By PAULA TRACY, InDepthNH.org
CONCORD – It looks likely that beginning in 2027, if you refuse a police breath test to determine whether you are operating under the influence of alcohol, it will likely bring an automatic license suspension of nine months rather than the current six months.
Senate Bill 620, which Republican Gov. Kelly Ayotte has said would improve the current law, and is now headed straight to her desk.
On Thursday, the Senate concurred with an amended version of the bill made by the House that reduced from 12 months to nine months the automatic suspension time.
State Sen. William Gannon, R-Sandown, who sponsored the bill, said it took a “team effort” and he thanked law enforcement officials and others who got behind the bill.
The amended bill passed the House 259-94 and passed the Senate on a roll call vote.
The effective date for the bill is Jan. 1, 2027.
Currently the state has the highest refusal rate in the country, which last year was about 75 percent.
Supporters of the bill said attorneys tell drivers to refuse the breathalyzer test because the time is shorter for refusing it than it is if you take it and are found guilty of driving under the influence.
“This high refusal rate is not a matter of civil liberties, but of rational economic choice: under current law, a driver is statistically incentivized to refuse a test to withhold evidence, as the penalty for refusal is often lighter or shorter than the penalty for a conviction based on evidence,” said Rep. Terry Roy, R-Deerfield, the chair of the House Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee. “The committee recommends the 9-month suspension as a vital first step to signal that the state will no longer tolerate the strategic obstruction of the legal process.”
The nine month penalty would align with the mandatory minimum for loss of license for a DWI conviction.
“While 9 months improves the status quo,” Roy said, “the committee recognizes that a 12-month suspension, as originally passed by the Senate, is the true threshold for a functional system.”
Earlier this month, Ayotte said she did not object to lowering the administrative revocation to nine months.
“Obviously the initial bill wanted to double the time (from six months to a year for refusal) but the nine months will be a significant improvement because right now there really is no difference between refusing the test or taking the test,” Ayotte said at a press conference earlier this week. “The word is out on the street for that, right…(defense lawyers advise people to) refuse to take the test because there is no real reason not to. So increasing it to nine months is a significant step forward…and by the way it is really important to point out that if you are not intoxicated why wouldn’t you take the test.”
The governor added, “The evidence is very clear on this that we should do the right thing to protect people on our roads from intoxicated drivers.”
Opponents said the bill does away with a person’s constitutional right not to self incriminate and has an assumption of guilt and not the standard of innocent until proven guilty.
Following the vote, Sen. Gannon released the following statement:
“I would like to thank my Senate colleagues, Governor Ayotte, highway safety advocates, law enforcement, and our state agencies for their support of this important bipartisan measure. Senate Bill 620 represents a meaningful step toward saving lives and making our roads safer. I look forward to seeing it through to the final passage and to the Governor’s desk for signature.”
LIMITING FACILITY USE BASED ON GENDER IDENTITY HB 1442-FN PASES ON PARTISAN LINES
Also passed in the Senate was another bill related to gender identity, which faces a likely veto by the governor.
House Bill 1442-FN, which would limit the use of certain facilities, including bathrooms, on the basis of sex and redefining the term “gender identity” got the Republican nod in the Senate, however.
The bill passed along partisan lines on a roll call vote of 15-8. Sen. Mark McConkey, R-Freedom, was absent and excused for the day.
State Sen. Debra Altschiller, D-Stratham, said what the bill does is something “calculated and insidious.”
She said the state expanded its human rights anti-discrimination law to include transgender individuals but this bill is a “backdoor repeal.”
“This is surveillance legislation,” she said, meaning people could be challenged for using a bathroom based on their gender identity.
“And it won’t survive. In fact she (Republican Governor Kelly Ayotte) has already vetoed this exact language,” Altschiller said.
She added if signed into law it would cost the state in multiple ways, including division, strife, court time and legal fees.
“It sends a signal to every transgender individual in this state that they are not welcome,” she said.
“It is shameful,” Altschiller said. “New Hampshire…NH has expanded human rights…it’s not supposed to be live free or die if you are in the majority,” she said.
