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Time for another M&CG committee hearing today; it’s still the crossover period, so that means we’re still hearing bills the state Senate has sent us. We’ll also be exec-ing the bills from last week (as well as this week) after. My livetweet thread for it starts here. #NHPoliticsPermalink On twitter.com
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We have a number of substitutes on our committee today, including @SuzanneVailNH @cwgrassie and Paul Berch.Permalink On twitter.com
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getting started nowPermalink On twitter.com
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First up is Sen. Kevin Avard @SaxSinger63 @avard_kevin to introduce SB52 to us, on Nashua’s spending cap. He wants to make if harder for municipal spending caps to be overridden.Permalink On twitter.com
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It’d require a supermajority vote to override spending caps. Seems odd to be talking about the “will of the people” when instituting a rule to institute a supermajority requirement, which is inherently anti-majoritarian.Permalink On twitter.com
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Time for the requisite Cordell Johnston testimony… which he’s yielding, so never mind.Permalink On twitter.com
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Next up is Fred Teebom to testify in favor of SB52. Apparently he was one of the original proponents of Nashua’s spending cap back in 1993.Permalink On twitter.com
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Mr. Teebom is attacking unions in his testimony. As a strong supporter of unions, his arguments are not going over well with me. #1u #NHPoliticsPermalink On twitter.com
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oops typo; I think it might actually be “Teeboom” instead of “Teebom”Permalink On twitter.com
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Chair is asking the testifier to wrap it up; finally!Permalink On twitter.com
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Next is Timothy Twombly testifying in favor of SB52; apparently he used to be a state rep.Permalink On twitter.com
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Mayor @JimDonchess is now testifying against SB52, and Fred Teeboom was still unmuted and tried to interrupt him…On twitter.com
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Blue sheet numbers are 23 in support, 35 opposed, 1 neutral for SB52, for reference.Permalink On twitter.com
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Jennifer Wolf has called in because apparently Dan Moriarty has called in from a number that no one recognized, so he had remained muted; she’s requesting an unmute for him.Permalink On twitter.com
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Mayor Donchess is correcting the record about who sued whom in the judicial history of this issue; apparently it was Fred Teeboom and Dan Moriarty who did the suing, not the city of Nashua.Permalink On twitter.com
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ok now Dan Moriarty is testifying in favor of SB52; the issue with him being muted got worked out…Permalink On twitter.com
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the Twitter account I’ve found for him is outdated, apparently: @danieltmoriarty/915684813335654403?s=20Permalink On twitter.com
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He was addressed as “Doctor” previously; I wonder if he’s actually a Doctor, or if that’s just a Sherlock Holmes reference?Permalink On twitter.com
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There goes the chair getting hand-raises for questions mixed up with hand-raises for testimony againPermalink On twitter.com
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Alicia Houston is now testifying in favor of SB52Permalink On twitter.com
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hey it’s another person who uses “fallacy” to mean “argument I disagree with”Permalink On twitter.com
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ok hearing on SB52 is closed now; onto the next bill…Permalink On twitter.com
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Next is SB87, another one of the Senate’s omnibusses… (omnibi? Not sure the plural of “omnibus”…)Permalink On twitter.com
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Sen. Sharon Carson is here to testify to her part of the bill, but that’s not first, so we’re looking for Sen. Birdsell, but apparently she isn’t here…Permalink On twitter.com
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Part II of SB87 seems like a pretty simple cleanup; I don’t see much of an issue with it. The other 2 parts, though… well, we’ll see.Permalink On twitter.com
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Look like Sen. Carson’s handle is @SharonCarsonNH; she doesn’t appear to use it, though…Permalink On twitter.com
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Since Sen. Birdsell isn’t here to introduce Part I of the bill for us, Dave Caron of Derry is doing that part instead. Derry apparently gets a lot of water payments from surrounding communities, and wants to be able to use that water money for other stuff.Permalink On twitter.com
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So, apparently the term “water wheeling charge” doesn’t actually have anything to do with water wheels… huh!Permalink On twitter.com
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Yeah Dave Caron is the Town Manager for Derry apparentlyPermalink On twitter.com
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Blue Sheet numbers for SB87 are 9 in favor, 0 opposed, for reference.Permalink On twitter.com
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There’s some apprehension here about water funds being spent for non-water purposes here… I dunno…Permalink On twitter.com
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.@SenJeb is here to introduce Part III of SB87 to us; he says @grantbosse is here to fill in for Sen. Birdsell’s missing testimony on Part I… but instead we’re giving Cordell a turn first. Cordell says the NHMA supports all 3 parts of SB87.Permalink On twitter.com
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Cordell is reassuring us that Part I of SB87 will really only affect Derry. Also Part III is primarily for the benefit of the town of Sandwich.Permalink On twitter.com
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ok @grantbosse’s turn to testify nowPermalink On twitter.com
