This was our last day to vote on Senate bills before voting on concurrences.
| Bill | Motion | Type of vote | My vote | Result of vote | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| HB 225-FN | Concur | Voice | Yea | Concur | |
| HB 248 | Non-Concur | Voice | Yea | Non-Concur | |
| HB 606 | Concur | Voice | Yea | Concur | |
| SB 72-FN | OTPA | Roll call | Nay | OTPA 214-167 | Table motion failed on roll call vote 168-211; I voted Yea |
| SB 87-FN | OTPA | Voice | Yea | OTPA | |
| SB 14-FN | OTPA | Roll call | Nay | OTPA 214-167 | Table motion failed on roll call vote 176-203; I voted Yea |
| SB 54-FN | Table | Division | Yea | Table 256-106 | |
| SB 263-FN | OTPA | Roll call | Nay | OTPA 202-168 | See discussion below |
| HB 10 | Concur | Roll call | Nay | Concur 210-160 | |
| SB 99-FN | OTPA | Roll call | Nay | OTPA 206-167 | |
| SB 57 | OTPA | Division | Nay | OTPA 214-154 | |
| SB 69-LOCAL | OTPA | Voice | Yea | OTPA | |
| SB 96 | OTPA | Roll call | Nay | OTPA 198-172 | |
| SB 295-FN | OTPA | Roll call | Nay | OTPA 190-178 | |
| SB 249-FN | OTPA | Voice | Yea | OTPA | |
| SB 100-FN | OTPA | Roll call | Nay | OTPA 194-165 | |
| SB 206-FN | OTPA | Division | Yea | OTPA 314-42 | |
| SB 210 | OTPA | Roll call | Nay | OTPA 193-159 | |
| SB 213-FN | OTPA | Division | Nay | OTPA 189-148 | |
| SB 218 | OTPA | Roll call | Nay | OTPA 192-149 | |
| SB 221 | OTPA | Roll call | Nay | OTPA 184-153 | |
| SB 222 | Table | Voice | Yea | Table | Motion to remove from table failed on roll call vote 151-168; I voted Nay |
| SB 287 | OTPA | Roll call | Nay | OTPA 187-149 | |
| SB 178 | OTPA | Voice | Yea | OTPA | |
| SB 25 | OTPA | Voice | Nay | OTPA | |
| SB 180-FN | OTPA | Division | Yea | OTPA 323-6 | |
| SB 198 | ITL | Division | Yea | ITL 179-144 | |
| SB 118-FN | OTP | Voice | Yea | OTP | |
| SB 163 | Table | Voice | Yea | Table | |
| SB 297-FN | OTPA | Voice | Yea | OTPA | |
| SB 209-FN | OTPA | Voice | Yea | OTPA |
This was the Senate’s version of the so-called “Parental Bill of Rights” in education. Although the House amended and passed it, the Senate ultimately non-concurred. That’s because HB 10, the House’s version of this bill passed both chambers and was signed by the governor on June 10.
Increases mandatory minimums for fentanyl-related crimes. I was undecided on this bill. Fentanyl crimes are really, really bad. But judges already have discretion in sentencing, so this bill wasn’t really needed.
This bill was first heard in the Judiciary Committee and then in the Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee. Even though I don’t sit in either of these committees, I spoke against it.
The bill establishes criminal penalties for using AI to encourage a child toward destructive behavior, such as sexually explicit conduct, self-harm, suicide, using illegal drugs or alcohol, or committing violence. It also creates a private right of action. Sounds good, right? So why would I have been against this bill? Three reasons:
A non-germane floor amendment added a previous House bill that allows no-cause evictions at the end of a lease.
The provisions for private action are extremely weak. In fact, a parent could not, on their own, file a claim, but would instead have to go through the Attorney General’s office.
Here’s what got me involved: the bill exempts video games, TV, streaming, and movies. Now, how would a child most likely interact with AI? Answer: video games, TV, streaming, and movies! So this bill exempts the most likely sources of damaging AI.
Working with the Criminal Justice Commitee, I first moved to table the bill, but the tabling motion was defeated 179-193. I then gave a floor speech on an amendment that would remove the exemptions for video games, TV, streaming, and movies, which you can see here. My amendment failed on a division vote 171-198. The bill, with the non-germane floor amendment, passed. The good news is that a week later, the Senate non-concurred, killing the bill.
Another “Parental Bill of Rights” item, it requires educators to respond to parental written inquiries within five days. The bill compromises student rights and conflicts with the One Trusted Adult program.
Yet another bill that expands Education Freedom Accounts (or, as Rep. Dave Luneau, ranking member of the Education Funding Committee puts it, “the voucher scam”). It removes the EFA cap a year earlier than the House bill does. It includes a “soft cap” of 10,000 students that increases by 25% in any year after the cap reaches 90%—in other words, no cap at all. The governor signed it on June 10.
A replace-add amendment changed the entire bill to HB 50, on teaching discrimination, which the Senate had killed. And when this bill got to the Senate, they non-concurred, killing it again.
A bell-to-bell ban on cellphone use in public schools. A Democratic amendment to allow exceptions for specific educational purposes made all the sense in the world. So of course, the Republicans voted it down.
Requires annual purging of voter registration records using a 5-year lookback period, so that you if haven’t voted in the past five years, your voter registration will be deleted. (The current system purges every 10 years using a 4-year lookback period.) With the new requirement of proving citizenship to register to vote, much fun should ensue.
Requires photo identification when requesting an absentee ballot.
Designates Coos County as a “distressed place-based economy.” This allows Coos to apply for certain funding. A floor amendment, which passed, strengthens setback rules from landfills to bodies of water. One of the few good bills to pass on this day. Alas, the Senate killed it by non-concurring.
Would have declared the third week of September to be New Hampshire Service Dog Week. I went against my caucus’s recommendation and voted with the Republicans to ITL the bill. It just seems silly to me. I took some good-natured ribbing from the Democrats around me after the vote. I said, “Just call me Kristi Noem.”