Committee Votes ITL on Bill to Create Statehouse Security Commission, Urges Joint Facilities Oversight

A House committee moved House Bill 477, which would have established a commission to study safety and security procedures in the New Hampshire State House, to ITL (inexpedient to legislate) after extended discussion and a roll-call vote in executive session.

The committee discussed current security work already underway and said the bipartisan Joint Facilities Committee and the State House security staff should remain the primary conduits for study and member notification. Representative Sheehan moved ITL; Representative Turcotte seconded. The motion passed in executive session and the bill was placed on the committee's consent calendar with the ITL recommendation.

Committee members cited an independent third-party security review ordered by facilities and the chief financial officer; speakers said the third-party work had been completed for the State House and the Legislative Office Building but that the committee had not seen the report. Several members stressed the sensitivity of operational security details and said that public disclosure of certain specifics could undermine safety.

Representative Wall described incidents that had made members feel unsafe in the gallery and on the floor and said plainclothes security officers and state troopers are used; she said leadership had taken steps but members needed to know how to report concerns. Clerk Smith (House clerk) cited RSA 17-e as the statute that enumerates members of the Joint Facilities Committee and described publicly available committee membership and duties, noting the committee's ability to meet in nonpublic session for security matters. Clerk Smith also said agendas are set by committee leadership and that the joint committee has two permanent subcommittees (house and senate).

Representative Turcotte and others suggested that rather than create a new public commission, the Joint Facilities Committee's bipartisan membership and statutory authority make it the appropriate body to review and, when appropriate, handle security briefings and nonpublic information. Several representatives urged clearer communications to members about how to report incidents, and one speaker suggested the speaker's office also maintain a separate channel for behavioral complaints.

The committee's action was procedural: discussion-only items were recorded separately from the vote. The formal motion (ITL on HB 477) was made and seconded in executive session, the roll call was called, and the committee placed HB 477 on the consent calendar with an ITL recommendation.

The committee did not adopt any new public reporting requirements for security nor change responsibilities of the Joint Facilities Committee; members said they could pursue minority reports or joint drafting of committee reports if they wished to articulate alternative recommendations.