Above, Greenland & Rye State Representatives Peggi Balboni, Dennis Malloy and Jaci Grote wrapping up the legislative session for 2023
The New Hampshire House voted to establish new districts for Strafford County Commissioners.
“HB 75 is a brazen partisan effort to change the make-up of Strafford County Commissioners outside of the established redistricting process,” according to Representative Laurel Stavis (D-Lebanon), Ranking Democrat on the House Municipal and County Government Committee.
Strafford County has elected its County Commissioners county-wide for decades, and after receiving public input during the established redistricting process last year, its county-wide districts were reaffirmed in legislation passed by the House and Senate and signed by Governor Sununu.
Representative Stavis believes “this bill sets a dangerous precedent of annually reopening the once-a-decade redistricting process and will result in instability and chaos. Rigging districts for partisan gain breeds distrust among voters and is not the New Hampshire way” and strongly encourages Governor Sununu to veto this legislation.
Bill to prohibit ‘Gay Panic Defense’ passes House in final vote.
The New Hampshire House adopted the committee of conference report on HB 315, a bill to prohibit the ‘Gay Panic Defense.’ This is the final vote on the bill which will now head to Governor Sununu’s desk.
The ‘Gay Panic Defense’ is a disturbing legal measure that allows a person to, quite literally, get away with murder by claiming provocation by a person’s sexuality or gender expression according to House Democratic Leader, Rep. Matt Wilhelm (D-Manchester).
At a time in our state and nation when LGBTQ+ people are being targeted with violence and hatred for merely existing, making such a legal measure available to homicide defendants is dangerous and wrong for New Hampshire.
Representative Wilhelm said the House took a strong stand against the ‘Gay Panic Defense’ today and urges the Governor to promptly sign HB 315 into law.
The House passed an energy bill containing many changes to state law including net metering.
“Expanding renewable energy and net metering has long been, and will continue to be, a House Democratic priority,” according to Science, Technology, and Energy Ranking Member, Rep. Kat McGhee (D-Hollis). She added that, “HB 281 allows for solar and net metering projects across municipalities, allowing crucial partnerships to lower energy costs. House Democrats unequivocally support expanding net metering, a commitment consistently reflected in our voting record.”
However, Rep. McGee clearly stated that “HB 281 is a tough pill to swallow because it contains many deregulations that will ultimately increase our energy prices and put our environment at risk if not addressed this term. The bill repeals the integrated least-cost resource planning statute, which ensures projects are cost-effective and in the best long-term interests of ratepayers. It also repeals the Energy Efficiency & Sustainable Energy Board. Although breaking these systems without replacing them puts the cart before the horse, House Democrats have received assurances from Republican leadership that we will work together in a bipartisanship manner to address the shortfalls HB 281 has created.”