New London District 7 Democrat Karen Ebel and I joined the NH General Court in 2012. She was prime sponsor of HB 1649 and serves as the Democratic Leader Pro Tem and chair of the state Solid Waste Working Group. Rep. Ebel is the author of the following describing her efforts at eliminating PFAS as a health threat to New Hampshire residents.
Construction of Glenn Cove is Underway
Great Bay Stewards Executive Director and State Representative Allison Knab, along with State Representatives Peggy Balboni representing Greenland, Rye and North Hampton and Dennis Malloy representing Greenland and Rye at the Glenn Cove groundbreaking ceremony on July 30, 2024.
The Glenn Cove Project is officially underway in Greenland, NH. Just off of Newington Road on Emery Lane 70 people gathered for a formal introduction of the new Glenn Cove recreation and research area on July 30, 2024. This will include free public access along the shores of Great Bay, renovation of the property’s historic farm and a picnic pavilion for public use. The site will allow access for water quality and saltmarsh research and monitoring, climate change and sea level rise work and fisheries and wildlife management.
The project abuts four NH Fish and Game-owned parcels that protect about 130 acres of land and 4,000 feet of frontage on the eastern shore of Great Bay, as well as the 154-acre Great Bay Farm recently put into conservation by the town of Greenland and Southeast Land Trust
The entire area has been designated for use by the Great Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve, which is working to restore and renovate it to open for public use.
Great Bay Stewards hosted the event on July 30, 2024 at the site.
Outlook for Business Tax Collections
How to File a Bill in the NH House
NH to Receive $72 Million for PFAS Mitigation
What We Accomplished This Week In The NH House
Divisive Concept's Ban Ruled Unconstitutional
$20 Million Dollars for Rye and North Hampton Seawall Repair
Rye police chief Walsh, NH Department of Transportation Commissioner Bill Cass, Congressman Chris Pappas, State Senator Deb Altschiller, U.S. Senators Jean Shaheen and Maggie Hassan, and Rye/Greenland State Representatives Jaci Grote and Dennis Malloy were at Rye Harbor State Park Monday April 22, 2024 to learn about the $20 million PROTECT grant that will shore-up the seawalls from North Hampton to Rye.
The Federal Highway Administration PROTECT grant is allocated directly to the state Department of Transportation to repair and reinforce the seawalls along a three mile stretch between North Hampton and Rye, two local communities battered by the back-to-back January coastal storms and flooding events that resulted in widespread damage to public and personal property.
The grant for reconstruction efforts in the Seacoast is part of the Federal Highway Administration’s $829.6 million earmarking for 80 projects throughout 37 states, the District of Columbia and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
In announcing the grant, Shailen Bhatt, administrator of the Federal Highway said protection against storms that was great for decades, is not standing up to the 21st-century climate, which is emblematic of our infrastructure system. The system that was designed in the 20th century isn’t able to handle the precipitation rates and the storm rates that we’re seeing on an increasing basis. Whether it’s New Hampshire, Texas, Georgia, fires in Hawaii (or) flooding in Tennessee, we’re just seeing more and more of these climate-related events.
Work on the project will be completed through five construction contracts, according to the New Hampshire Department of Transportation. Fourteen revetment stone barriers and sea walls will be tended to over a multi-year period.
As part of the project, one of the first priorities is reconstructing revetment (seawall) sections between the North Hampton and Rye town line near Fox Hill Point and Rye Ledge, a roughly 0.6-mile span.
The coastal resiliency grant award comes as local officials throughout Rockingham County are set to receive a separate batch of money after New Hampshire’s disaster declaration for the January storms and flooding was approved.
Congressman Pappas agreed with Administrator Bhatt saying that we seeing the impacts on our built infrastructure, on properties up and down the Seacoast of New Hampshire. We can’t just be satisfied with the fact that we might repair the damage as the infrastructure used to exist and feel like we’re prepared for the future. That’s not a recipe for success. We have to be building for the future.
Earlier in the day NH Governor Chris Sununu announced a $3 million FEMA grant from the agency’s Hazard Mitigation Grant Program which gives money to municipalities to help their communities rebuild and prevent future disaster losses.
NH House Activity This Week
Reigning in PFAS in NH
A bill prohibiting the sale of select products that contain PFAS, such as food packages, children’s products, cosmetics & carpets, passed the House on a roll call vote of 233-140. By passing HB 1649, we protect our families, future generations, and the environment from the harmful effects of ‘forever chemicals’ such as PFAS. Taking these steps is vital in curbing the worsening impacts of PFAS.
