Rep. Eric Gallager (no "h"!): HB1370 is tabled 223-141; phew!

ok press conference over; Dems are going to caucus for a bit before the full House convenes...

sounds like bills could be in a weird order today; usually they're in order by committee, but this week they might not be...

ok in the chamber now; should be starting in a bit

there's the first "members take your seats" call

Before starting the prayer, Pastor Bob opens with, "How about those Celtics?"

apparently Pastor Bob will be moving on from his position as House Chaplain... Pledge: Mel Meyler Anthem: Choir from... Milton? Wilton?

I think this choir was middle schoolers... poor kids; I wish we had an easier national anthem for them to sing...

Jane Beaulieu memorializing David Babson of Ossipee and... Tim... uh, missed the second guy's last name, but he was from Milford...

O'Connell? O'Collins? McConnell?

oh, Bob Raiche, too... with such an elderly legislature, you often end up with lots of memorializations like this...

oh boy, time for a motion from Leah Cushman to suspend the rules... this should be fun...

(Leah Cushman is a conspiracy theorist with some really, um, *interesting* ideas about procedure)

so yeah Leah Cushman basically wants subpoena power to go after DCYF

I actually wouldn't mind giving the House subpoena power to investigate things, just not under Leah Cushman's control, and not via a motion to suspend the rules like this

"having a child taken from you is akin to capital punishment," Leah Cushman claims... uh, wut?

Rep. Cushman has been speaking for 15 minutes now; this is relatively long for a speech this early in the morning...

sigh... of *course* Republicans are roll-calling this...

Steven Smith doing the P.I. against, so this is a GOP v. GOP fight... wasn't expecting him to do that!

motion to suspend the rules fails 120-247; Kevin Verville moves to print the remarks in the permanent journal, but someone objects, so now we're voting again, and Republicans are roll-calling it again...

eh whatever, who cares, it can't do any harm

"print remarks" motion succeeds 248-120 (nobody reads the House Journal anyways...)

ok onto the committee of conference reports now; consent calendar adopted

first up is SB340, with a long title. It's from Education; I think this is Peggy Balboni speaking against concurrence on the Committee of Conference report?

Sounds like that's Rick Ladd speaking in favor

CofC report on SB340 adopted 188-179

Speaker Packard is letting Speaker Emeritus Shurtleff preside over a few votes, bc Shurtleff will be stepping down to run for County Commissioner, since Tara Reardon is stepping down from her seat

these are all just voice votes

now on HB1018; Anita Lang-Burroughs is speaking against

HB1018 is from Commerce & Consumer Affairs; according to its title, it's relative to on-premise and off-premise liquor licenses, and relative to land in current use, but as it's been amended, it's really an anti-immigrant bill

bill (as amended) would give people the "current use" land use tax exception an even bigger tax break, so even ignoring the immigration part, it's bad even just on a tax policy basis. The "current use" exception is wildly abused, and has contributed to our crisis of invading Free Staters

anyways Rep. Hunt (GOP Commerce Chair) really wants us to pass this for the liquor portion

screw the "current use" loophole-abusing tax cheats; they don't need any further help from us

CofC report on HB1018 adopted 190-176; oh well...

HB1079 (long title) doesn't get debate, but does get a recorded vote: 241-125 in favor

Now on HB1091 (from Election Law), relative to the financing of political campaigns. Dan McGuire speaking

HB1091 CofC report adopted 190-181; Speaker Packard now letting Matt Wilhelm preside as a courtesy/tradition of letting the minority leader preside on the last day of session

People in the "Dems need to nominate more very tall guys" should be paying more attention to Matt Willhelm

Now on HB1215, where the sticking point is an amendment about a development in Hampton. Len Turcotte speaking against.

Jasen Stock of the NH Timberland Owners Association actually called me to whip votes against this bill, which is the 1st time I can remember having a hostile lobbyist calling me personally (recently, at least)… I told him I'd take his viewpoint into to consideration, which isn't really a commitment…

Len Turcotte was speaking against the non-germane amendment to the bill, but now Laurel Stavis is speaking against the underlying bill

This bill was originally from the Special Committee Housing, and most of the other members of my committee (Municipal & County Government) besides me hate the very existence of the Special Committee on Housing, so...

