By PAULA TRACY, InDepthNH.org
CONCORD – Republican Gov. Kelly Ayotte vetoed one of two bathroom bills on Friday and the other one hasn’t yet reached her desk.
She vetoed several other bills and signed 54 bills into law.
She vetoed Senate Bill 552 that would have permitted classification of individuals based on biological sex under certain circumstances. It passed the Senate on a party line vote of 16-8 while in the House it also passed by the Republican majority on a vote of 179-159. A copy of what passed both chambers is here SB 552 https://gc.nh.gov/bill_status/billinfo.aspx?id=1340&inflect=2
The governor has vetoed similar bills in the past.
Ayotte said in her veto message, “I have continued to ask the Legislature to address this issue in a thoughtful, narrow way while protecting the privacy, safety, and rights of all Granite Staters. Unfortunately, there is minimal difference between this bill, the bill I vetoed earlier this year, the one I vetoed last year, and the one vetoed in 2024 by Governor Sununu. Trying the same thing again isn’t going to get a different result. For this reason, I have vetoed Senate Bill 552.”
The Kent Street Coalition, a volunteer grassroots progressive advocacy group had asked its supporters to call the governor’s office this week to plead with her to veto the bill.
“Trans people deserve to be treated with dignity and respect and should be allowed to participate fully in public life,” the group’s website reads.
On Wednesday, supporters of the bill stood outside the Women’s bathroom on the second floor of the State House just before the Executive Council meeting to urge the opposite.
In an opinion-editorial in the New Hampshire Union Leader, Friday, state Rep. Erica Layon, R-Derry, Bronwyn Sims of Nelson, state chapter leader of the Independent Women’s Network and Shanun Carey, a candidate for the House from Goffstown, said the bill does not require every school, business or organization to designate spaces based on biological space but “simply restores the ability to do so when appropriate…asking that (private) spaces remain available is not discrimination,” the three wrote, “It’s an acknowledgement that biological differences matter in certain contexts,” such as a locker room.
The primary sponsor was state Sen. Kevin Avard, R-Nashua, with co-sponsors Sen. Tim Lang, R-Sanbornton, and Sen. Regina Birdsell, R-Hampstead.
A similar bill, House Bill 1442, passed both chambers on a concurrence vote with the Senate voting 15-8 without support from any Democrats and in the House, 181-164. It has not yet made it to Ayotte’s desk. A copy of what has passed both chambers is here HB 1442 https://gc.nh.gov/bill_status/billinfo.aspx?id=1937&inflect=2
SENATE BILL 552 “provides a definition for “biological sex” and provides that certain designations by biological sex do not constitute unlawful discrimination.”
Opponents said it was carving out an exception and eroding the state’s human rights law against discrimination in RSA 354-A:1.
House Minority Leader Alexis Simpson, D-Exeter, said of the SB 552 veto: “This is a victory for the transgender community and the many advocates who spoke out against rolling back protections that have been part of New Hampshire law since 2018. House Democrats will vote to uphold the veto when we take it up this fall and ensure those protections remain in place.”
Megan Tuttle, President of NEA-New Hampshire, released the following statement in response to Ayotte signing HB 1817. “New Hampshire lawmakers should be focused on supporting public schools, which are attended by nearly 90% of students, not taking resources away from them.
“HB 1817 opens the door to voucher double dipping. Local public schools that lose state aid for students who receive a voucher will now be required to allow those same students to enroll in classes at the local public school, with no requirement that they receive reimbursement. Let’s be clear—this is yet another expansion of New Hampshire’s unaccountable voucher
scheme. Enough is enough,” Tuttle said.
The Governor vetoed the following bills:
HB 1097 – Requiring legislative approval of the amendment or permanent removal of historical markers
HB 1369 – Relative to the manner of posting the warrant for town meetings
HB 1491 – Relative to pool risk management programs
HB 1726 – Relative to the sale of surplus state-owned land and establishing a commission to study the sale of state-owned property
HB 1766 – Relative to cruelty to livestock
SB 661 – Relative to pooled risk management programs
The Governor’s veto statement for House Bill 1097 says:
“I have tremendous respect for the principle of separation of powers outlined in the New Hampshire Constitution, and I find no compelling reason that the Legislature should be given responsibility over the process of removing historical markers. Governor Sununu vetoed similar legislation to this in 2024 on the same grounds. For these reasons, I have decided to veto HB 1097.”
The Governor’s veto statement for House Bill 1369 is below:
“Town meetings are where some of the most important decisions that affect Granite Staters’ daily lives are made and play a critical role in ensuring local community voices are heard. The public posting of town meetings notices in print is an important part of notice to ensure participation in the decision-making process. Allowing municipalities to only post these notices online or at the place of the meeting but otherwise not in a printed publication can limit public participation. That is a step in the wrong direction for New Hampshire. For these reasons, I have vetoed HB 1369.”
The Governor’s veto statement for House Bill 1491 and Senate Bill 661 is below:
“Risk pools are cooperative self-insurance organizations that allow our municipalities, counties, and school districts to manage health care costs and other risks instead of utilizing commercial insurance. Predictability is essential to deliver on this goal, which means reserves driven by actuarial expertise and operations following industry best practices.
“Unfortunately, both bills reforming risk pool operations fail to deliver on these needs. HB 1491 creates a ‘choose-your-own-regulator’ model that dilutes necessary oversight. SB 661 arbitrarily caps reserves to manage liabilities as well as mandating an immediate policy change impacting current health care policies for hundreds of municipalities and school districts across the state.
