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It’s crossover time! Today my committee (House Municipal & County Government) will be hearing a bunch of Senate bills, including the controversial “short-term rentals” bill (SB249). I plan on livetweeting as usual, with a thread starting here. #NHPolitics
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oops derp it looks like the hearing doesn’t actually start until 10AM, instead of the usual 9AM, so it looks like I’m here an hour early… time to go see what else is going on around here, I guess…
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Looks like I do actually have time to go hear the Senate Hearing on HB629 (the marijuana home-grow bill) after all! Apologies to the constituent who I told I wouldn't be able to testify about this to; looks like I got my chance after all!
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We passed it through the House back in January btw: @cooljeanius/1479108553059143686
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.@ConnollyRoss is testifying to the Senate Judiciary Committee in favor of HB629 currently
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.@MattSimonSez is now testifying in favor of HB629 before the Senate Judiciary Committee... I'm trying to remember if I use my "Committee Testifiers" list just for people who testify before my own committee(s), or also people from other hearings I go to?
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ok so yeah after re-checking the description it looks like it I wrote that it's specifically for "MY committees" (emphasis added); looks like the testifiers at this Senate hearing will have to wait to be added to it...
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oh right I meant to link to it: twitter.com/i/lists/1356423245092823042
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I should probably start heading over to my own hearing now; thanks to the Senate Judiciary Committee for letting me testify early while I was still here! (HB629's hearing will probably keep going for awhile after I leave; @frankknaack is testifying as I leave)
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ok back over on the House side of the divide; time to get going
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Sen. @bobgiuda is here to introduce SB239 to us, relative to noncompliance with municipal audit requirements. Has something to do with some drama out of Woodsville.
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I remember @RyanBuchananNH telling me about a municipal audit of @CityOfConcordNH that he was involved with...
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Apparently the issue with Woodsville is that it's not actually a town, but rather a political subdivision of one (Census-Designated Place? Village District?), so SB239 is supposed to fix that, and provide penalties for failing to complete required audits
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Another case where I wish online news sources let you pay just for individual articles instead of signing up for an entire account and subscription: caledonianrecord.com/news/local/woodsville-audit-identifies-widespread-problems-fails-to-deliver-legal-bombshell/article_5719bbbb-b4ce-5dcd-9b47-d63c387b7bc3.html
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.@Calrecord help?
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Margaret Bynes of the NHMA is here with testimony opposing SB239 in part; they're not opposed to audits in general, but are just here to provide feedback on implementation details
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ok small break before next bill (scheduled for 10:30)
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Sen. @TomShermanNH is here to introduce SB245, a study committee about municipal trash removal fees. This seems relevant to my own compost & recycling bill!
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Sen. Sherman seems on board with an amendment to broaden the language from "trash" to "waste" so I'll have to remember to stop by OLS to request that later...
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.@LathaMangipudi is a cosponsor on this, btw
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My compost & recycling bill was HB1172, for the record: @cooljeanius/1496503212299407363
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I need to do some work to clarify the difference I see between homeowners associations and tenants unions, as I see the former as bad and the latter as good... what I've got so far is a vague form of power analysis...
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i.e., homeowners associations are organizations of people with power designed to keep those without it out, while tenants unions are organizations of people without power designed to fight back against those who hold that power over them.
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(I'm not sure of a way to word that distinction in a way that's legislatively cromulent, though)
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current testifier: Peter Sorrentino in favor of SB245; I think he's the constituent Sen. Sherman was mentioning previously...
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next bill: SB246, defining and regulating "qualified private communities" for state law. Regina Birdsell is introducing it to us.
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Hey @BirdsellStan do you know Sen. Birdsell's Twitter handle, if she has one?
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Anyways SB246 would basically require private communities to actually maintain their roads, which... seems reasonable to me? Right now it's pretty much the Wild West for them, so some regulation seems like a good idea...
