Liberty Wins of 2016

June 6th: SB481 signed into law, abolishing Certificates of Need for hospitals.

June 1st: SB522 signed, This bill protects the rights of NH residents to due process. Civil asset forfeiture involves the taking of property from a person who has not been convicted, or often even charged, with a crime. This bill corrects the injustices in current law, and protects due process, by requiring a criminal conviction prior to forfeiture of assets, and clear and convincing evidence on the part of the state. This bill ensures that property is returned to innocent property owners in a timely manner, and that they have recourse when it is not. This bill greatly reduces perverse incentives and appearances of impropriety by providing that proceeds from asset forfeiture no longer flow directly to the government agencies pursuing the forfeiture. The NHLA is not taking a position in support of section 1 of the bill, appropriating money to the prescription monitoring program.

June 1st: SB498 signed, This bill as amended would reduce possession of a small amount of marijuana to an unspecified misdemeanor subject to a fine of $350. This is a very small step in the right direction of recognizing that NH's current laws are not inline with the vast majority of NH residents who favor decriminalization of marijuana. A UNH/ WMUR poll released in July 2015 indicated that 72% of Granite Staters support decriminalizing marijuana. This bill as takes an incremental step toward reducing collateral damage done to people who use or experiment with marijuana by making first time possession charge a violation. While the bill is a small improvement over current law and thus should be supported the legislature should do far more to reform or eliminate laws governing the private acts of citizens.

June 1st: SB391 signed, This bill reduces the waiting period for annulment of the record of arrest/ conviction for simple marijuana possession from 3 years to 2 years. This reduces the harm of our existing law by allowing a citizen who has harmed no-one to more quickly turn their life around and return to meaningful employment. The change retains the requirement of a decision by a judge allowing the facts of the case to be considered before an annulment is granted.

June 1st: SB342 signed, This bill changes NH law to prevent taxing business on phantom gains caused by exchange of assets that are not owned by the business. Current NH law can be interpreted as imposing a business profits tax on LLCs or partnerships that have received no gain when one of the partners leaves and transfers ownership to another entity. We are the only state that does this. This means that current law unfairly discriminates between LLCs and corporations, and discourages small NH start-ups.

June 1st: SB239 signed, This bill better aligns NH capital expense deductions with federal provisions. NH currently allows only up to $25K in deductions for capital expenses in the first year. This bill increases the state limit to more closely align with IRS rules simplifying compliance costs. At least 37 other states already allow deductions over $100K, and 33 allow deductions up to $500K (http://taxfoundation.org/). While the long term impact of this bill is largely revenue neutral, allowing business to more fully deduct capital expenses in the year they are made increases the probability of capital investment and growth in NH. NH legislators should work to make NH business friendly, rather than driving them away with excessive taxes.

June 1st: HB1656 signed, This bill establishes exceptions from the real estate transfer tax for certain transfers of title related to changes in form of organization or made between the owners and the entity for no consideration. Eliminates a double tax on property owners transferring their property to themselves. Taxation of 'paper' real-estate transfers for which no true transfer is taking place improperly penalizes property owners who have non-material changes in organizational structure. This bill would prevent application of the real-estate transfer tax in cases where no true transfer is performed.

June 1st: HB1584 signed, This bill regulates the usage of Body-Worn Cameras by law enforcement. The use of BWCs as outlined in this bill will be a benefit to public safety, foster better interactions between police and members of the public, protect members of law enforcement, promote accountability and assist in investigations. BWCs protect both police and the citizens they interact with by providing objective evidence of encounters. Mandatory disclosure requirements protect civil rights and likely contribute to better behavior by all parties reducing the utilization of force. A 12 month study on the use of BWCs in Rialto, CA found use-of-force by officers wearing cameras fell by 59 percent and complaints against officers dropped by 87 percent compared to the previous year's totals.

June 1st: HB1301 signed, This bill respects a parent's right to determine the satisfactory level of academic performance required for a youth certificate of employment. Current NH law puts an unfair hurdle in place for all non-public school students seeking employment by forcing public school superintendents and principals into a role of responsibility for students they do not know. According to a Harvard Graduate School of education report (http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:4740480), teens who have good high school work experiences are more likely to be inspired to stay in school, graduate, and adopt ambitious goals. Existing law grants public school principals or superintendents the exclusive right to approve work certificates. Parents, however, better understand the full set of challenges that the student faces outside of the school. Current law effectively requires homeschoolers, charter school students or students attending private schools to seek permission from the local public school's principal/superintendent who has no connection to the student's school work and performance.

