Next week marks the midway point in the 2009 legislative session, and only bills that are still afloat by Friday will have a chance at becoming law.
The official term is “Crossover,” and the official day this year is Thursday, April 9. Bills that have passed their originating chamber (the House or Senate, wherever they were introduced) by the end of that day cross over into the opposite chamber for another round of public hearings, committee recommendations and full votes. Whatever is voted down by then is simply gone, until a future session when someone may reintroduce the same ideas.
Crossover is basically a giant deadline for the Legislature, because it implies that the House and Senate must have voted on all of the bills that their members introduced—close to 1000 in all this year.
Crossover is also an important gauge, because by this point it’s at least half-clear which bills have a shot and which are out of the running. A bill’s true fate is still left to the other chamber and, ultimately, the governor. But now is a good time to reflect back on what’s happened so far.
surprise, surprise, surprise
And there have been some surprises. Three, in particular, came from the House just last week when a majority of its members voted to approve the use of medical marijuana (HB 648), legalize gay marriage (HB 436), and repeal the death penalty (HB 556).
Gov. John Lynch has stated outright that he would veto a repeal of the death penalty, and it’s widely reported that he “has concerns” about medical use of marijuana. And while he does support civil unions for same-sex couples, it’s noted that the governor has not supported equality of marriage for homosexuals in the past.
His signature may not come into play at all, though. The N.H. Senate is traditionally more conservative than the House, sot the fate of all three bills is uncertain at best in that chamber. And unless a bill passes both the House and Senate, it never gets to the governor’s desk to be either vetoed, signed into law, or allowed to become law without signature.
To override a veto, a bill must pass another chamber vote with a two-thirds majority. In this case, both the bills to repeal the death penalty and legalize same-sex marriage passed by very slim margins (by 19 and 7 votes, respectively) that would not come close to standing up to a veto. The medical marijuana bill passed with a stronger majority (96 votes), but it would take as many as 32 additional votes to reach a veto-proof margin.
Repealing the death penalty may not survive this session, but House Bill 520, establishing a commission to study the death penalty in New Hampshire, may have a chance. The bill was amended after considerable discussion with the attorney general resulted in adding that post to the commission roster. Members of the N.H. Police Association and Mental Health Council were also added, and the specific scope of what the commission is to study were slightly changed. All these amendments were approved by the bill’s prime sponsor, Rep. James Splaine (D-Portsmouth).
A separate bill related to capital punishment was a bit of a surprise in itself. House Bill 37 would have required death by firing squad for anyone found guilty of using a firearm to kill someone during the commission of a felony. Sponsored by Delmar Burridge (D-Keene), the move was defeated by the House.
gambling still alive
Also shot down was House Bill 461 to establish a state-owned casino to fund public education, House Bill 593 to commission destination resort casinos expand gambling options at current gaming facilities. Even the supporters of these bills acknowledged in their House reports that neither were ready for passage, but they didn’t want to dismiss them both outright. By retaining the bills, they argued, the entire issue of gambling could be kept on the table. Voting them down, they felt, would wipe out a true discussion. But wiped out they were, with only 35 and 72 votes in favor, respectively (out of about 370).
The Senate Ways & Means Committee had a split response to two fairly similar bills it considered. Senate Bill 169, which would establish up to six state-run video gaming facilities, was not recommended for passage. But Senate Bill 179, which would create two video gaming facilities in the North Country and allow video gaming at existing facilities, got a thumbs up. However, neither have received their vote. Both were laid on the table by the full Senate for further consideration, so the gambling discussion remains alive and well in the Granite State, so far.
And remember, our online learning center and a complete list of proposed laws for 2009 is available here at Front Door Politics: from the State House to your house.