Now speaking: Diane Pauer in favor of HB1215, so we've got the GOP chair and vice chair from my committee pitted against each other here

Rep. Pauer is just sticking to the Hampton development lease part here

Now speaking: Kelley Potenza against HB1215, specifically the Hampton amendment.

C'mon Leader Wilhelm, gavel her here, she's getting out of line with some of the aspersions she's casting here

ok thanks, he reminded her not to ascribe motive at least (sometimes I think the rule against ascribing motive should be repealed, but enforcing it here is warranted)

now speaking: Chris Muns of Hampton in favor of HB1215; count of speakers is currently 2R+1D opposed, 1R+1D in favor

reminder that the Hampton Beach Casino Ballroom is one of the foremost concert venues in New Hampshire

Rep. Muns takes 2 questions, a hostile one from Rep. Verville, and a friendly one from Rep. Roy

P.I. against HB1215: Jim Maggiore, P.I. in favor: Candace O'Neil

CofC on HB1215 rejected on a vote of 102-261; Speaker Packard taking the gavel back now. Breaking for the ice cream social now until 1:45

a protestor was just throwing leaflets from the balcony; speaker ordered Sergeant At Arms to intervene

protest for LGBTQ+ rights in the plaza currently

Huh, I didn't realize we had a vending machine stocked with $1 coins for change here

dang it, just broke my phone charging cable... oh well, time to get a new one...

back in session now

stuff just going by quickly on voice vote so far

Now under discussion: HB1241. Current legislator (whose name I really ought to know, but am blanking on at the moment) was originally going to speak against this bill, but has now changed his mind and is now speaking in favor.

Oh wait! Steven Bogert, I think this is?

Anyways, this is relative to the regulation of money transmitters and relative to license applications and renewals for certain consumer credit entities. Passes on voice vote.

Steven Smith moves to table HB1243

tabling motion on HB1243 fails 146-202; CofC report for it adopted on voice vote

Now on HB1265 from Education; Hope Damon speaking against

HB1265 may sound like it's supposed to be a pro-transparency bill, but apparently it's biased in the way it requires info to be presented...

(drifting a bit)

CofC report on HB1243 adopted 183-172

agh, some procedural confusion

Now on HB1292; Marjorie Smith moves to table

Immigration

HB1292 tabled 192-165; phew

Now on HB1369 from Election Law, relative to the verification of voter rolls every 4 years. Russ Muirhead of Hanover speaking against.

getting fiery here!

Rep. Quinn now speaking in favor of HB1369 (voter disenfranchisement bill)

HB1369 CofC report REJECTED 178-185! Phew!

Now on HB1370, relative to eliminating voter identification exceptions. This is another bad anti-democracy bill. Connie Lane speaking against

yeah this one is really bad

If HB1370 becomes law, I plan to engage in civil disobedience against it

Now speaking: Rep. Qualey in favor of HB1370 (voter disenfranchisement)

Rep. Hoell... is moving to table this?! Does he realize they don't have the votes and just want to postpone it, or is he actually on the right side of this?!

sounds like he's just sticking to procedural arguments

HB1370 is tabled 223-141; phew!

Now on HB1386 from Env&Ag, it's relative to prohibiting the disposal of lithium-ion batteries in solid waste landfill facilities, composting facilities, or incinerators. J.R. Hoell speaking against, talking about how... he burned down a lithium-ion battery lab in Manchester once?

Yeah it seems kinda premature to be passing this legislation without also passing #RightToRepair first, but that's not a strong enough reason to oppose it for me. We can always pass R2R later

Judy Aron now speaking in favor of HB1386, so it's a GOP v. GOP fight. She says we can revisit the penalties later if they're too much.

Karen Ebel giving the P.I. in favor of HB1386

HB1386 CofC report adopted 238-118

Now on HB1400, which is a big housing bill. Joe Alexander now speaking in favor

Thank goodness!

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