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I guess the counterargument could be that this new regulation would cause less housing to be built, but this only applies to private communities, so if developers find this regulation burdensome, they should just build the housing as part of the public community instead
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(which really they ought to be doing anyways; private communities are exclusionary and bad)
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audience seating is filling up; they're probably all here for SB249 (the short-term rentals bill), which is scheduled next
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Current testifier: Edgar Bourgeois of Manchester (we're still on SB246 btw)
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There seems to have been a bit of nominative determinism with Mr. Bourgeois; he was literally testifying about being bourgeois... en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nominative_determinism
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Current testifier: Matt Niswender (still on SB246)
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Mr. Niswender is with the NH Private Road Taxpayers Alliance (NHPVRTA; not sure where the "V" comes from): nhpvrta.com
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Ari Pollack of @gcglaw and the @NewHampshireHBA is here with testimony against SB246; he's testified before us previously about HB1238 back in February
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I'm refraining from asking questions about this one (even though I do have questions), just so that we can have time to get to SB249, which is the one that has generated more interest
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Katherine Heck of the NHMA has testimony for us about HB246; they don't have an official position on it, but are just here for informational purposes
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another guy from the NHPVRTA testifying in favor of SB246 currently
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Current testifier: Joan Bastion (Bastien?) of Laconia is testifying in support of SB246
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wait maybe it's actually "Judy Bastian"
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One last testifier in support of SB246, a guy from Hudson
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"Bob Forscure" might be his name, perhaps? At least that's what it sounded like...
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thinking of renaming this account "Eric tries to guess how people's names are spelled" (might not fit)
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Lunch break; we'll be back with SB249 (the short-term rentals bill) at 1:10
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ok we're back; time for the bill we've all been waiting for
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Sen. French is here to introduce SB249 to us; the sponsors list for this is gigantic
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oh hey look apparently he's going to be running against Annie Kuster: @jdistaso/1458620554580275205
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so basically, SB249 prevents municipalities from banning short-term rentals (think AirBNB), but it does provide them with a few new ways to regulate them.
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Sen. French seems to be deferring responses to questions to testifiers who will come after... "I'm not an attorney, even though I do look like one" ...uh...
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next: Rep. Umberger, Chair of the Finance Committee, has testimony for us about SB249
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Rep. Umberger is from Conway, which is one of the main communities that prompted this whole debate. She has an amendment for us (which I don't seem to have received)
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ah nvm here we go; I have a copy of the amendment now
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Rep. Umberger wants a carveout for the Kearsarge Lighting Precinct
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I really wish amendments came in diff format with syntax highlighting
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it's confusing how we have multiple Kearsarges in the state; I think this is the same one: @NorthConway/1110272507179950081
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apparently the issue with short-term rentals actually predated AirBnB; AirBnB are just the current most popular example of a provider for them
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Editorial on the topic from the head of @nhrealtors that seems to have gotten in multiple papers: @NHBulletinNews/1512057611927134216
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Rep. Robert Theberge of Berlin has testimony for us against SB249
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he's this guy: @NHAFLCIO/1494035519629508609
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.@DeaglanM has testimony for us in opposition to SB249; apparently a bunch of mayors (including my own) join him in opposition
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Mayor McEachern is making the point of how AirBnB drives up property prices when speculators buy up housing stock for the purpose of turning it into AirBnB places
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he wants to see residency requirements for people who do short-term rentals, which is something that I think sounds reasonable and could be done as an amendment to the existing bill
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.@TeamRebeccaNH has testimony for us against SB249 as written; she agrees with Mayor McEachern
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my current inclination on this bill is to send it to interim study, if we can't get amendments drafted to it in time
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yeah this part of her testimony about corporate landlords is a good point
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Anita Lang Burroughs had testimony for us against SB249; I'm pretty sure she's on here...
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Sue Gottling of Sunapee has testimony for us against SB249
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She has a guest (Carol Wallace) of her local Sunapee selectboard; apparently their police chief was assaulted by a short-term renter...
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I'm pretty sure Rep. Gottling is @GottlingSue
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Right Rep. Burroughs is @nhrepburroughs
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someone testifying in favor of the bill! Since people are trying to go quickly so we can get through all the testimony, I'm missing some names
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current testifier is from some renters-related group; I missed it
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he's arguing that you can still regulate short-term rentals, but just not ban them.
