BY PAULA TRACY, InDepthNH.org
CONCORD – Gov. Chris Sununu said he would veto redistricting maps for the state’s two congressional districts minutes after the Republican-controlled Senate voted with the House, 13-11, to adopt the House map.
He suggested the two bodies get down to work on a better map.
“The citizens of this state are counting on us to do better,” the Republican governor said, agreeing with Senate Democrats who said that the maps – drawn every 10 years by the party in control – would not allow for competitive districts and would mean that District 1 would become more Republican-leaning and District 2 more Democratic-leaning.
The debate ensued during the Senate’s first session in its chambers since March of 2020.
State Sen. Jeb Bradley, R-Wolfeboro, voted with the Democrats to oppose the redistricting map.
Sen. James Gray, R-Rochester, said the map, crafted by the House, meets the federal criteria and does not divide any communities.
Also related to redistricting, the Senate tabled any changes to the Executive Council District map.
Many members of the public attending hearings on redistricting claimed Executive Council District 2 is gerrymandered. The district goes from Lebanon to Rochester and the public noted the voters from those easternmost and westernmost areas have little in common with each other.
The Senate took up other measures Thursday, including those related to affordable housing, requiring COVID-19 vaccines as a condition of work, and the replacement of the Sununu Youth Services Center.
AFFORDABLE HOUSING
The Senate passed a measure meant to help owners in manufactured housing parks become resident-owned communities and handled several other measures focused on the state’s low to moderate housing crisis.
Senate Bill 210 was amended to address concerns raised during public hearings on the bill and now allows for a simple majority vote of residents of manufactured housing parks who do not own the land but have a right of first refusal to buy it. The measure limits increases in costs. Senators said it is an important part of the state’s affordable housing stock.
After initially tabling it, the body approved SB 400-FN relative to training and procedures for zoning and planning boards related to incentives and investments for affordable housing development, which the governor has identified as an important issue during his state of the state address.
The Senate tabled an effort to get all the state-owned properties inventoried to see if there were some buildings that could be reused for affordable housing, saying it was not necessary.
PRIMARY ELECTION DAY CHANGE
Right now, voters go to the polls for primaries in September.
Senate Bill 328, which originally was set to change the state primary election to the second Tuesday in June, allowing for more time to campaign, was not good for state senate candidates seeking federal office who are still working in session, said State Senator Regina Birdsell, R-Derry.
The Senate instead passed a new date for primary elections, set to change in August 2023. This is similar to a measure which failed last year.
DEFINITION OF VOTER FAILS
A Constitutional measure to define voters as residents-only failed to get the two-thirds majority required, similar to a measure that failed to muster the same required two-thirds vote on Wednesday.
COVID-19 VAX REQUIREMENTS
The Senate voted 18-6 to send to interim study – or essentially kill – Senate Bill 374-FN relative to requirements for SARS-CoV 2 vaccines which would take away businesses’ rights to choose to terminate employees who choose not to be vaccinated.
The question of requiring vaccinations as a term of employment is federally mandated in some cases.
By defying that and passing the measure, there would be a $1.9 billion potential loss from Medicare and that is just for the 26 hospitals in the state that do require vaccinations of employees and do not include nursing homes, said Bradley.
He said those sanctions are real.
“I can’t do it,” he said.
Sen. Harold F. French, R-Franklin disagreed with Bradley that it was about money.
He said the bill would mean that you could not be mandated to get the vaccine if you have a conscientious objection, if you were under 18, or if you already had COVID-19.
“I heard about the money you would lose,” he said, not the liberty loss or the health issues attendant with forcing people to be vaccinated. “It’s all about the money.”
“Think about the future effects it could have on our children and grandchildren…whether we have the right to object to what goes into your body….my right is not for sale. I don’t care how much money is involved,” French said.
Sen. Tom Sherman, D-Rye said it is a health-care issue, not a political one.
“We need to stick to the science,” he said. “It’s safe. We see that the risk of being unvaccinated far outweighs the risk of being vaccinated.”
Sherman said to take away the right of businesses to keep their employees and customers safe is completely unnecessary and to put criminal penalties associated with the measure is wrong.
They debated the similarity of vaccines with baby powder, which has now been found to be cancerous.
“This bill is expensive and we can’t afford it and if for no other reason, lets put it into the interim study and have health and human services look into it,” Sherman said.
Sen. William Gannon asked French why should rights of business owners be mandated by the government?
Sen. Sharon Carson, R-Londonderry, asked if there are more bills on the vaccine?
Bradley said absolutely but he noted that on St. Patrick’s Day, he was “taking the Irish vaccine.”
SUNUNU YOUTH SERVICES CENTER REPLACEMENT
An amended, SB 458 was passed related to the closing and dispensing of the Manchester facility for the incarceration of children.
It sets up the parameters for a replacement of a much smaller facility. Closure by March 2023 was an unrealistic date previously placed with the matter, Bradley said.
He added the bill will push New Hampshire in the direction of the goal of closure but figure out an 18-bed facility using federal dollars. Safety valves, due to delays and unforeseen circumstances are included in the measure, Bradley said and oversight over Health and Human Services to meet the goals.
The governor has said the property should be bulldozed. The state is also considering a $100 million compensation fund to address the abuse of children by state employees at the property. The House passed it Wednesday.
“We don’t want history to repeat itself…We have to correct it,” Sen. Lou D’Allesandro, D-Manchester, said, urging passage.
The measure passed on a voice vote following an amendment that passed 14-10. It will next go to the Senate Finance Committee for further review before going over to the House for consideration.
REMOTE MEETING/QUORUMS
The Senate agreed to vote another day on SB 344 as amended which would be enabling legislation, allowing for town and city boards to vote on whether meetings could be offered remotely but still requiring two members to be present to vote, as a change to quorum requirements under the open meeting law RSA 91A.
The measure was debated and amendments were discussed but after a recess, Morse said the bill will be special ordered to the next meeting of the Senate.
The law currently allows remote access under emergency situations.
Sen. Erin Hennessey, R-Littleton, said she opposed it because of costs and technical limitations of remote access and the fact that there is an emergency option and Sen. Bob Giuda, R-Warren agreed for many of the same reasons, saying that elected officials have a duty to be present.
The original bill whose committee recommendation was to go to interim study recommendation was defeated 11-13.
The measure would have held that a quorum of two elected officials be present.
The matter will come up later during the session.
REMEMBERING STATE REP. RENNY CUSHING, KINDNESS
Sherman urged senators to go back and listen to some of the most heartfelt moving addresses to the legislators made by the late Rep. Renny Cushing, D-Hampton.
The House Democratic leader died last week of cancer and will be remembered in a service Saturday.
Sherman noted Cushing would jump around from playground to playground with his children, not just go to one. The family has said ‘no’ to some buildings being named after him but perhaps a playground might work.
“He fought for people who could not fight for themselves,” Sherman said. “He has changed lives in a way that many of us wish we could.”
“None of us who knew him will ever forget him,” Sherman said.
D’Allesandro suggested legislators consider random acts of kindness and noted an amazing thing that happened to him, Thursday. He said he was at a stoplight at 8 a.m. and a guy pulled up beside him and told him he had a flat tire.
If it had blown up on the highway, he said he would have been in deep trouble. He said he drove to an auto shop and asked if he could fix it as he had to attend the Senate. He said the man helped him and it was done.
“Let’s remember the goodness people have, the kindness and the willingness to help others.”
