Our midstream progress report on the N.H. Legislature continues today, checking up on the status of some featured legislation we’ve covered so far this session.
For more background on each bill, click the links to the corresponding dispatches in the bolded heading.
The latest Republican-backed proposal to overhaul the state retirement system has its first public hearing this Friday. Senate Bill 3, sponsored by Sen. Jeb Bradley (R-Wolfeboro), has started its legislative journey in the Senate Executive Departments and Administration Committee.
A bill to redefine education adequacy was rejected by the House Education Committee. Rep. Ralph Boehm (R- Litchfield) proposed eliminating the current statewide requirements for education in the arts, world languages, health and technology. These are among the components of an adequate education that school districts must provide, according to a law passed in 2007 to meet state Supreme Court guidelines.
Boehm, vice-chair of the House Education Committee, had argued that local communities should have the right to determine the definition of an adequate education for their students. On Feb. 24, the House Education Committee voted 15-0 to recommend against Boehm’s bill. House Bill 39 is scheduled for a March 16 vote in the full House.
A bill to restrict membership on House study committees to lawmakers is scheduled for a vote Tuesday by the House Legislative Administration Committee. Sponsored by Rep. Laurie Harding (D-Lebanon), House Bill 190 has received bipartisan support.
The measure follows a strong bipartisan House vote last year instituting a rule (not a formal law) that limits membership on House study committees to legislators. Previously, some study committees had invited members of the public, industry experts, or representatives from state agencies to serve.
Since December, we have followed a proposal to repeal a 2008 law and remove New Hampshire from the 10-state Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative. House Bill 519 is sponsored by Rep. Richard Barry (R-Merrimack).
After a daylong hearing earlier this month, the bill was recommended for passage by a party line vote in the House Science, Energy and Technology Committee. It then passed the House Wednesday, 246 to 104. Before heading to the Senate, HB 519 will have a second trip in the House through the House Finance Committee.
Rethinking Renewables Gets Rethought
A few days after we wrote the headline “Renewable Energy Could Get a Whole Lot Bigger,” the bill at the heart of the dispatch (House Bill 302) died in its committee at the request of its own sponsor. Rep. Richard Barry (R-Merrimack) said he hadn’t planned on stirring up any controversy when he proposed making large-scale hydroelectric power part of New Hampshire’s renewable energy portfolio.
His proposal, however, drew out critics of the Northern Pass electric transmission line project in the northern part of the state. They were joined by supporters of solar energy development, which would have been impacted by a change in the law. The Renewable Portfolio Standards law also was already up for review later this year.
On Feb. 15, the full House agreed by voice vote with a unanimous House Science, Energy and Technology Committee recommendation to kill the legislation.
The latest attempt to legalize the growing of industrial hemp was rejected by lawmakers. As we reported in early February, Rep. Derek Owen (D-Hopkinton) has sponsored at least seven similar bills since 1998. This year’s effort met the same fate as previous attempts. House Bill 101 was rejected by an 11-7 vote in the Environment and Agriculture Committee, in part because federal law prohibits the growing of industrial hemp. By a 304-51 roll call vote, the full House voted down HB 101 on Feb. 15.
Sex Registry Study Committee Measure Rejected
A bipartisan proposal to study the effectiveness of the state’s sex offender registry did not get much support in committee or in the full House. House Bill 122 was sponsored by Rep. James MacKay (D-Concord) and Sen. Sharon Carson (R-Londonderry). The House Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee recommended House Bill 122 be killed, and the full House concurred in a voice vote on Feb. 15.
The House Finance Committee is again considering a proposal to prohibit any state funds from being sent to New Hampshire Public Television. House Bill 113, sponsored by Rep. Steve Vaillancourt (R-Manchester), already passed the same committee and the full House by a 262-102 vote on Feb. 15.
All bills dealing with spending that pass full chamber votes are sent to the Finance Committee for second consideration — even bills that started there. If, as expected, it passes again through the same bodies, HB 113 will move to Senate.
This Daily Dispatch was written by Michael McCord.