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I'd like to note that the people asking for more regulations and those asking for more local control aren't necessarily the same people; I try to generally avoid making "local control" points, except when it's to point out GOP hypocrisy. Some things should be done statewide.
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lol Rep. Stavis got this testifier to admit that we don't actually need this law; he's now backtracking and trying to correct course
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Right, current testifier is Paul Mayor (Mayer?); thanks to Rep. Pauer for asking
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John Cancillaris (Cancelaris?) of Madison opposes SB249
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looks like there was written testimony from Paul Mayer, and apparently the spelling of his last name with an "e" was the correct one
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Louise Webster supports SB249; she has a cleaning service that cleans for AirBnBs
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Ty Sinclair, president of the Lakes Region BNB Association, has testimony for us in favor SB249
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apparently there's an AirBnB competitor called VRBO
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I guess their handle is @vrbo
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wait now I'm kind of confused as to whether she's in support of this bill, or in opposition to it... now it sounds like she's in the "interim study" camp?
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shoutout to our committee clerk (Rep. MacDonald) who has to do a better job keeping track of all this testimony than I do
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Ms. Sinclair also has a statement from someone else to read about SB249
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ok I now have a proper spelling for one of the previous testifiers: "John Cancelarich"
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Bill Dempster of Madison has testimony for us against SB249
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Kathy Koziell has testimony for us in opposition to SB249
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Interesting how most of the in-person testimony on SB249 has been against it, while most of the emails we got about it were in favor of it (although we did get some of each from each side)
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Next testifier: Nicholas Borelli of Madison has testimony against SB249... I hope all these people from Madison either carpooled or took a bus or something, instead of all driving individually...
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2 testifiers from @nhrealtors before us now to support SB249
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I think I might not have worded my question about a Fiscal Note (due to Rooms & Meals Tax impacts) well enough...
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let's see if I can find this LTE in @ConwayDailySun that's being read
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meh, never mind... I'm not really a fan of the NIMBY argument against STRs; the points about housing prices and corporate control are better arguments against them
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Lynn Lyman of the Kearsarge Lighting District had testimony against SB249; now some yelling guy from Berlin is testifying loudly in favor of SB249
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he sure seems self-important... Mr. "Job Creator" over here...
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next testifier: Anne Cunningham of the planning board for the town of Freedom, NH. She opposes SB249.
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Partying is fine; people should be able to party. Stick to the points about big business taking over our state, rather than basing your arguments on not liking having other people be around
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Margaret Byrnes of the NHMA has testimony for us against SB249; she's basing her arguments on the importance of zoning, which is... also not very great. Just stick to the parts about attacking absentee landlords, rather than trying to justify sketchy zoning practices.
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Apparently this legislation isn't actually based off of the ADU legislation mentioned previously after all
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Next bill: SB251, another Regina Birdsell bill. She was really quick in introducing it, and we're already onto Katherine Heck's testimony on it about NHMA's suggested amendment
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David Boutin, a former state rep (and state senator) who was previously on this committee (before I was here), had some brief testimony for us in favor of SB251
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Next bill: SB273, for broadband infrastructure funding. It's a @SenJeb bill, but he couldn't be here, so instead a Senate staffer introduced it for us.
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Katherine Heck of the NHMA... another testimony from her, and we're already done with SB273. We're zipping right along now that we've gotten done with SB249!
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next bill: SB312, about assessments for property taxes. Seems pretty simple, according to Rep. Piemonte's introduction. The term "housekeeping bill" gets overused around here, but I think this one actually qualifies as one.
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Natch Greyes of the NHMA had testimony about SB312, but I missed whether it was for or against... next testifier is some tax assessor person
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every possible thing you can think of, and I can guarantee there's some sort of "association" for it... at least, that's what it seems like some time...
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Sen. Gray (prime sponsor) is now here and can testify to his bill
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That's James P. Gray, to be specific, i.e. this guy: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_P._Gray_(New_Hampshire_politician)
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Next bill: SB317, a property tax abatement interest rate bill. The same staffer who addressed Sen. Bradley's bill did this introduction, too (although this bill is Sen. Carson's bill, and I thought I saw her here today? Her own hearing must have run late, too...)