“As we have seen from recent risk pool failures, this is an important policy area to get right and these proposals need more work. For those reasons I am vetoing HB 1491 and SB 661.”
The Governor’s veto statement for House Bill 1726 is below:
“I agree that we need to improve the management of state-owned assets such as surplus land. However, the change of law in this bill limits the proceeds of sales or leases to the fund originally used to purchase the property. This is not an efficient or fiscally prudent structure for allocating revenues and does not improve state management of surplus land. For that reason, I am vetoing House Bill 1726.”
The Governor’s veto statement for House Bill 1766 is below:
“It’s important that we protect livestock owners’ due process rights and ensure fair treatment under the law. However, HB 1766 would hinder the ability of local law enforcement, veterinarians, and animal welfare professionals to respond to cases involving neglect and abuse of animals. By centralizing power with the State, this bill would increase the size of state government, cost taxpayers more money, increase animals’ pain and suffering, and lead to forced euthanasia of abused but otherwise healthy animals.”
Ayotte signed the following bills into law:
HB 113 – Relative to OHRV operation on certain highways within the town of Windsor
HB 297 – Relative to providing self-funded employer health benefit plans access to their claims data
HB 524 – Relative to disbursement of funds by the New Hampshire vaccine association
HB 564 – Relative to the adoption of school administrative unit budgets
HB 1013 – Relative to games wherein the object is to capture a pig
HB 1089 – Extending the authorization of the department of environmental services for the evaluation and mitigation of new community water system contamination risks
HB 1140 – Enabling certain disabled persons to hunt from a motor vehicle
HB 1153 – Establishing a committee to study New Hampshire statutes relative to cats and dogs
HB 1199 – Enabling the fish and game department to create a permit and fee for the use of fish and game staff by other state agencies and departments
HB 1228 – Relative to the enforcement of alimony orders and relative to waivers of alimony
HB 1253 – Exempting dogs guarding livestock or crops from nuisance dog statutes when engaged in such work
HB 1266 – Allowing election moderators access to the area designated for counting votes during the performance of their duties
HB 1298 – Relative to the disposal of electronic ballot counting device external memory devices
HB 1308 – Relative to increasing the penalty for passing a stopped school bus
HB 1318 – Renewing the committee to study non-pharmacological treatment options for patients with chronic pain
HB 1331 – Enabling the Derry town council to incorporate the Derry Cooperative School District as a department of the town through a charter amendment
HB 1361 – Relative to the procedure concerning search warrant inventories
HB 1363 – Relative to employee candidate background checks
HB 1460 – Prohibiting the sale of a child’s personal data
HB 1466 – Relative to obtaining a certificate of title for certain trailers
HB 1468 – Relative to a flood resilience section in municipal master plans
HB 1483 – Creating a motor vehicle license plate for amateur radio operators
HB 1489 – Relative to interstate depositions and discovery
HB 1514 – Requiring the department of education and the department of revenue administration to send school monitoring and financial reports to relevant school and school board authorities
HB 1535 – Relative to clarifying eligible renewable energy classes under the renewable portfolio standard
HB 1537 – Relative to the use of high resolution cameras to identify school bus stop light violators
HB 1569 – Repealing the directive that the state sell the Anna Philbrook Center for Children property in Concord
HB 1630 – Prohibiting the sale of nitrous oxide and certain inhalants for recreational purposes
HB 1698 – Relative to electronic credentials
HB 1733 – Relative to the reconciliation of default electric service rates
HB 1742 – Relative to customer-generators inadvertently enrolled in a municipal or county aggregation program
HB 1758 – Relative to school bus drivers’ certificates
HB 1763 – Establishing a committee to study siting and maintenance rules regarding certain intellectual and developmental disability (IDD) and acquired brain disorder (ABD) community residences
HB 1780 – Relative to seed laws
HB 1817 – Relative to access to curricular courses and cocurricular programs within school districts
SB 405 – Relative to amounts reported by political committees
SB 445 – Relative to adjudicative proceedings where there is a council or board with jurisdiction
SB 470 – Relative to the expungement of certain disciplinary matters
SB 482 – Establishing consumer protections for digital access transaction kiosks
SB 487 – Allowing credit union members to pay members of the board of directors for their services as a board member
SB 496 – Relative to supervision and registration requirements for associates of broker-dealers
SB 502 – Removing references to the department of business and economic affairs and the office of planning and development, and making various changes to how certain committees and commissions participate or operate
SB 507 – Establishing a committee to study violence in schools directed at staff members and obstacles to disciplining or expelling students
SB 525 – Raising the maximum amount of state guarantees in force
SB 529 – Giving preference to lumber sourced in the United States on all state-funded building projects
SB 541 – Relative to capital appropriations for regional drinking water infrastructure
SB 548 – Relative to health carrier provider contract standards
SB 560 – Modernizing the New Hampshire coordinate system
SB 565 – Requiring an insurance department report regarding fortified home and commercial standards and resiliency programs
SB 589 – Relative to port electrification, microgrid development, and cybersecurity standards for energy and water systems
SB 590 – Relative to electric aggregation plans
SB 607 – Relative to short-term, limited duration health insurance policies
SB 615 – Establishing a commission to study the use and regulation of SNAP in New Hampshire
SB 660 – Relative to photo identification cards issued solely for the purpose of voting