NH House Says ‘No’ to Emergency Rental Measures 

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Paula Tracy photo

Members of the House met Thursday in Representatives Hall in the State House.

By GARRY RAYNO, InDepthNH.org

CONCORD — The House decided by a large margin that cities and towns do not need authority to pass emergency measures to address rent increases or a longer window to warn tenants of coming raises in rent Thursday.

Supporters of House Bill 95 say it would help ease the housing crisis for tenants in a market with a less than 1 percent vacancy rate and rising rents of over 70 percent during the last three years.

However,  a better than three-to-one majority — 301-63 — voted to kill the bill that opponents said would have the opposite effect of what supporters intended.

“This bill attempts to allow rent control in towns and cities . . . and will result in a patchwork of regulation throughout the state,” said Rep. Len Turcotte, R-Barrington, a member of the House Municipal and County Government Committee, which voted 16-3 to kill the bill. “This is short-term gratification and it will distort the free market.”

He said it is not up to the legislature to fix supply and demand issues overnight that have taken decades and decades to develop.

But bill sponsor Rep. Eric Gallager, D-Concord, said the state is in a housing and homeless crisis and one of the drivers is the eviction of tenants when they can no longer afford the rent.

Some of his constituents have had to move out of Concord because of rising rents, he said, noting one school board member had to resign because she was evicted and could no longer live in her district.

He defended the bill as enabling legislation noting no city or town has to pass restrictions.

“Housing is a human right and ought to be treated as such,” Gallager said, “instead of a profit-making opportunity for landlords.”

He said the current practice amounts to feudalism in New Hampshire.

When the bill had a public hearing, landlords and realtors turned out to oppose the bill saying rent control has been a disaster in the past, although long-time housing advocate from New Hampshire Legal Assistance Elliott Berry disagreed.

Opponents said the only way to address the problem is to build more units to meet the demand, which is now much greater than the supply.

Housing advocates said apartment buildings are purchased by out-of-state investors who raise rents so long-time tenants have to move, and then renovate the buildings and charge even higher rents.

Others said the issue is not unique to New Hampshire and some new tools are necessary to slow down the escalating rents. They said leaving it for the free market to fix has not solved the problem and some government intervention is needed.

The House also voted to dismiss House Bill 422, which would have required the county registry of deeds to develop a database of monthly rental charges for each unit within the county.

The committee felt the bill was an unfunded mandate for the county and sought to create an unmanageable database.

The House voted to indefinitely postpone the bill, which means it cannot come back before the House for the remainder of the two-year term.

The House and Senate have a number of bills this session dealing with the housing crisis and a special housing committee has been appointed by House Speaker Sherman Packard to delve into the issue.

Granny D Day

The House voted down House Bill 140, which would have made January 24 Granny D Day. Doris “Granny D” Haddock, was a New Hampshire resident who walked across the country beginning at age 89 in 1999 to bring attention to campaign finance reform.

She was a long-time political activist who also ran unsuccessfully for US Senate in 2004 against then incumbent US Sen. Judd Gregg.

Rep. Jonah Wheeler, D-Peterborough, urged his colleague to overturn the Executive Departments and Administration Committee’s 19-0 vote to kill the bill, and pass it to honor her.

“Whether you agree with her or not, she is exactly the type of person we should honor in this body,” Wheeler said. “This is the American dream, this is being an American citizen, this is a woman who we should live up to.”

But the majority of the House disagreed. The committee noted the yearly proclamation by the governor and private celebrations are more appropriate ways to honor Granny D.

Other Action

The House tabled House Bill 295, which would require selectmen, aldermen and councilors, and school boards to live stream their meetings on a 322-45.

The tabling vote will keep the bill alive and give supporters more time to work on it and convince others to approve it.

The House Municipal and County Government Committee, on a 10-9 vote, recommended killing the bill.

The House approved House Bill 412, which re-establishes a commission to study alternative revenues to the gas tax to fund the state highway system.

With the growing use of electric vehicles, whose owners do not pay the gas tax, lawmakers have long, but unsuccessfully sought an alternative to help fund the system that would capture those not currently paying the gas tax.

The next House session will be Feb. 14 when Gov. Chris Sununu will deliver his budget address.

Garry Rayno may be reached at garry.rayno@yahoo.com.

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