By PAULA TRACY, InDepthNH.org
CONCORD – Bills that address childcare shortages, PFAS chemicals, and expansion of medicinal cannabis for those with anxiety disorders were signed into law Friday by Republican Gov. Chris Sununu who also vetoed two bills passed by the legislature this spring.
In all, 33 bills became law.
But two bills did not make the cut, and both were described as too “vague” and will go back to the legislature in the fall where each body will need to come to a two-thirds vote for passage to override his veto.
One had to do with growing cannabis by the Alternative Treatment Centers and the other had to do with creation of a new environmental council.
House Bill 1581 sought to expand additional cultivation for the ATCs. The governor said the legislation provides “scant details” on the safety and security of such sites, the locations and other concerns for a “regulated substance.”
The legislature failed to pass the legalization of adult recreational use of cannabis this year, though Sununu indicated he would support a measure on certain terms.
House Bill 543 would have created the state Commission on Environmental Conservation.
The governor, who is not seeking re-election, said the state has a strong, responsible and successful record balancing environmental concerns and the bill would do little to advance that, with intent in the legislation “vague.”
Senator David Watters, D-Dover, said: “I am disappointed that Gov. Sununu did not see the value in supporting a state environmental adaptation, resilience, and innovation council, and chose to veto this important, bipartisan piece of legislation.
“The reality is that New Hampshire’s environment will continue to change, and our state departments, stakeholders, legislators, and citizens need to coordinate and prepare, so that we are able to take on the challenges we are facing and will face. These environmental changes will impact our state infrastructure, public health, tourism, emergency preparedness, the economy, and so much more.
“Although the Governor did not see the need to prepare our state for this crisis, I am hopeful that commonsense will prevail in the fall, and that my colleagues in the House and the Senate will join me in overriding the veto of SB 543,” Watters said.
The governor has five business days after a bill reaches his desk to either sign, veto or allow it to be enacted into law without his signature.
He has not received all the bills yet, including one https://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/bill_status/billinfo.aspx?id=1198&inflect=2 related to registration of voters which would require them to show a birth certificate or verification of domicile rather than sign an affidavit without proper identification. He maintained this week that implementation is difficult before the Presidential election in November.
A staffer for Sununu said the bill has not made it to his desk, yet though it is enrolled in the process to become a law.
Voting rights groups and election officials have said they have concerns that the bill would prevent some people from being able to vote and may be unconstitutional. House Bill 1569 is sponsored by Rep. Robert Lynn, a Republican from Windham and retired state Supreme Court Chief Justice
But Sununu did have his pen out to sign a number of bills which are as follows:
HB 135: Relative to requisites for a criminal search warrant
HB 243: Requiring the tabulation of votes in elections to be done in public
HB 279: Increasing the penalty for on-premises licensees overserving alcohol
HB 593: Establishing a committee to study the process for forfeiture of items used in connection with drug offenses
HB 653: Relative to providing additional duties to the interbranch criminal and juvenile justice council
HB 1014: Relative to instruction in government and civics, including information on election laws and voting and requiring certain educational institutions and local governments to use a holiday’s statutorily designated title in official communications, publications, and documents
HB 1055: Relative to the property tax exemption for charitable organizations
HB 1076: Relative to wine manufacturer licenses and relative to on-premises licenses for beverage manufacturers
HB 1098: Relative to ballots delivered to elder care facilities
HB 1107: Relative to public school curriculum frameworks
HB 1114: Extending the commission to investigate and analyze the environmental and public health impacts relating to releases of perfluorinated chemicals in the air, soil, and groundwater in Merrimack, Bedford, Londonderry, Hudson and Litchfield
HB 1168: Establishing a committee to study the impact of the housing crisis on people with disabilities
HB 1186: Relative to firearm purchaser’s privacy
HB 1191: Relative to the establishment of an exemption to the meals and rooms tax for participants in the restaurant voucher program
HB 1201: Relative to payment of wages for deceased employees
HB 1282: Relative to the duration of child support
HB 1321: Relative to repealing penalties for the sale of kegs of malt beverages without a receipt
HB 1334: Relative to the sale of beer in refillable containers
HB 1336: Relative to employees’ firearms in locked vehicles
HB 1349: Relative to generalized anxiety disorder as a qualifying condition for the therapeutic cannabis program
HB 1407: Relative to child care staffing ratios
HB 1450: Requiring the university system of New Hampshire and the community college system of New Hampshire to further work toward implementing comprehensive higher education alignment strategies and findings identified in the governor’s public higher education task force report
HB 1490: Relative to the solid waste management act
HB 1494: Relative to OHRVs
HB 1540: Relative to the definitions of full course meals and full-service restaurant for purposes of alcohol licensing
HB 1559: Repealing the chapter relative to cash dispensing machines, relative to disability pensions for public safety employees who are victims of violence, and relative to establishing the New Hampshire Canadian trade council fund
HB 1584: Relative to home day care licensing requirements
HB 1588: Relative to court jurisdiction over persons receiving special education
HB 1598: Relative to the department of health and human services management of social security payments and veterans benefits for children in foster care
HB 1624: Relative to allowing the distillation of hobby liquors
HB 1655: Including in the commissioner of the department of education’s rulemaking authority the authority to make rules regarding collection of fees for criminal background check processing
HB 1678: Establishing a New Hampshire farm to school local food incentive pilot program
HB 1688: Relative to the use of artificial intelligence by state agencies
For more detail on each of the bills go to https://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/ and search using the bill number including “HB” with a space and the number or go down to use a keyword to search for the language and the docket which shows the bills progress and votes throughout both the House and Senate.