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The New Year is here and with it the gaveling in of the second year of the 168th General Court. On our first convening day of the second year the House handles all the legislation which the various committees retained for more work in the fall session of the first year. The convening day for 2024 was the 3rd. There were two hundred and twelve bills on the House calendar from the various committees. A hundred and forty six of them on the consent calendar, and sixty six on the regular calendar. We stopped legislation exempting firearms manufacturers from federal laws. Passed legislation addressing backdoor rule making on landfill siting by DES. We lost the effort to expand the free and reduced priced school meals, and to peurmantize the Medicaid Expansion program. It was a marathon two day session to kick off what is set to be a busy legislative season going into the election year.
The Criminal Justice and Public Safety committee reconvened on the 10th. Holding forty seven public hearings throughout the month and voting on fourteen bills. Some of the bills we dealt with were HB1500, legislation I cosponsored alongside Representative Linda Massimilla, to prohibit the unlawful distribution of misleading synthetic media. This is a very complex topic that is extraordinarily hard for the legislature to address. I co-sponsored HB1500 because it is nonetheless important for us to discuss. The rise of artificial intelligence will rapidly begin to change a lot of aspects of our life. Including media. Just this month, a robot call using a voice mimic computer program of the President saying that the primary election was moved to the 24th. This is one silly example of a larger issue. The better these programs become, the harder it will be to distinguish fact from fiction. Legislatures have an obligation to have these discussions in preparation for the world that is being built around us by the tech elite. We also heard HB1539, legislation I am the prime sponsor of to annul the record of any convicted of a misdemeanor or violent possession of cannabis charge. HB1039, sponsored by Representative Amanda Bouldin, which would provide alternative sentencing care for those who are also primary caregivers.
Some of the legislation the full House heard included HB113, which attempted to remove physical fitness requirements for our law enforcement officers. We heard this legislation on the Criminal Justice and Public Safety committee back in the winter of 2023. It was proposed to attempt to address the recruitment and retention issue that police forces are facing across the State. An admirable effort with a faulty solution. Lowering the standards for those who can be an officer may short term retain officers who can no longer keep up with the rigorous testing schedule, but it harms the force in the long term for obvious reasons. Lower standards brings lower quality. It came before the full House with a tied committee vote. I spoke against the bill on the floor, and it died by a margin of 195-178.
SB249, employed 15 magistrates for the State to help alleviate burdens on the court system. The duty of these magistrates would be to determine the release or detention of defendants on all days of the week and at all times of day pursuant to RSA 597:2, conduct bail hearings and issue decisions on bail and other decisions regarding release or detention of persons pending trial pursuant to RSA 597:2; (d) To issue arrest warrants or other processes of arrest, issue search warrants, administer oaths and affirmations, and perform such other acts or functions specifically authorized by the chief justice of the supreme court not inconsistent with the New Hampshire constitution or any state or federal laws. This would be an aid to the bail commissioners in preforming bail determinations for the accused. Magistrates will be full time, credentialed employees who will ensure the system runs appropriately. The State Senate is seemingly against this change but we will see what comes out of negotiations later this year. Representative Linda Harriott Gathright championed this idea, and was a big part of getting it the fair hearing in the committee it deserved.
A strong group of members on the House Environment and Agriculture committee has been working diligently to stand up to business and protect our State’s environment. HB602 was but one of many examples of that work. The bill would create a two step process for landfill applications. This is a standard procedure throughout the country, and one supported by the Department of Environmental Services. Currently industry approaches DES with their ‘permitting ideas’ in an off the record situation. Putting everyone involved in an ethical dilemma. By requiring an initial application for a permit, early identification of improper sites for a landfill can be done, eliminating those spots early without prejudice. Overall, the two-step process for new landfill applications would help to ensure a more robust and comprehensive proposal evaluation, leading to better decision-making, reduced environmental and public health risks, and increased public trust in the process. Representatives Kelley Potenza, Nicholas Germana, Catherine Sofikitas, and many more deserve a hearty round of applause for their hard work to protect our State’s environment.
