NH House, Senate To Meet In Person For Early June Sessions

From InDepth NH:

CONCORD, NH — On Friday, the New Hampshire House of Representatives and Senate announced they will be returning for legislative sessions in the beginning of June. Committee and Commission meetings will continue remotely for the time being.

In order to ensure the safety of members, staff, and the public, the Senate will meet in Representatives Hall and the House will meet at the Whittemore Center at the University of New Hampshire in Durham.

After the announcement, Speaker of the House Stephen Shurtleff and Senate President Donna Soucy released the following statement:

“When we temporarily suspended legislative activities in mid-March, no one knew how long the state of emergency would last. We made the best decision we could to protect the health and safety of our members, our staff, and the public. We are proud of the work state representatives and senators have done during this time assisting constituents who have been impacted by this crisis and participating in statewide efforts to provide relief and recovery. And we are grateful for the continued incredible work of State House staff as we transitioned to a remote work environment.

While some legislative activities, including Committee and Commission meetings, have resumed work remotely, we understand it is important for the Legislature to resume session to complete the work that the people of New Hampshire elected us to do as well as provide important checks and balances to the state government during this crisis. We are committed to returning in a manner that ensures public access to the process and above all adheres to public health recommendations, which is why when the House and Senate come back into session next month we will be meeting outside of our respective chambers for the first time since the Civil War.

In the coming weeks, we will release additional information about the policies and procedures for reconvening the Legislature. Meanwhile, we appreciate everyone’s cooperation, understanding, and of course the continued hard work of House, Senate, and Joint staff who make this all possible.”

GOP Leader: Don’t Waste $200K On 'Voting Gizmo'

House Republican Leader Dick Hinch, R-Merrimack, called on Democrat Speaker Steve Shurtleff, D-Concord, to scrap a proposed plan to purchase electronic voting equipment costing possibly “in excess of $200,000” for when the House reconvenes on June 11, and seek to be reimbursed by CARES Act funds for that cost.

“I agree that the House should get back to work, but this proposed budget shows poor judgement given the tough times we are facing,” Hinch said. “We’re asking state and local governments to tighten their belts as we deal with revenue losses due to this crisis, and we have businesses, organizations, and families that need assistance.”

The House and Senate announced Friday morning that they will be meeting in person in early June, but will each have to move to larger quarters to maintain CDC guidelines. The House and Senate did not release the letter from the General Court’s Chief Operating Officer Terry Pfaff that details expenses.

The Senate will meet in Representatives Hall and the House will meet at the Whittemore Center at the University of New Hampshire in Durham.

The costs associated with that include rental of venue space, purchase of remote voting tablets, contracting expenses with IRC to stand up remote voting, and sound equipment rental, according to a letter from Terry Pfaff, the General Court’s Chief Operations Officer to House and Senate leaders.

The General Court has also tracked unbudgeted expenses related to COVID-19 of about $73,000. That includes $40,000 for professional disinfection of State House and Legislative Office Building, $18,072 for laptops for remote work and $13,000 for infectious disease consultant fees.
Shurtleff responded to Hinch’s criticism in a press release that the House has made an investment in its future with the purchase of the remote voting devices.

“These devices will be used to finish out this session and then can be used again should the House need to hold another remote legislative session for any reason or future emergency,” Shurtleff said. “In addition, they can be configured to be used in committees, potentially allowing the House to update committee votes in real time. This system also ties directly into our present voting system so Granite Staters who wish to know how their representatives are voting can still see that information in real time preserving the transparency of our proceedings.”

Hinch said: “Spending in excess of $200,000 on handheld voting devices and other equipment for legislators instead of spending those dollars where it’s really needed seems insensitive, to say the least.

“The House operated for a century without any electronic voting gizmo and spending this amount at this time is blatantly wasteful considering CARES Act money could go somewhere where it is needed more. We need to get back to work, and we need to pursue the safest, and most economical way to do the people’s business, not the flashiest.”

This story was originally published by InDepth NH.