Facing Two-Day Deadline, NH House Session Gets Contentious

By GARRY RAYNO, InDepthNH

CONCORD, NH — With about 180 bills on the calendar for two days of House sessions, things became contentious on Wednesday.

House members expanded the use of deadly force and deadly weapons in three bills, revisited transgender issues, and increased the penalties for repeat drunk driving and making a false child abuse claim to the Division for Children, Youth and Families.

The session lasted well into the night (and was continuing after our newsletter deadline) despite attempts to hurry the process by restricting debate to parliamentary inquiries – which are short summary statements telling your side how to vote – and not the debates between members, as is usually the case.

House Majority Leader Jason Osborne, R-Auburn, said with the number of bills to act on by Thursday’s deadline, something had to give.

But Rep. Lucy Weber, D-Walpole, said the issue was bad bill management that is causing the problem, not the House’s long-standing policy of debating the issues. House Minority Leader Alexis Simpson, D-Exeter, said it was to try to hide the GOP’s extreme agenda.

“Republicans’ first act this morning was to block debate on all 180 bills scheduled for today,” Simpson said. “Republicans know the public overwhelmingly opposes their extreme agenda, as yesterday’s special election result in Carroll County made clear with Bobbi Boudman’s decisive win. Rather than change course, they are taking increasingly extreme steps to ram their agenda through with as little scrutiny, public debate and sunlight as possible.”

The Democrats tried to act on bills regulated to Part 2 of this week’s calendar, which contains many of the bills Democrats introduced with committee reports recommending the bills be killed or sent to interim study, a polite death in the second year of a term because the next legislature does not have to take up the bill.

That resulted in some tense words after one attempt was ruled to be dilatory, meaning purposely trying to slow the proceedings.

The proceedings were slow enough, as nearly every bill and amendment required either a division or roll-call vote, requiring lawmakers to be in their seats in Representatives Hall to vote.

Deadly Force

The House passed three bills to the Senate that would expand the use of deadly force.

Under House Bill 1108, a person would not be deemed to have committed a criminal act if his or her “conduct could reasonably be perceived by a person as likely to result in serious bodily injury, death, theft, unlawful intrusion or refusal to leave after lawful trespass notice, displays a firearm or other lawful means of self-defense.”

Rep. Buzz Scherr, D-Portsmouth, said the bill is an escalation that would allow someone to pull a gun at a fist fight and shoot someone.

But Rep. Terry Roy, R-Deerfield, said, “It is up to our citizens to decide how to use their constitutional rights.”

The bill passed on a 193-144 vote.

House Bill 1240 would allow a person who uses a fake gun or other deadly weapon while committing a crime to be charged with a class B felony.

The bill passed on a 170-162 vote.

House Bill 1279 would allow a person to use deadly force if a third party is being threatened in a person’s vehicle, dwelling or curtilage.

Supporters said it would allow the use of deadly force to defend family members or a person with you at the time of an attack. The bill was approved on a 183-144 vote.

The House voted to also allow judges to increase penalties for repeat drunk drivers if they also were in alcohol or substance abuse treatment in the past 10 years.

But the House voted down House Bill 1239, which would have prohibited sex offenders from loitering within child-safety zones, such as schools, playgrounds and youth centers. Opponents said the bill is too broad and would prevent certain people from going to a park or into a church.

The House overturned the Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee’s recommendation to pass the bill before killing it.

The House also overturned the committee’s recommendation on House Bill 1464, which would prohibit discrimination, harassment and violence based on political affiliation or opinion.

Opponents of the bill, which was killed on a 242-97 vote, said it would be difficult for business owners or landlords to enforce.

The House did pass House Bill 1423, which would expand the improper influence law to cover threats made against family members of public servants, party officials and voters. The bill passed on a 174-158 vote.

Parental Rights

The House approved House Bill 1376, which states “a parent’s decision to raise a child consistent with the child’s biological sex cannot be treated as evidence of abuse, neglect or unfitness.”

Supporters said the measure would reduce the risk of DCYF investigations, but opponents said parents have the right to raise their children as they see fit now and the bill is not needed. The bill passed on a 171-143 vote.

House Bill 1565 would increase penalties for filing a false report with DCYF and passed the House last year but was changed in the Senate and the two sides could not agree.

The bill passed on a 181-141 vote.

Voter Audits

House Bill 1062 would authorize the secretary of state to conduct random audits of the citizenship qualification of registered voters.

The bill passed on a 181-152 vote.

More House action later Wednesday night: House GOP Passes School District Budget Cap

Garry Rayno may be reached at garry.rayno@yahoo.com.

This article first appeared on InDepthNH.org and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.