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William Herman (displayed as “Bill Herman”) of Auburn is now testifying in favor of SB87Permalink On twitter.com
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Chris Boldt of Sandwich supports SB87. He’s a lawyer.Permalink On twitter.com
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ok onto SB102 nowPermalink On twitter.com
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.@TeamRebeccaNH was supposed to introduce this bill (SB102) but we can’t seem to find her, so instead Clifton Below is testifying in favor of it. (Blue Sheet numbers are 40 in favor, 1 opposed, 1 neutral, btw)Permalink On twitter.com
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Is Clifton Below’s handle @ccbelow? I can’t quite tell… anyways this bill (SB102) seems like it’d be good for renewable energy.Permalink On twitter.com
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ok Sen. Perkins-Kwoka is here now to testify about SB102 for us; apparently it’s something the city of Portsmouth has been asking for. It’s supposed to deal with property taxes being inflated by the pandemic.Permalink On twitter.com
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Next @PrentissSuzanne is testifying in favor of SB102; apparently the renewable energy portions are something that city of Lebanon has been asking for.Permalink On twitter.com
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Cordell’s turn; apparently there’s some confusion over the number of parts here, since the Senate amended this bill from how it was originally drafted…Permalink On twitter.com
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apparently I say “apparently” a lotPermalink On twitter.com
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comparison w/HB341 from previously here; the difference is that was a housing and zoning bill, while this is a tax relief billPermalink On twitter.com
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.@kahnjay gets a turn to testify in favor of SB102Permalink On twitter.com
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Lunchbreak time; we’ll be back around 12:45 for executive sessionPermalink On twitter.com
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Reminder to subscribe to my “Committee Testifiers” list to get an idea of who’s trying to influence us: twitter.com/i/lists/1356423245092823042Permalink On twitter.com
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ok time to come back for executive session nowPermalink On twitter.com
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we’ll be exec-ing the bills in the order we heard them, starting with the ones we heard last weekPermalink On twitter.com
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First up is SB84; since the “purple paint” amendment got ruled non-germane, I can’t introduce it, and thus we’re just voting on the “village district public bodies” portion.Permalink On twitter.com
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SB84 passes 17-2; with no objection it gets put on the consent calendar.Permalink On twitter.com
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onto SB86; some confusion about the amendment process for this onePermalink On twitter.com
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Rep. Stavis is introducing an amendment; it replaces the language preventing municipalities from banning certain fuel types with language requiring such municipal ordinances to grandfather in old buildings instead.Permalink On twitter.com
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Rep. Stavis’s amendment fails along party lines, 10-9. Oh well.Permalink On twitter.com
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Next up the Republicans want to introduce their own amendment to SB86, to remove Part II of it (the housing part), which is like the only good part of the bill. If this amendment goes thru, it’ll be a much easier decision to vote against the bill as a whole.Permalink On twitter.com
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The Republicans really don’t have any defense for this amendment; they’re just doing it because they hate the possibility of helping people find housing. #NHPoliticsPermalink On twitter.com
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Their amendment to remove the only good part of SB86 goes thru on a party-line vote, 10-9. Oh well, guess that just makes it more certain that I’m a “no” on the bill as a whole now.Permalink On twitter.com
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Reminder for next election: Republicans would rather do giveaways to fossil fuel companies than help people find housing. If you disagree with their preferences here, vote them out next chance you get. #NHPoliticsPermalink On twitter.com
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SB86 as a whole OTPs along party lines, 10-9. Boo.Permalink On twitter.com
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Next up is SB88. This is the broadband one.Permalink On twitter.com
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SB88 OTPs unanimously, 19-0; it goes on the consent calendar. Phew!Permalink On twitter.com
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Onto the bills we heard earlier today. First up is SB52 from the cranks in Nashua about their spending cap.Permalink On twitter.com
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SB52 OTPs along party lines, 10-9. Boo.Permalink On twitter.com
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Next up is SB87, about using water fees for other purposes. I don’t really have strong feelings about this one…Permalink On twitter.com
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SB87 OTPs unanimously, 19-0. Finally, we’ll close off with SB102.Permalink On twitter.com
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SB102 is the one about property taxes and renewable energy. A bipartisan motion + seconding, so maybe this one will go well?Permalink On twitter.com
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plenty of discussion here; seems like we might get some GOP support?Permalink On twitter.com
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SB102 OTPs 15-4; the 4 opposing were all Republicans, while the 15 included all of the Democrats plus some of the Republicans. So it passed with bipartisan support! Yay! That was good at least.Permalink On twitter.com
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hearing is done now; time for a break…Permalink On twitter.com
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