The Legislature Strikes Back: GOP Overrides 7 Ayotte Vetoes, The Most Same-Party Overrides In At Least A Century

By Leonard Robinson, NH Journal

If Gov. Kelly Ayotte launched a veto war by rejecting a record 33 bills passed by her fellow Republicans, then Veto Day was “The Legislature Strikes Back.”

Republican majorities overrode seven of Ayotte’s vetoes, the most overrides of a governor by a legislature controlled by the same party in at least 100 years. And they did so by margins that were either impressive or embarrassing, depending on one’s perspective.

For example, when Ayotte’s veto of the state’s 10-year highway plan reached the House floor, just 25 Republicans voted to sustain it. In the Senate, not a single Republican stuck with Ayotte. The veto was overridden 24-0.

Some of the other override votes drew as few as six House votes in support of Ayotte’s position.

For Republicans, the votes were not only about ensuring conservative legislation became law. They also sent a signal to a first-term governor that it was time to collaborate more closely with party leaders.

“We had some points of view that the governor didn’t share, and this was an opportunity to restate the positions that we held firm,” Rep. Jess Edwards (R-Auburn) told NHJournal. “Today was a bit of a polite conversation about what we could agree to disagree on. I hope that the Governor’s Office will engage with at least House and Senate leadership in the future because it seems as if we don’t have good communication.”

Sen. Regina Birdsell (R-Hampstead) offered a similar message.

“The governor had her job to do, and we had ours. This is how legislating works,” Birdsell said. “There are no hard feelings. We just move on.”

Not everyone saw it that way.

“There is no way to spin this as anything but the legislature giving Ayotte a big ‘F you,’” one GOP insider told NHJournal, speaking on background.

The override that received the most attention involved House Bill 2026, the state’s 10-Year Transportation Improvement Plan, which Ayotte vetoed on July 10.

HB 2026 increases toll rates for drivers without New Hampshire E-ZPass transponders and those with out-of-state license plates, a provision Ayotte has criticized as a new tax. Several House Republicans also objected to the toll increase and voted to uphold her veto.

“Make no mistake of it, this is a tax increase on Granite Staters,” Ayotte said after the legislature overrode her veto. “If you pay cash, you will pay double. If you didn’t get a new transponder when you moved here, you will pay double.”

Rep. Joe Alexander (R-Goffstown) agreed.

“Now is simply not the time to be raising tolls on anyone,” Alexander told NHJournal. “And Gov. Ayotte has proven that she is and will continue to be an independent voice.”

While seven overrides may be historic, Ayotte still prevailed on the majority of votes.

Republicans failed to reverse her veto of House Bill 1442, which sought to establish a state definition of “sex” based on biology and allow single-sex spaces, including bathrooms and locker rooms, to be designated accordingly. The veto was sustained on a 165-149 vote.

Rep. Erica Layon (R-Derry), who introduced the legislation, said protecting women from predators who hide behind the transgender label was her motivation for sponsoring the bill.

“The issue here is the fact that the trans community has failed to police themselves and others who are claiming a trans identity,” Layon said. “We need everybody to stand together and ensure that we do not have predators hiding under the label of transgender.”

Many House Democrats shouted down Layon’s remarks. Among them was NH-01 Democratic candidate Rep. Heath Howard. The Strafford Democrat, who has faced criticism for remarks made to a transgender colleague, urged House members to redirect their anger from men in women’s sports and spaces toward the nation of Israel.

“I ask you to put even a fraction of the energy being concerned about this into the arms manufacturers right here in New Hampshire that are making weapons that mutilate and kill children in Palestine, as well as our schools across the country.”

Other vetoes successfully overridden by lawmakers included:

• Senate Bill 468, allowing alternative treatment centers to use greenhouses to grow medical marijuana.
• House Bill 1422, allowing a person serving prison time for a felony or Class A misdemeanor to request a new trial at any time based on new evidence.
• House Bill 1267, prohibiting K-12 students from being questioned by a school district attorney or someone who is not a district employee without a parent present.
• House Bill 1369, allowing towns to notify residents of town meetings through methods other than advertisements in printed newspapers, including municipal websites and social media pages.
• House Bill 1184, establishing a state-mandated process for issuing emergency no-trespass orders on public property.
• House Bill 1102, raising the state’s annual Research and Development Tax Credit cap from $50,000 to $100,000 per taxpayer while doubling state park admission fees for out-of-state residents.

This story was originally published by the NH Journal, an online news publication dedicated to providing fair, unbiased reporting on, and analysis of, political news of interest to New Hampshire. For more stories from the NH Journal, visit NHJournal.com.