June 1st: HB1227 signed, This bill removes an unnecessary prohibition on Sunday business activities. This bill repeals outdated laws prohibiting or regulating Sunday business activities and removes differing Sunday hours for bingo and games of chance. Existing laws banning business activities on Sundays are regularly and widely ignored, and do not align with common practices in the state.

June 1st: HB606 signed, This bill reduces fees for NH residents and makes government more accessible. This bill will encourage people to ask for electronic delivery of documents, reducing the costs of handling paperwork. Government should be accessible to everyone, not just those who can pay the fees.

June 1st: HB114 signed, This bill allows specialty beer retail establishments to obtain a new license that doesnt require a $3000 inventory value of grocery items. Many stores meet the current grocery requirement by keeping Spam, Vienna sausages, and other canned items that don't spoil quickly, which are never sold. For a beer & wine store, this requirement is wasteful, protectionist, and serves as a barrier to entry to small stores. This will help to increase beer tourism which is a hot market in New England. New Hampshire is lagging behind neighboring states in this growing market.

June 1st: HB605 - signed, This bill repeals mandatory minimum sentencing for specific crimes. Mandatory minimums remove discretion from the courts, often forcing judges to impose sentences far longer than are appropriate for the situation and the crime. Restoring discretion enables the Judiciary to perform its constitutional role. Reducing use of excessively long minimum sentences will help slow the growth of prison populations.

May 5th: HB1681 - signed, This bill, as passed by the house, reduces the harm of the war on drugs, by allowing for safe disposal of hypodermic needles. Oppose committee amendment 2016-1487s. Changing this bill to a study committee defers a proven positive step in harm reduction. People are more likely to safely dispose of needles if they aren’t in danger of arrest. Allowing easier access to clean needles will help prevent the spread of dangerous and costly diseases, including hepatitis and HIV. Penalizing addicts for possession of a used syringe is a failed approach, which does not help them and endangers the community. This bill allows charities to create needle-exchange programs, which have a proven track record of reducing the harm of drug addiction (Steffanie A. Strathdee1 and David Vlahov, AIDScience Vol. 1, No. 16, December 2001, also: https://goo.gl/Q1wQYp, more: http://goo.gl/hWuJoa)

May 5th: HB1210 - signed, This bill slightly liberalizes telemedicine by increasing the conditions under which a physician may prescribe controlled substances as part of an ongoing patient relationship. Liberalizing telemedicine can reduce health care costs and expand patient choice. The bill requires that the prescriber has a prior in-person practitioner-patient relationship.

May 5th: HB1186 - signed, This bill repeals the existing unenforceable prohibition on coasting vehicles. Existing law is not enforceable as there is no external indication that a vehicle is in neutral. Coasting can reduce wear on vehicles and save fuel. As long as the rules of the road are followed, there is no danger to others from a coasting vehicle.

May 5th: HB1138 - signed, This bill gives terminally ill patients more options for treatment while protecting all involved. The individual should be able to make fully informed healthcare decisions about their treatment, and not have to wait for the FDA to approve such treatments. Allowing terminally ill patients to try other treatments could save their lives while advancing modern medicine at the same time. Some terminally ill patients travel to foreign countries to try these treatments. This bill will allow the patient to remain close to friends and families in their time of need. 27 states have passed similar laws.

May 12th: HB197 - signed, This bill allows wine manufacturers to establish up to 2 'off site' locations for sampling and purchase of their wines. Wine manufacturers should be permitted to sell their product where their potential customers are, not restricted to selling where grapes grow best. Allowing local businesses to showcase local products benefits NH residents and helps the NH economy. Additional jobs will be created to run off-site tasting rooms.

April 21st: HB1451 - signed, This bill reduces the injustice done to innocent, convicted persons. This bill as amended allows a person who was convicted of a criminal offense whose conviction was subsequently vacated by a court to petition for an annulment of the arrest record or court record or both. Having the option to petition for annulment allows a wrongly convicted individual to at least partially restore their official reputation.

April 21st: HB601 - signed, This bill reduces the annual cash machine notification renewal fee by $45. The current fee is excessively high, going beyond covering the administrative costs of regulation. The NHLA would more strongly support the bill as originally introduced; eliminating annual notification requirements for cash dispensing machine operators entirely.

April 20th: SB358 signed, This bill recognizes the right of drivers to use navigation systems. This is a good common sense first step in fixing the hands free law. There are many distractions while driving and we can't legislate all of them. Using a mounted or built in GPS is no more dangerous than changing radio stations. The hands free law went too far in restricting what drivers can do in their own vehicles. This bill helps give drivers the freedom to use their property as it was intended without the fear of being pulled over and ticketed.

