Please email the Senate, Senators@leg.state.nh.us, and ask them to vote NO on all three bills. See A Citizen’ s review of the bills below.

Senator Jim Gray (James.Gray@leg.state.nh.us) is the Senate Finance Committee Chair. Where all of these bills have to do with finance, it may help to address our emails to Senator Gray and copy the senate group email. FYI: Here are the other Senate leader’s email addresses.

Emails from a local citizen…

Subject: Re: HB 463-FN as amended and HB 447-FN as amended

Date: March 3, 2024 at 11:46:50 AM EST

To Speaker Packard and members of House Rules Committee,

The House passed these two bills without sending them to the Finance Committee for review. I’ve been tracking election bills since 2014 and this isn’t typical of the ones I’ve tracked. USUALLY the projected cost by the Department of State or NH Municipal Association was reason enough for the House Election Law Committee to recommend ITL on those bills.

Docket now shows both these bills have been introduced into the Senate Election Law and Municipal Affairs Committee (no public hearing scheduled as of this am), but the Senate calendar isn’t out yet.

Rep. Barry has not responded to my repeated question of why HB 447 FN didn’t go to Finance Committee first and I have now become aware that HB 463-FN didn’t, either.

WHO on the Election Law Committee makes that decision?

According to my understanding of House rules, the finance committee should have had public hearings on both these bills. Please correct me if I’m wrong. Perhaps certain factors allowed them to skip the Finance Committee receiving testimony and weighing in on these two bills…

Thank you.

PS These are two current House rules:

Rule 31
(h) It shall be the duty of the Committee on Finance to examine and consider the state of the treasury and the budget; subjects concerning the financial interest of the state; all measures carrying appropriations of state money except claims against the state and such other matters as may be referred to it. Prior to the report of the Finance Committee to the House, the Speaker may refer the budget of certain self-sustaining state agencies to appropriate committees for study and recommendation.

47. Bills appropriating state money; affecting state revenues, fees, licensure and/or certification, criminal penalties, state bonding authority; second-committee referrals to Finance, Ways & Means, Executive Departments & Administration, Criminal Justice & Public Safety, Public Works & Highways; chairman may decline bill referral.

(a) All bills and joint resolutions appropriating state money shall, if approved by the House when reported by the appropriate policy committee, be referred to the Committee on Finance

Subject: Re: HB 463-FN as amended and HB 447-FN as amended

Just to make you aware of ANOTHER bill that has passed the Senate Finance Committee (chaired by Gray) and will be voted by the full Senate on March 7. This is funding for the new voter database that didn’t get funded last year.

SB453

https://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/bill_status/results.aspx?adv=2&txtbillno=SB%20453

SB 453-FN-A, making an appropriation to the statewide voter registration system.

Ought to Pass with Amendment, 7-0

Amendment to SB 453-FN-A

Amend the bill by replacing all after the enacting clause with the following:

1 Appropriation; Department of State; Statewide Voter Registration System (SVRS). The sum of $450,000 for the biennium ending June 30, 2025, is hereby appropriated to the department of state for the purpose of incorporating additional capabilities into the SVRS such as an election information portal, and maintaining the system. Such funds shall be non lapsing. The governor is authorized to draw a warrant for said sum out of any money in the treasury not otherwise appropriated.

2 Effective Date. This act shall take effect upon its passage.

It appears all three of these bills SB 453, HB 463 and HB 447 will be LAW and in use before the fall elections.

NO public hearing scheduled for the two HB bills now in the Senate for next week.

….