The House’s last session was on June 13, and it worked on the bills that were moved to the floor from the Committee of Conference (a committee of Senate and House members) assigned to work out the final details of a particular bill. On the floor, there are only three possibilities: a yes vote brings it to the Governor for his approval, a no vote kills the bill, and a table vote kills the bill. Fifty-one bills made it to the floor. Most of these bills were passed by a voice vote with no debate. Listed below are the bills that met a discussion and a division vote (yay to nay count).
SB340, relative to communication between parents and school districts regarding special education, special education reporting requirements, and the office of the special education advocate, passed 188-179.
HB1018, which concerns on-premise and off-premise liquor licenses and land in current use still being allowed for a discount, passed 190-176. This bill combined two bills to pass much-needed liquor law corrections.
HB1091, relative to campaign finance, was debated since it would require the name and address to be taken for every campaign donation! Currently, there is no requirement for $50 or less. This is unworkable for a citizen led legislature as we have in New Hampshire. This needs correcting in the next session! The bill passed 190-181.
HB1215, relative to development approval and appeals, contained a special section allowing the town of Hampton to discontinue a highway to lease that property to a new casino development. Since this is generally done at a town meeting, there was much discussion on whether the town could legally allow a 99-year lease. This bill failed 102-261 on a non-partisan vote. Most legislators were not comfortable mandating what clearly falls under local control!
HB1265, which concerns failing to file school expenditure reports concerning adequacy grants and requires school districts to report expenses, passed 183-172.
HB1369, relative to verifying voter rolls every four years instead of the current 10 years, failed 178-185.
HB1370, relative to eliminating voter identification exceptions by requiring a hotline to verify voter identity, was tabled 223-141.
HB1386, relative to prohibiting the disposal of lithium-ion batteries in solid waste landfills, composting facilities, or incinerators, passed 238-118.
HB1400, relative to residential parking spaces, landlord-tenant law, unauthorized occupant evictions, and zoning procedures concerning residential housing to help reduce the housing shortage, passed 205-149.
HB1616, relative to parental consent and notification for student participation in Medicaid to schools program, failed 173-179.
HB1633, relative to the legalization and regulation of cannabis, was tabled 178-173. An attempt to remove this bill from the table shortly after also failed by even more votes! The Senate and House were divided on this bill in three ways: one-third was no to weed, one-third was yes but only regulated by the state and one-third was yes but with free reign to the public.
HB1665, relative to student eligibility for the education freedom account program increasing to 425% of federal poverty guidelines, failed 168-185.
If you have any questions, please feel free to email Cyril and me at info@ClaytonCyril4House.com. It is our pleasure to serve you!
Sincerely, your State Representatives Cyril Aures and Clayton Wood