By KATHARINE WEBSTER, InDepthNH.org

The fate of the state’s Commission for Human Rights is up in the air, with the House-passed budget eliminating all funding, Gov. Kelly Ayotte working to retain and reform it – and the Senate’s position unclear.

The commission is meant to provide an easier and cheaper alternative to a lawsuit for people who believe they have been discriminated against in housing, employment, education or public accommodations.

But House Finance Chairman Kenneth Weyler, R-Kingston, said Wednesday that a long-delayed audit into the agency, released in February, was the worst he’d ever seen, with those filing complaints waiting 18 months before their cases are assigned to an investigator and more than two years for a resolution, on average.

More than a quarter of cases were unresolved within the three-year statute of limitations for filing a lawsuit, although state law requires that people file a complaint before going to court, the audit found.

“The reason we had this agency created was to have them doing things in a timely way,” Weyler said. 

The Legislature tried to fix the agency by giving it more money several years ago, but the effort proved futile, he said. If the agency is abolished, complainants can go directly to state or federal court or to a federal agency, such as the Equal Opportunity in Employment Commission instead, Weyler said.

Asked whether cutting the state commission would further burden the state’s court system, which faces budget cuts under the House plan, Weyler said that budget writers “added on” some money to the courts by recommending that they raise their filing fees for litigants.

Advocates for the state Commission for Human Rights say that New Hampshire’s anti-discrimination laws are stronger than federal laws. For example, state human rights law bars discrimination based on marital status, sexual orientation and gender identity in addition to sex, race, color, religion, national origin and disability.

Also, some federal agencies that enforce civil rights have faced major staff and budget cuts under the current administration, advocates said.

Michael Haley, an attorney with GLAD Law, said that right now, it can be more time-consuming and expensive for someone to go to the state commission instead of going straight to court, because the commission is taking so long to act that people end up going to court anyway. But shuttering the commission is not the answer, he said.

“The way to fix this process is to adequately fund and support the human rights commission, not to eliminate it,” Haley said. “This is especially important in situations where state law may provide greater protection than federal law and (when) the current EEOC, Housing and Urban Development and other federal agencies are declining to investigate claims based on sexual orientation and gender identity discrimination.”

Ayotte also would prefer to strengthen the commission. She recently approved an exception to the statewide hiring freeze so that the commission can hire a new assistant director. And on Wednesday, she won Executive Council confirmation for a new human rights commissioner: businessman and Republican fundraiser Ray Pinard.

Ayotte said she is also talking to Senate budget writers about funding for the commission, which has been without a permanent assistant director since last summer, when the executive director also went out on extended medical leave.

“I would prefer to … reform it and make sure it’s working effectively,” Ayotte said at a press briefing after the governor and council meeting on Wednesday. “But if that doesn’t happen, these claims do need to be heard somewhere. There has to be a body that can properly look at these claims and make sure that we are fulfilling that important function for the state.”

When the commission’s acting assistant director, Katrina Taylor, presented the agency’s proposed budget at a meeting of the Senate Finance Committee on Tuesday, she said that the number of complaints filed with the commission has grown 60 percent in five years.

That has led to an increase in the backlog of complaints that have not yet been assigned to an investigator, unfortunately, Taylor said.

Several vacant positions – three investigators, one paralegal and one administrative assistant – are still subject to the governor’s hiring freeze. The commission has applied for waivers for the three investigator positions, Taylor said after the hearing, but Ayotte has not approved them yet.

In written materials prepared for the Senate Finance Committee, the commission stated that its elimination would hurt the state and its most vulnerable people.

“Individuals would be forced to navigate a costly, non-user-friendly court system, deterring pro se litigants (people without lawyers),” the document said. And closing the commission “may damage the state’s reputation as a fair and inclusive place to live and work.”

Sen. James Gray, R-Rochester, Senate Finance chairman, said Thursday that he did not know the committee’s position on the Commission for Human Rights because they have not had an opportunity to discuss it since Tuesday’s presentation.

In the meantime, Ayotte is moving forward. Pinard, who is replacing Christian Kim on the commission, is prepared to put in “hundreds of hours” to get the commission straightened out and reduce the backlog of cases, the governor said. The seven commissioners are all volunteers, but most have full-time jobs.

“He’s got a great business background, and honestly (he’s) just a good citizen. He said, ‘I want to help you fix this,’” Ayotte said.

On Wednesday, Ayotte also nominated Dr. Stewart Levenson, former chief of medicine (and whistleblower) at the Veterans Administration Medical Center in Manchester and unsuccessful 2020 executive council candidate. He would replace Douglas Palardy.

Pinard served as Levenson’s chief fundraiser in 2018, when the doctor narrowly lost the Republican primary to run for New Hampshire’s second congressional district seat, so the two have worked together before.

Ayotte said that she looks forward to getting a greater flow of information about the commission from Pinard and, if he is confirmed, Levenson.

“I will grant whatever is needed on the waiver front to make sure the commission can operate effectively, but I also want to make sure we get the right people in place that are going to get this commission right back on track, address the audit findings and make sure this is an effective commission,” she said.

An unsuccessful candidate in the Republican primary for the state’s second congressional district in 2018 and for executive councilor in 2020, Levenson now works for Dartmouth Health. Pinard served as Levenson’s fundraiser in his 2018 race.