The House was in session again this week. We wrapped up all bills originating in the House so that those that passed could go on to the Senate.
- We had a couple of good wins: HR-17 passed 178-159 opposing all federal and state efforts to establish a carbon tax on fuels for electricity and transportation. If this bill passes the Senate and gets signed by the Governor, you will be grateful when you actually have electricity.
- We defeated HB-1093 186-161 which sought to allow nonresident aliens living in the state to obtain a driver’s license. Why would we want to defeat this bill? Because it is one giant step toward nonresident aliens voting in our elections.
- We also passed HB-1401 189-160 prohibiting the number of miles everyone drives from being shared within certain authorities without consent. Why would we want to pass this bill? Because this would very quickly turn into a mileage tax.
- We passed 218-100 a one-time $500 cost-of-living allowance to certain retirees in the state retirement system.
- And we preserved HB-1609 – the Fetal Life Protection Act. The amended bill that passed 231-114 clarifies the language of the current law regarding ultrasounds and adds provision for fetal anomalies incompatible with life.
In the loss column…
- A couple of election integrity bills got tabled: HB-1064 which would have required the use of hand-marked, durable paper ballots for all elections and HB 1473 authorizing a forensic audit of the November 3, 2020, election results in Merrimack County.
- CACR-27 was defeated 254-85 which would have provided that all state court judges be subject to recall and removal by petition and subsequent vote of registered voters. This means, if a bad judge gets appointed, we can’t get rid of that judge until he/she quits, retires, turns 70, or dies.
- HB-1417 passed 186-159 which provides that the state will pay 7.5% of contributions of retirement system employers other than the state for group 1 teachers and group 2 members. This means cities such as Nashua and Manchester (not known for fiscal responsibility) can start handing out benefits packages to more teachers and the rest of the state gets to pick up the tab. Just for reference, the current amount that the state is paying is 0%.
Next up in the House…Senate bills!