Above, students from Newmarket Elementary watch the NH Senate vote. Paula Tracy photo
By PAULA TRACY, InDepthNH.org
CONCORD – The New Hampshire Senate returned to Concord for the first time since June and unanimously sustained a governor’s veto while approving rules changes for the upcoming session.
It took fewer than 15 minutes for the 24-member body to dispense of its business and catch up with each other after the summer break.
Veto day for the House will be Dec. 12.
During their brief session, the Senate also honored a Nashua teen for his work supporting digital literacy and water policy solutions.
The Republican governor vetoed Senate Bill 213-FN relative to electioneering by public employees and it also had a provision that required the presentation of proof of identity, citizenship, age and domicile when applying for an absentee ballot.
In her veto message issued Aug. 1, Gov. Kelly Ayotte wrote, “I am vetoing this legislation as it conflicts with other bills I have recently signed into law regarding absentee ballots. Additionally, I intend to work with the bill sponsors on the issue of electioneering to ensure that public employees can engage in public discourse without misusing their official positions for political purposes.”
Portsmouth Democrat and Senate Minority Leader Rebecca Perkins Kwoka said the bill arose out of one specific incident and is a “solution looking for a problem.”
She said public employees know their duties to carry out their job on a non-partisan basis adding the bill could impose criminal penalties and could become a violation of the 14th amendment of the Constitution.
Republican Sen. James Gray of Rochester said issues presented by the bill were taken care of in another bill that passed earlier this year.
“This bill is unnecessary,” he said.
The body then also moved unanimously to approve a rules change which incorporates a change to the law made in the House Bill 2 (the biennial budget bill) authorizing the director of the Police Standards and Training Council to detail law enforcement training specialists employed by the council for law enforcement and crowd control services and relative to disability retirement benefits.
Those amended benefits are relative to an employee found on or after July 1, 2024 to be physically incapacitated and was part of HB 778-FN.
After the unanimous vote, Perkins Kwoka said she appreciated the communications between the two party caucuses.
“We are all here to work together for the people of New Hampshire,” she said.
The upper chamber also honored 17-year-old Aadi Kulkarni, a senior at Nashua High School South.
He and friends founded TechPals which has grown to help promote digital literacy in seven states.
Kulkarni, whose honor was read by Sen. Cindy Rosenwald, D-Nashua, said he is one of the most accomplished students in the state who has made contributions that have a lasting benefit to citizens.
He is a winner of the 2025 Carnegie Young Leaders for Preparedness award and the Bank of America Student Leader Award, among others, she said.
Rosenwald said Kulkarni has also been involved in working on water solutions.
The Senate also had a visit from students of the Newmarket Elementary School.
The Senate will likely be back in December though there is no set date yet in the calendar.