My votes in the NH House session
of April 10, 2025

Today was the big day when we voted on the biennial budget. The budget that the Republican-led Finance Committee had compiled was terrible. The Democrats had our proposed budget, called the “Better Budget.” In the section on amendments, below, I discuss some of the main points of the Republican and Democratic proposals. You can guess which one passed, though we did get some important amendments to the Republican budget included.

Before the votes on the budget, bills HB 1-A and HB 2-FN-A-LOCAL, we voted on some other bills.

HB 302

This bill allows the New Hampshire State Treasurer to invest up to 5% of state funds in precious metals and digital assets. What a great idea to invest our tax dollars and fees in digital assets that have no real value. The bill has passed both the House and Senate, and as I write this, it awaits the governor’s signature.

HB 71-FN

This bill prohibits using schools to shelter “specified aliens,” whatever that means.

HB 115-FN

This bill opens Education Freedom Accounts (EFAs, i.e., school vouchers) to everyone, regardless of income level. If you follow me at all, you know that I strongly oppose even the existence of EFAs, much less opening them up to everyone. Those who can already afford to send their kids to private schools can use these funds to, say, take ski trips—on taxpayers’ dimes. The bill passed in the Senate and is going to the governor.

HB 639-FN

This bill limits what the state can do regarding blockchain and digital currencies. Aside from the energy and environmental problems associated with mining digital currencies, I am concerned that this bill will interfere with a bill that I plan to introduce for 2026, which would limit how much money you can put into the digital currency ATM in a single day. I plan to introduce this bill because people, especially the elderly, are being scammed into putting cash into Bitcoin ATMs. I personally know very well an elderly person from another state who was scammed and had already put $20,000 into a Bitcoin ATM before the local police located her and prevented her from continuing.

HB 1-A and HB-2-FN-LOCAL

These bills are the binennial budget. HB 1 is really just a bunch of numbers. The real content and policy matters are contained in HB 2.

There were a number of floor amendments to HB 2, which I list below in the order in which we voted on them. Discussions of some of the amendments follow the list.

We had a moment of drama during the amendment votes. After voting on Amendment 2025-1566h, Rep. Michael Granger (R-Milton Mills) moved to table HB 2. Nobody was expecting that! With support from the Democrats (including me), the motion to table passed 198-169. Had that been the end, there would have been no budget to send to the Senate for them to work on. It was not the end, however. Speaker Packard immediately called for a recess and cleared the chamber of everyone but the Republicans, who caucused. (Word on the street is that the caucus by the Republicans did not go smoothly.) The Democrats went down to the State House cafeteria to caucus. This was uncharted territory for us. Members asked about various scenarios, and leadership, especially our amazingly terrific and awesome floor leader, Rep. Lucy Weber (D-Walpole), answered them as best they could, given the uncertain situation. After about 50 minutes, we were told that the Republicans were done with the caucus, and we filed back into Represenatives Hall. As I entered, I saw Rep. Granger talking with Republican leadership and smiling. I figured that the fix was in, and they’d be removing HB 2 from the table and moving forward with it. I was right. The first thing that happened was that Granger moved to remove HB 2 from the table, and the motion passed 193-170 (I, of course, voted Nay). Next, Rep. Joe Sweeney (R-Salem) moved the previous question, which meant that all the remaining amendments would be voted on without debate, and that motion passed 193-171 (I voted Nay). Although we wanted to debate the amendments, it was getting late and we knew how the votes were going to turn out.

Ultimately, HB 2 passed with several bad amendments and a few good ones. I knew that I’d be voting against the budget on election night last November. Which I did.