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Natch Greyes of the NHMA supports SB317; former state senator Bob Clegg opposes it, though
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former Sen. Clegg seems to think he's being politically persecuted by local tax assessors
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imagine owning property
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this guy is back: @cooljeanius/1488164997180108804
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Next (and last?) bill for the day: SB329, a housing study commission. @TeamRebeccaNH is introducing it to us, along with a proposed amendment
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.@ivyvann reminds us of the difference between "missing middle housing" and "middle-income housing"; former is about building type, while latter is about money of people living in it
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David Juvet is back in support of SB329; he's been here previously: @cooljeanius/1490755387502612481
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.@ElissaMargolin of @HousingActionNH also supports SB329
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Jack Ruderman of Contoocook is here in support of SB329; I think I might know him from somewhere?
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oh wait nope, looks like SB329 wasn't actually our last bill; we've still got SB334 (now) and SB400 (after this)
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.@PrentissSuzanne is introducing SB334 to us, a study committee about property blight... originally started as a bill to create a vacant building registry
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Losing energy here
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Final bill of the day is SB400, another housing bill... really wish this had come during a part of the day when I hadn't gotten as tired yet...
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staffer for @SenJeb is introducing again
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this is like a bill we tried passing from last year; will try to find it later...
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.@TeamRebeccaNH supports SB400
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a.k.a. the "community toolbox bill", Sen. P.K. calls it
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Rep. Guthrie is both asking questions of RPK (SRPK?) and also saying he's going to testify against the bill later
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^@MelisaC64216898 this is your rep
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SB400 is kinda based off of HB586 from last year; RPK says @bfrostNHHFA will talk about the differences between the two during his term: @cooljeanius/1365100966652051465
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turn, not term
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Natch Greyes of the NHMA is neutral on SB400
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ok now it's @bfrostNHHFA's turn
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he won't be testifying as long on this one as he did on HB586
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(still could take awhile, though, as the testimony we're comparing against went 2 hours)
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look I'm already convinced on wanting to pass housing legislation; can we just... I dunno...
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Former Rep. David Maguire of the Epsom Planning Board and Granite State Taxpayers; he supports some of the ideas in the bill wearing that first hat, but opposes it overall wearing that second hat
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so sick of propertarians and free market fundamentalists
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Sara Holland of @nhrealtors is back in support of SB400; she was also one of the people from that organization that testified earlier
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right it was in support of SB249 that she testified previously
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while I support building more housing, I don't really like the framing of it as being places for "businesses to house THEIR workers" (emphasis added). Businesses should belong to their workers, not the other way around.
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People need housing as a basic necessity to live their lives as they please, not just for their utility to businesses.
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.@ElissaMargolin of @HousingActionNH is back, this time in support of SB400
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she has a letter for us that a bunch of people signed onto; I recognize some of these names
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David Juvet of the @BIAofNH is back, this time in favor of SB400
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Huh, I thought Joe Garuba (Garruba?) had already testified before us about something previously, but searches for his name among my previous tweets isn't turning up anything... maybe I'm spelling it wrong... anyways, he opposes SB400...
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oh wait nvm apparently I put it as "Joseph" instead of "Joe" last time: @cooljeanius/1356260614230913024
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Mr. Garruba says to oppose this bill for our neighbors, well my neighbors need housing, so I support it
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She blocked me for calling out her support for the #SeditiousSix back at the end of 2020, for reference @cooljeanius/1343206475158736899
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Rep. Guthrie, age 92, of Hampstead, who sits on this committee, has testimony for us against SB400, on procedural grounds; he wants to see it split into 3 bills
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He is blaming his own party's leadership for these procedural issues
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back to Regina Barnes: her Nazi connections go a long way towards explaining her bias towards "urban" people she displayed in her testimony: @miscellanyblue/1498061789015252992
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.@bfrostNHHFA back to answer some more questions
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I admire Mr. Frost's endurance; we should just put him in charge of all of this... #BenFrostForGovernor #BenFrost2022
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ok we are now finally getting out of here, at 7:07 PM...