NH bill would require vaccine association to publish recordings, association warns mandate would raise costs

Representative Barbara Comtoire, sponsor of House Bill 233, told the House Executive Departments and Administration Committee that the bill seeks “more transparency in our government” by requiring the New Hampshire Vaccine Association to make meeting recordings and question-and-answer exchanges publicly available and by establishing a physical meeting location for in-person attendance.

Comtoire (Representative Barbara Comtoire, Belknap 7) said the measure would add two items to the underlying bill so “the public can review” meetings after they occur and also receive a complete list of vaccines and pharmaceutical products purchased by the association. “Whether you’re for them or against them, we need to let it be transparent so that we can gain the public trust,” she told the committee.

The association’s executive director, Patrick Miller, and the group’s outside counsel, Mark McHugh of Hinckley Allen, opposed the measure at the hearing. Miller said the association is a not-for-profit voluntary corporation formed under RSA 2:92 and created by statute at RSA 126-Q, and that it “does not create any vaccine policy. We do not receive state funds, and we do not impose requirements for any immunizations.” He told lawmakers that the association already posts meeting notices, agendas and minutes on its website, allows public comment during meetings and logs and responds to emails and calls from the public.

McHugh said the association’s role is “incredibly limited” and primarily administrative: collecting assessments from more than 80 commercial insurers and third-party administrators and remitting those funds to the state so New Hampshire’s Childhood Universal Vaccine Purchasing Program can purchase childhood vaccines. He said requiring the association to post question-and-answer exchanges would “create a billboard for policy statements” the association has no authority to make and would “extend far beyond the reporting requirements of RSA 91-A” (the state right-to-know statute) that apply to public bodies.

Lawmakers pressed both sides on practical details. Representative Sellers asked how many vaccines the program purchases for children under 19; Miller said the exact list and quantities are determined by the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) and offered to provide the committee with the association’s list of vaccines purchased last year and the association’s operations manual. Miller told the committee the association’s total purchase this year is expected to be between $22 million and $24 million and that the association’s administrative costs are “less than 1%,” around 0.84 percent; he also said the program yields about a 36 percent savings versus market pricing by tapping federal discounts.

Other committee members raised feasibility and cost concerns. Representative Pearson asked whether the 48-hour posting requirement in the proposed amendment would be workable; Representative Schmidt and others questioned whether posting answers to public questions could create legal and practical difficulties when answers are not immediately knowable. Lawmakers also discussed whether requiring physical meeting locations would create travel or mileage costs for volunteer board members.

Representative Jonah Orion Wheeler, testifying in support of requiring audio/video recordings of meetings, urged broader adoption of recordings for state-chartered boards and commissions. “In the 21st century, we wouldn’t film the audio and video is just a little silly to me,” Wheeler said, urging that recordings improve access for the public.

Committee staff will check fiscal-note status and whether HB 233 was incorrectly labeled an early bill; Chair Maguire said the committee would follow up. No formal action or vote was taken during the hearing.

Ending — The committee closed the public hearing on HB 233 after receiving written materials and testimony from the association and other witnesses. The association offered to email the committee its operations manual, a copy of its public access policy and the list of vaccines purchased in the last year; lawmakers requested those materials for follow-up review.