Senate Passes Bill Allowing ATCs To Grow Greenhouse Cannabis; Approves Locker Room Bill

By PAULA TRACY, InDepthNH

CONCORD, NH — In a bit of a turnaround from the Senate committee's recommendation to kill it, Senate Bill 468 passed on a vote of 18-6, enabling alternative treatment centers to operate a greenhouse cultivation location.

Sen. William Gannon, R-Sandown, was in the minority. He said he would not want to live in a neighborhood with that sort of smell and worried about security and safety issues for children.

Sen. Tara Reardon, R-Concord, said it would allow the 17,000 medicinal cannabis cardholders — many of whom are aging elderly who are sick — the opportunity to save money using natural sunlight instead of solely ultraviolet radiation, which is a strain on the electric grid. The bill now heads to the House for consideration.

Trans Locker Room, Prison Bill Approved

Noting the Senate has been down this road with similar bills for the past six years, Sen. Gannon offered support for Senate Bill 459. https://gc.nh.gov/bill_status/billinfo.aspx?id=1421&inflect=2 which segregates locker rooms and prison spaces based on gender at birth.

The vote was 15-9 with Sen. Kevin Avard, R-Nashua, voting with the Democratic minority. Gannon said one of his daughters has played with a transgender athlete who was a lot bigger and there was a safety issue.

He said he also was concerned with who would not make the team because of a trans athlete.

Sen. Avard rose in opposition to the bill because it does not protect all kids who come to the State House and use bathrooms.

"We are going to leave out (these) bathrooms?" he asked noting one former House member is in jail for taking inappropriate pictures of children.

Sen. Debra Altschiller, D-Stratham, said the "horse is dead, dead, dead," noting that the governor has vetoed a similar bill last year. She said the legislation was targeting the transgender community and while some in the chamber "fixate on this," they are not focusing on housing, education and other issues that the public needs.

Altschiller said this is a civil rights bill, a public safety bill and that this body has the audacity to codify an aspect of discrimination is "in my opinion, obscene."

She said there was overwhelming opposition to the bill in the hearing.

"It's about control. It's disturbing," and she said it will embolden vigilantes who feel licensed to confront people about how they look. "It endangers people," Altschiller said.

Sen. Daryl Abbas, R-Salem, said this is not about bathrooms but about locker rooms and prisons and is about safety. He said as a society we worked hard on sexual equality in sports and this supports that.

The vote was 15-9. It now heads to the House.

Drinking Water Infrastructure

Senate Bill 541 was amended to address water projects and phase II of the southern NH regional water project. Republican Sen. Tim Lang, R-Sanbornton, said the bill should be amended to change the word "loan" to grant.

Sen. Cindy Rosenwald, D-Nashua, opposed a $325,000 earmark in the bill to repay loans to the Town of Webster and said it was the worst kind of earmark.

Lang said the state already appropriated the money in the budget, but the language did not make a whole lot of sense. This is language from Environmental Services. It is not a new spending of money, just a clarification. The bill passed on a voice vote.

Purchase Power Agreements

Senate Bill 447 to allow electric utilities to pursue a wider choice of energy including small modular and "next generation" reactors passed on a voice vote.

New Hampshire is open to innovative energy solutions, Sen. Avard said.

Sen. David Watters, D-Dover, said it is "an interesting package" and it moves New Hampshire where it wants to be.

Sen. Rosenwald, however, disagreed and called it fiscally irresponsible because if they enter a bad deal the ratepayers are left on the hook. And it has happened before, she said.

While these agreements to some extent shielded ratepayers, she said, they can also be costly.

"I ask my colleagues 'how good are you at reading tea leaves?'" and invoked her best Clint Eastwood "do you feel lucky?" It passed on a voice vote.

SB 661-FN Pooled Risk

Sen. James Gray, R-Rochester, asked the body to pass the latest bill to fix issues related to risk pool management. He offered an amendment and the body passed the measure despite concerns raised by Sen. Rebecca Perkins Kwoka, D-Portsmouth.

She said this is something that quietly is a big driver of property tax increases, particularly in her city.
Just like 20 years ago, there are issues of instability in these pools, she said and "we should be regulating it more carefully," she said.

Gray explained when COVID hit no one was going to the doctor and the pools were not paying out claims. Because of a court decision that states the pools have to return excess money to the members, what happened is all these people went back to the doctors again and claims skyrocketed.

He said there is one risk pool that does not want to be regulated by the Secretary of State and there is another bill out there to work on that.

"This bill is good and there is no complaint from two of the risk pools," he said.

Perkins Kwoka said she appreciates the work done but "we really should have never been here in the first place." It passed on a voice vote.

Lowest Price For Pharmacy Consumers Passes

Sen. Denise Ricciardi, R-Bedford, released the following statement regarding the passage of SB 665-FN, requiring pharmacies to charge consumers the lowest available price for prescription drugs, on a 24-0 vote:

“My goal is to create policies that genuinely improve the lives of all Granite Staters. This bill is about helping people afford the care and medications they need at the lowest price possible and without added stress or uncertainty. At its heart, this bill is a win for everyday families and expands access to more affordable options in healthcare.”

Sheriffs

CACR 11 which is relating to sheriffs, would remove the prohibition on running for the job after the age of 75 was supported on a vote of 23-1 with Sen. Altschiller opposing.

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