Presidential primary politics also took up a decent portion of the month. I continued my work for Marianne Williamson, Peter hosted a house party for Dean Phillips, the two of them held a debate, and the write-in effort for Joe Biden pressed on to victory. Dean had the advantage of legacy wealth to fund his campaign, and Marianne did her best up against a media system which didn’t want to report on the primary. With her rag tag team of committed supporters, events she held over these last few weeks have been hearty conversations on making our Republic one in which all it’s citizens can participate. Where our healthcare system heals people without plunging them into the depths of debt. Where working people can get by on one job, living a comfortable live for them and their family. Where our air is breathable, our food eatable, and our water drinkable. She may have lost this battle but the war continues.
Primary night ended in an Irish bar in Manchester with her, and some of her close supporters. As we were all commiserating on the election, I see a boot headed, long bearded man and his merry band of misfits coming down the hallway towards us. It was Vermin Supreme. In true New Hampshire fashion. A bookend of a good campaign in a classic Granite State moment. Vermin and Marianne walk into an Irish bar…I am sure there’s a joke there but I don’t have the funny bone strong enough to find it at this moment.
There are very few easy votes in the legislature. If you’re doing your job correctly and reading each bill before you carefully. Diligently parsing the arguments on all sides of the bill. Listening to what stakeholders in the issue on both sides have to say, and speaking to those affected by the impact of the bill or what the bill is trying to correct. At the end of the day you must vote. When you take a hard vote, you can either silently press your button and try to hide from the questions; or you can do your job, take the well of the House and speak to the position which you are about to take.
I stand by what I said on the House floor on House Bill 619, banning bottom surgery for minor children under the age of eighteen. My belief in equal rights under the law for all people, no matter your color, your creed, or your sexual preference; is not conflicted by the fact that children do not have the wherewithal to make these life changing decisions during their teenage adolescence. The notion that guardrails on procedures or medication put in place by the legislature is novel is not based in reality. The legislature has put guardrails on many different procedures and medications, and is the authority which authorizes the medical boards and other regulatory agencies to do their work. Listen to the stories of the medicalized children who are advocating for these protections to stop other kids from falling down the same rabbit hole of medical intervention too early. If you truly listen to their stories, I don’t know how you can dismiss their advocacy as anti-anybody.
The speech I gave garnered a lot of attention online. I have been heartened by the thousands of people who have reached out to me to thank me for speaking to the bill on the floor. These are left-liberal people who have felt disaffected by those who try to label those who say that children shouldn’t be receiving genital gender surgery as conservatives or whatever other pseudo pejorative fits in the moment. Child psychologists, doctors, and therapists who have been attempting to ‘blow the whistle’ so to speak. Finding themselves somewhat excommunicated from the social wing of their respective profession. Adult lesbian, gay, and transgender people who agreed with my speech and too found themselves deeply puzzled by the refusal for elected members of the Democratic Party to at the very least give the other side of this issue a fair hearing without immediately writing them off as hateful.
There have also been people, although not as many, who have reached out to express their disagreement. Most of those conversations have been respectful exchanges of ideas, a few of them were belligerent death threats. The reaction from some of my colleagues was beneath them. Yelling at me in the anteroom as I ended my speech, throwing names and anger at the eleven Democrats who voted with me. State House Security told me they believed there were credible threats to my safety and urged me to be careful in the days after the speech. My seat in the House chamber had to be moved indefinitely.
I don’t feel unsafe at all nor have I directly heard a threat from someone who I deem to be credible.
However I do feel it is sad that our politics have atrophied to this point.
Although the rot has so infected our system, it isn’t fully rotten. My legislation HB1169, relative to the creation of a private right of action for those facing discrimination based on hairstyle. I brought hair stylists, and activists to come together in the public hearing on the last of the month. The committee diligently heard our testimony, asked appropriate questions, and while I do not want to jinx anything before the vote on the 15th. I do believe we will have a strong vote out of committee. My bill to raise the amount the State provides for an adequate education for our public school students also got its hearing. The Education committee moved to form a special committee of members from Finance, Ways and Means, and Education to handle the various education funding bills proposed this year. Similar to what the Criminal Justice committee did for the bail bills this past fall.
My line is always open. Whether by phone, email, or snail mail I am unafraid to take any and all inquiries. The snow is on the ground and winter is here.
The final year of the 168th General Court has begun.