prepare to accommodate those likely to be sickened over the holiday.

On Tuesday, a bill that would ban all New Hampshire employers from making COVID vaccinations a condition of employment passed the New Hampshire House Education Committee 11-8 after an eyeopening public hearing.

New new redistricting maps drawn by New Hampshire Republicans mean big changes for Portsmouth and other Seacoast Communities.

After a 41% increase in active cases over the most recent 7-day period, active COVID-19 cases in NH have hit their highest levels since Jan. 31. Vaccinations are off to a slow start for children ages 5-11. Meanwhile, a solution to the state’s vaccination data collection and reporting issues may be months away. More here...

The legislative filing period for the New Hampshire House of Representatives for the 2022 session ended last week with a flurry of bills that will tie the hands of public health officials when it comes to ending the COVID pandemic and when it comes to fighting communicable diseases in the future.

Twenty years ago, the most devastating attacks to take place on American soil since Pearl Harbor united the country and much of the world in shared shock, anger, and grief. For every person old enough to remember 9/11, there is a story.

Yesterday the Majority Leader of the New Hampshire House of Representatives framed the most extreme budget in state history as a “transformational symphony of reforms.” But a more accurate description would be a “symphony of depravity” that will likely create a “symphony of accountability” for Gov. Chris Sununu, who seems to be just fine with signing off on the worst budget in NH history. 

On Thursday June 24, both branches of the New Hampshire state legislature will get together (separately) to vote on a state budget for the 2022-2023 biennium. Here are five things you should know about the state’s $13.5 billion 2022-2023 budget.

Tonight at midnight, New Hampshire’s year-long COVID-19 State of Emergency will be allowed to expire. While COVID-19 continues to be with us (51 new cases and three additional deaths announced on Thursday), New Hampshire public health officials say the end of the State of Emergency marks the beginning of a transition to living with the virus “at a baseline level”. They also repeated their call for everyone to get vaccinated to minimize the risk of the virus surging back in the fall.