Wednesday, the EPA directed that drinking water utilities nationwide remove certain PFAS chemicals at a concentration of 4 parts per trillion. This directive serves as another urgent reminder of the severe hazards associated with this chemical family, as PFAS has been associated with liver problems, thyroid issues, kidney disease, decreased immunity, maternal health hazards, and cancer.
HB 1649 is a common-sense step to protect Granite Staters' health and the beautiful New Hampshire environment we know and love. Now is the time to take a strong stand. These forever chemicals should not be in the air we breathe, the water we drink, or in the soil we walk on.
Bail Reform Compromise
The New Hampshire House voted to pass HB 318, the final bipartisan compromise bill to address issues with the bail reform statute. The bipartisan legislation gives law enforcement and the court system the funding and tools to do their work, including data sharing across municipalities, the establishment of magistrate judges, increased training and wages for bail commissioners, and further clarity of violent crimes that do not warrant release. This legislation will allow police, prosecutors, defense lawyers, and courts to make informed decisions about pre-trial release and detention without delay.
This compromise addresses the real issues facing our communities without needlessly incarcerating people and rolling back all the progress we have made in the last decade to preserve Granite Staters’ rights and liberties.
Increased Support for Public Education
The New Hampshire House passed two bills, HB 1583 and HB 1656, which increase state funding for public education. Both bills now head to the Senate for review. House Bills 1583 and 1656 are both critically important to our schools, our local communities, and our students. By further increasing state support for public education, we are helping our local communities and taking recent court decisions seriously.
HB 1656 greatly improves the formula to determine state support for special education, the cost of which varies greatly from year to year and from community to community. Increasing state support for special education will help stabilize municipal budgets and protect property taxpayers from sudden spikes.
NH House Activity This Week
Keeping Tax Dollars Out of Religious Education
House Democrats continue to support and protect taxpayers by prohibiting the use of public money for religious schools or religious education and put forward HB 1592 to do just that. The New Hampshire Constitution is abundantly clear that no person shall ever be compelled to pay towards the support of schools of any sect or denomination.
The majority could have killed it altogether but a party line vote tabled the bill.
The vast majority of EFA vouchers are devoted to students attending Christian and Catholic private schools. No matter how many shell games are played to move the money from one fund to another, the fact remains that it all comes from New Hampshire taxpayers. The funding of EFA vouchers to religious institutions is a violation of the New Hampshire Constitution and should cease immediately.
A First Step at Lowering Property Taxes
The New Hampshire House voted to pass HB 1279, which requires the state to pay 7.5% toward retirement system costs for municipal employees. The legislation, which seeks to alleviate the burden on property taxpayers by partially restoring the state’s longstanding obligation as a co-contributor to the retirement system, now heads to the state Senate for review.
Property taxes have been skyrocketing ever since Republicans eliminated the state contribution to municipal retirement benefits in 2011. The state has a longstanding obligation to financially support our communities and for the last decade-plus, we have failed to live up to it.
Building Codes Update
The House passed a bill to advance the latest building codes, with amendments adopted by the Building Code Review Board (BCRB). However, House Republicans blocked an amendment to advance the latest energy codes for commercial buildings that address the latest science on human health and indoor air quality following the pandemic.
If New Hampshire does not move to the updated commercial codes, over $4 million in federal funding earmarked for NH in the Inflation Reduction Act will be left on the table. It is disappointing that Republicans refuse to pass energy-saving and money-saving legislation time and time again.
Disclosing Funding of Deceptive Political Advertising
HB 1596 is legislation requiring the disclosure of deceptive synthetic media and deceptive and fraudulent deep fakes usage in political advertising has been referred to the state Senate.
Deceptive deepfakes are manipulated images, audio and video designed to trick the viewer or listener by depicting something that did not actually occur in real life. Artificial intelligence technology has quickly progressed, and deceptive deepfakes can now be created with little or no skill for little to no money.
Bi-partisan Support of Reporting Mental Health Information
In the wake of the tragic murder of Chief Bradley Haas at New Hampshire Hospital the House passed HB 1711 which authorizes the reporting of mental health information to the FBI firearms background check system, representing a small but important victory in the ongoing effort to reduce the risk of gun violence and suicide in our state.
Members of both parties not only came to the table to craft this important legislation, but also that New Hampshire hospital workers and representatives of people with mental illness and disabilities joined us in writing and finalizing the bill. This legislation is a somber reminder of the ongoing struggle of many people in our state to cope with the effects of mental illness—and the cost of previous legislative inaction on this issue to the family of Officer Haas.