“You can’t do just a little bit of discrimination and consider yourself a just person,” Altschiller said.
BULLYING PREVENTION
House Bill 131 passed the Senate on a voice vote despite Democratic opposition. It is related to bullying and cyberbullying protection for students in schools.
Sen. Victoria Sullivan, R-Manchester, said it strengthens safeguards for schools responding to reports and data collection and requires written rules in the school handbook and written rights for those who are accused of bullying.
Sen. Sue Prentiss, D-Lebanon, said she agrees that bullying is unacceptable and said the state already supports strong protections. But this issue is whether this particular bill is the right approach and she said it is not.
Prentiss said the state has updated its bullying laws at least seven times in recent years. Schools already operate under detailed reporting requirements. It is a question about how the laws are implemented.
She said it lowers the legal standard, making lawsuits easier and shifting resources away from students. Prentiss also said it adds layers of requirements for schools that risk burdening educators and moves them away from thoughtful student-centered responses.
Prentiss said training is more important than school mandates.
Sullivan said this is just one more tool in the toolbox to help protect children.
Sen. Rebecca Perkins Kwoka, D-Portsmouth, said it is important to look at these policies as a whole and do things comprehensively.
But the Republican majority prevailed.
PREFERRED COMMUNICATION FOR THOSE WITH HEARING DISABILITY
Also passed was House Bill 1215 related to support of the preferred method of communication of an individual with a communication disability.
Sen. Kevin Avard, R-Nashua, offered an amendment related to free standing emergency rooms and while Sen. Cindy Rosenwald, R-Nashua, said she was concerned the amendment might impose a health risk to those who need to be transported from a free standing emergency room to be built in Nashua to an associated facility in Manchester.
Nashua’s two hospitals have the ability to treat those rather than go to Catholic Medical Center, 20 minutes away, she said.
However, the Republicans passed the amended version of the bill.
After the vote, Avard released the following statement: “According to testimony taken regarding this legislation, over the years, autism diagnoses have risen from 1 in 135 to approximately 1 in 30 in the Granite State. HB 1215 takes a proactive approach to better support individuals with autism and other communication disabilities.”
He said the bill emphasizes early identification and improved access to care, while ensuring healthcare providers respect and support each individual’s preferred method of communication—an essential step in delivering effective and compassionate treatment.
REUSE OF EGG CARTONS
Removed from the consent calendar and passed was HB 1186 which relates to the sale of eggs and the reuse of egg cartons.
INTERIM STUDY ON FEDERAL REQUEST RELATED TO CHILD CARE
The Senate sent to interim study HB 1566 directing the DHHS to seek federal clarification for TANF funds related to childcare workforce programs. Sen. Rosenwald opposed the motion and said it is pro-business noting the lack of childcare and that fact disproportionately affects women who could be in the workforce were there enough open slots.
UNDOCUMENTED IMMIGRANTS RENTING in NH
HB 1709 was passed on the Senate floor along party-lines. The bill would make it a criminal offense for undocumented immigrants with prior convictions to rent property in the State of New Hampshire. Sheriffs will be permitted to arrest these individuals, effectively acting as backdoor immigration enforcement, according to a news release from the House Democratic Office.
The prime sponsor of the legislation, Rep. Joe Alexander, R-Goffstown, asserted that the measure is meant to resolve the housing shortage. Given the minority of Granite Stater’s who could be affected by the law, it’s unlikely that this proposal will make a meaningful dent in the 90,000 unit shortage in the State.
Sen. Tara Reardon, D-Concord, said: “This policy doesn’t solve the housing shortage, it just makes more people homeless. It is a landlord’s decision to rent to whomever they please, not Concord’s. This bill is nothing more than a vector for discrimination, crime, and an act of state overreach.”
PAGE FOR THE DAY
Kyanna Birch, a junior at Pembroke Academy was the Senate page for the day and was introduced by her step-father, Sen. Howard Pearl, R-Loudon, noting she is interested in current events, politics and has a promising future ahead of her.