April 20th: SB356 signed, This bill allows commercial fishing operators to register certain vehicles using current agricultural plates. This bill puts fisheries on common ground with other agricultural businesses. Reducing fees for businesses will attract businesses to NH

March 31st: HB1419 - signed, This bill requires minutes of nonpublic sessions under the right-to-know law to include the vote of each member in all actions taken. The NH Constitution, Part 1 Article 8: ... Government, therefore, should be open, accessible, accountable and responsive. To that end, the public’s right of access to governmental proceedings and records shall not be unreasonably restricted. This bill helps to achieve this requirement. Retains ability for public bodies to conduct nonpublic sessions while ensuring the public has a right to know the voting record of their representatives.

March 31st: HB1418 - signed, This bill clarifies the required content for non-public meeting minutes. The NH Constitution, Part 1 Article 8: ... Government, therefore, should be open, accessible, accountable and responsive. To that end, the public’s right of access to governmental proceedings and records shall not be unreasonably restricted. This bill helps to achieve this requirement. Provides that minutes kept in nonpublic sessions are consistent with minutes kept in public sessions while maintaining the existing protections outlined in RSA 91-A:3 (e.g. preventing the release of information that would adversely the reputation of any person, other than a member of the public body itself.)

March 31st: HB1388 - signed, This bill allows a person who has purchased a muzzleloader license to hunt deer with a crossbow. The state has no compelling interest in limiting the means of effectively and safely taking deer. Some NH families rely on deer season to provide high quality locally sourced protein. This bill would allow families to utilize alternate safe means for taking deer potentially saving them money.

March 24th: HB1438 - signed, This bill improves equality and consistency of law by allowing trailers to be registered as antique regardless of the number of axles. Antique trailers are not used as frequently as newer trailers, so it’s right that registering an antique trailer should be less costly.

March 17th: SB494 signed, This bill repeals provisions of the law that forces NH taxpayers to subsidize federal government, non-military travel on NH roads. The federal government should help pay for the upkeep of the roads they are using. A government vehicle wears on the roads just as much, and in some cases more, than a private vehicle. This bill is a step in the right direction, and will increase revenue for NH roads without further taxing NH drivers.

March 17th: HB500 - signed, This bill allows use of suppressors for noise reduction while hunting.

March 17th: SB345 signed, This bill modestly protects the rights of some property owners by adding agritoruism to the list of land use activities partially protected under existing law. Existing law states that local zoning regulations on agricultural lands shall not be unreasonably limited by use of municipal planning and zoning powers or by the unreasonable interpretation of such powers. This bill clarifies that agritorism is a usage of land that ought not be unreasonably limited. All reasonable usege of property by its owners should be protected however this is a very small step in the right direction.

March 9th: HB1453 - signed, This bill allows patients suffering from ulcerative colitis access to medical cannabis, if recommended by their doctor. Ulcerative Colitis is a serious, incurable disease. Symptoms include loss of appetite, malnutrition, chronic pain, oral ulcers, rectal bleeding, diarrhea, and insomnia. Despite treatment, symptoms can reoccur at any time. Symptoms of ulcerative colitis are similar to those of Crohn’s disease, which is already included in the the list of qualifying medical conditions. Indeed, Crohn's patients are often misdiagnosed as Colitis patients, and vice-versa. It would be unfair to afford relief to one group of patients and not to the other. Asking patients in chronic and severe pain to wait months or longer for centers to open, before waiting again for a new legislative session and a new bill, effectively puts the convenience of the Legislature above the immediate and serious needs of the constituents.

March 3rd: SB517 signed, This bill increases the amount deducted from a fine for each day of a person's incarceration from $50 per day to $150 per day. While it is challenging to determine the total financial burden placed on an individual per day of incarceration, the current 'credit' for incarceration is more than 3.5x lower than the average 8 hour wage in NH (23.12/hr in June 15 per the NH Employment Security) and nearly 2x lower than even the lowest average 8 hour wage in the state ($11.06/hr). 24hr incarceration places additional burdens beyond lost wages on the incarcerated individual, including costs to a single parent associated with child care. The current deduction is therefore excessively punitive. The fiscal note for this bill estimates that the average daily cost of incarcerating an individual may be as high as $110 per day. The current deduction level results in a net loss to the state for each day of incarceration chosen in lieu of fine. The new deduction level will ensure that the state is not penalized in cases where a citizen chooses incarceration instead of fine.

January 6th: SB146 signed, This bill protects the right of property owners to build accessory dwelling units. Many NH residents are currently prevented by arduous zoning laws from building accessory dwelling units. The needs and demographics of NH residents are shifting. Accessory dwelling units make it possible for aging parents to live with adult children, elderly residents to retain their independence by obtaining live-in aid, and young adult children to share housing costs with parents. The right of property owners to make their own choices about their property should be respected. Increasing housing flexibility benefits everyone.