Amendment 2025-1488h

This was the amendment put in by House Republicans, based on the governor’s budget proposal. Some of the lowlights in it are the following:

• Imposing new Medicaid and CHIP premiums, reduces provider rates, and puts Medicaid expansion at risk. Because the hell with lower-income people, right?
• Cutting over $60,000,000 from the UNH system while expanding EFAs and restricting local education funding.
• Endangering public safety by cutting over 100 positions in the state correctional system, eliminates the Office of the Child Advocate, and reduces support for mental health and substance abuse.
• Cutting funding for housing programs at a time when housing is a key—many say the key—issue facing the state.
• Forcing municipalities to raise property taxes by cutting state aid. When I knocked on over 1000 doors in Ward 3 last year, the number one issue I heard was property taxes, and this budget exacerbates the problem.
• Raiding the Renewable Energy Fund to move its current balance into the General Fund, and using it for ratepayer rebates going forward, instead of its intended use to fund renewable energy projets.

Amendment 2025-1529h

Among other things, this amendment removes trans protections from the state’s anti-discrimination laws. Because our trans residents cause lots of problems, right?

Amendment 2025-1559h

Mandates annual voter roll purges based on a 5-year look-back and redefines electioneering in a way threatening free speech.

Amendment 2025-1526h

Adds in HB 357, giving the legislature, with their vast knowledge of public health, authority over vaccines.

Amendment 2025-1560h

This amendments includes bills HB 381, exempting firearms made for in-state use only from the National Firearms Act; HB 207, the good old bill allowing for blackjacks, slungshots, and brass knuckles; and HB 243, about abuse reporting.

Amendment 2025-1543h

This was the Democratic “Better Budget.” Highlights include the following:

• Restoring $400,000,000 in harmful cuts by reinstating funding for local aid, public safety, education, healthcare, and services for seniors, children, and people with disabilities.
• Eliminating Medicaid and CHIP premiums, restoring provider and mental health funding, and safeguarding Medicaid expansion.
• Reversing the cuts to the UNH system, community colleges, adult education, and STEM programs.
• Protecting funding for tourism (where every dollar spent brings money into the state many times over), the arts (which also brings in money), regional planning, housing, and the Renewable Energy Fund.
• Blocking attacks on public-school funding, tenant protectsions, and DEI programs (which were inserted into the Republican budget without a public hearing).

And it was accomplished while still balancing the budget. The amendment failed on a straight party-line vote.

Amendment 2025-1499h

I was a bit surprised that this amendment, which removes school budget caps from HB 2, passed with 38 Republicans voting for it.

Amendment 2025-1501h

Would have restored family planning funding.

Amendment 2025-1503h

Would have restored the Office of the Child Advocate.

Amendment 2025-1523h

Restored funding for the Division of Travel and Tourism and also appropriates funds to the Department of Business and Economic Affairs for rest areas and welcome centers (which the Republicans wanted to sell for a one-time shot of money). It passed, with 33 Republicans voting for it and one Democrat against.

Amendment 2025-1569h

Restored the Board of Tax and Land Appeals. With 18 Republicans voting for it, it passed by 3 votes.

Amendment 2025-1561h

Would have expanded access to free and reduced-price school meals by simply aligning Medicaid enrollment with school meal eligibility. It failed by a single vote, with 15 Republicans joining all the Democrats voting for the amendment. We would have needed two more Republicans for it to pass, because if only one more Republican had voted with us, the Speaker would have voted Nay to make a 182-182 tie.

Amendment 2025-1553h

Restores funding to the Council on the Arts.

Amendments 2025-1525h, 2025-1545h, 2025-1567h

Would have ended the EFA program, sending those funds to increase disparity aid for public schools, to the UNH system, or to reduce the dozens of fee increases that the Republicans included. All three amendments failed on almost straight party-line votes.

Amendment 2025-1546h

Would have removed from the budget HB 60, which allows a landlord to evict a tenant when the least terminates for no cause.

Amendment 2025-1513h

Removes from the budget a section that forces municipalities to allow Keno, so now municipalities can continue to decide on their own whether to allow it. This amendment passed by two votes, with 29 Republicans voting for it and 13 Democrats voting against.

Amendment 2025-1550h

Would have reinstated the Opioid Abatement Trust Fund back to its current state. We are not out of the woods with opioid abuse, but only four Republicans voted with the Democrats and the amendment failed.

Amendment 2025-1549h

Would have restored funding to the Human Rights Commission.