Legislative Updates by Rep. Maureen Mooney for November, 2023

Greetings!

November 17, 2023 was the deadline to finalize and sign-off on soon-to-be House bills for 2024. The full list – by title only – of Legislative Service Requests (a/k/a “LSR”) is here: https://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/lsr_search/LSR_Results.aspx. Since we are entering the second year of the legislative session, the subject matter of bills introduced in 2024 cannot be substantially similar to those of 2023. See House Rule 36(e).

The Senate deadlines to sign off on Senate LSRs are November 30 (for prime sponsors) and December 7 (for co-sponsors).

Although the LSRs have not been assigned bill numbers yet and the contents are not published we do know from the titles that they range in subject-matter from coyote hunting to PFAS restrictions to changing the state flag design to plumbing apprentices and many (over 800) more. Here is a selection of LSR titles that have received some attention already:

• LSR 2024-2399 relative to expanded safe haven protections. This soon-to-be bill expands the current safe haven law from 7 days old to up to 61 days old, and allows safe haven baby boxes with alarms at hospitals, law enforcement agencies or fire departments that are staffed 24 hours a day. Here is an informative op-ed written about this LSR: https://drive.google.com/file/d/16_UzAS3M1yoLnwpBGtnBoedugmEY-CNN/view?usp=sharing

• LSR 2024-2023 relative to the establishment of an exemption to the meals and rooms tax for participants in the restaurant voucher program. This LSR will create an exemption to the meals and rooms tax for meals – either eaten at or provided by restaurants – that are redeemed through the bureau of elderly and adult services (namely Meals on Wheels).

• LSR 2024-2453 relative to the official pronunciation of “New Hampshire” and “Concord.” Although the text of this LSR is not public yet, I have received several inquiries about what it says. More to come once the text is public.

Community

I hope to see you at Annual Rotary Turkey Trot 5K where all proceeds go to charity. All participants enjoy a brisk Thanksgiving run or walk here in #Merrimack. More information can be found here: www.merrimack5k.com.

Happy Thanksgiving!

See you around town!

Rep. Maureen Mooney is in her fifth term as a NH State Representative serving Merrimack. She serves on the House Finance Committee (Vice Chairman of Division III), the Fiscal Committee (alternate), and is co-chair of the Speaker’s Advisory Group. Her website is: www.votemooney.com and Facebook page is: https://www.facebook.com/maureenmooneynh.