What’s going on at the Legislature

A sampling of pending bills, including housing reform and tax law

While it is easy to focus on Washington, although painful, important things go on at the New Hampshire Legislature each year, especially the first year of the biennium.

In addition to the state budget and tax policy, very important and primary in the focus of the 424 legislators and senators, there are about 1,000 bills to be considered. Our law firm, like the others, follows a number of bills in subjects, while not getting a lot of space in news columns, are important. A review of the last weekly review of such bills is instructive.

Real estate and affordable housing bills occupy a large section of the report. Bills include:

• Relative to the termination of tenancy at the expiration of the tenancy or least term (HB 60).
• Removing authority for municipalities to regulate mandatory on-site parking requirements (HB 382).
• Relative to the authority of condominium boards and unit owners to create and amend condominium instruments (HB 383).
• Establishing a commission to study the New Hampshire zoning enabling act (HB 399).
• Relative to adding conditions to zoning boards of adjustment imposing restrictions on the building and development of residential properties (HB 410).
• Relative to subdivision regulations on the completion of improvements and the regulation of building permits (HB 413).
• Relative to zoning restrictions on dwelling units (HB 459).
• Relative to acreage requirements and zoning regarding sewer infrastructure and single-family residential units (HB 459).

This is just a sampling of bills seeking to amend the laws to allow building on smaller lots, adding auxiliary living units on existing lots, and allowing more affordable housing.

There are about 20 other bills on the same subjects.

On the subject of details of the tax law, there are proposed bills dealing with reducing the rate of the business enterprise tax — further reducing business taxes at a time when the state budget needs revenue to get into balance (HB 155), and increasing the percentage of revenue deposited in the education trust fund from the business profits tax (found inexpedient to legislate already), (HB 255).

Also, relative to repealing the communication services tax (HB 417), relative to complete corporate reporting for unitary business under the business profits tax and revenues from the state education property tax (HB 502), and amending how revenues from taxes are allocated to the education trust fund (HB 503).

On corporate law bills, the report mentioned one relative to the formation of fraudulent businesses (HB 406).

Various bills on subjects often characterized as “social issues” include the following:

• Establishing the parental bill of rights (HB 10).
• Permitting classifying of individuals based on biological sex under certain circumstances (HB 148).
• Prohibiting school district personnel from transporting students to medical procedures without parental consent (HB 231).
• Relative to the rights of conscience for medical professionals (HB 232).
• Relative to interest-bearing pooled trust accounts maintained by lawyers (HB 253).
• Relative to determination of parental rights and responsibilities (HB 285).
• Relative to prohibiting obscene of harmful sexual materials in schools (HB 324).
• Relative to health care professionals administering hormone treatments and puberty blockers (HB 377).

Does it occur to you that reading these bills by title does not explain what they seek to do?  That may be the point for what our legislators have to do!

More bills listed include:

• Prohibiting bullying in schools (HB 384).
• Relative to parental access to a minor child’s medical records (HB 560).
• Relative to litigation alleging constitutional rights violations (HB 614).
• Reassuring the discussion of abortion procedures and viewing of certain videos during health education in public schools (HB 662).
• Relative to school districts and medically related grants (HB 695).
• Limiting breast surgeries for minors (HB 712).
• Relative to the regulation of public school materials (SB 33), relative to state recognition of biological sex (SB 38).
• Relative to refusal of consent to testing to determine alcohol concentration and penalties for aggravated driving while intoxicated (SB 54).
• Establishing a parents’ bill of rights in education (SB 72).

Did you know you needed these rights or understand what is being proposed?

There are a number of pure medical-related bills, in addition to those above, of interest to our attorneys, including the following:

• Relative to the use of electronic medical records (HB 70).
• Legalizing cannabis for persons 21 years of age or older (HB 75).

It could go on and on. The point is our legislators have submitted bills on many subjects which have to be considered by their committees, and watched by those concerned, which includes all of us.

Brad Cook is a Manchester attorney. The views expressed in this column are his own. He can be reached at bradfordcook01@gmail.com.