Committee advances SB 151 after testimony from disability advocates and sponsors

The Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee on Wednesday heard public testimony on Senate Bill 151, a bill that seeks to tighten enforcement around parking placards issued for people with walking disabilities and to increase penalties for unauthorized use.

Supporters told the committee the bill responds to frequent misuse of disabled parking spaces by able-bodied drivers. "As a person who, who has one of these placards, I can tell you that, whenever I see a person parking at Walmart ... it kind of makes my blood boil," Richard Losales said in testimony. Losales identified himself as representing Litchfield and described the bill’s main elements: requiring certain information on walking disability placards, creating a penalty for parking in a restricted space without displaying a placard, and increasing fines for violations.

United Spinal Association advocacy coordinator Melinda Sims, who uses a powered wheelchair, told the committee the organization “conditionally supports SB 151 with critical amendments” and praised changes the committee had already made. Sims urged the panel to adopt provisions modeled on Illinois’ enforcement program that she said produced a large reduction in violations. She asked the committee to add the words “expired” and “altered in any manner” to the fraud language, dedicate 15–20% of penalty revenue to infrastructure maintenance and signage, and add towing authority when enforcement cannot respond within 30 minutes.

Grant Bosse, deputy chief of staff to the New Hampshire Senate, introduced the bill on behalf of Senator Abbas and said the bill raises the fine from $250 to $500 and increases the revenue split between the state and municipalities from 80/20 to 50/50 to give local police more incentive to enforce. Testimony and questions from committee members probed enforcement mechanics, what identifying information belongs on a placard, how police would check a placard number through DMV systems, and whether towing authority and dedicated maintenance funding should be added.

Rod Sims (caregiver to a wheelchair user) and other witnesses urged clearer signage and said private parking lots bear responsibility for upkeep of markings. Witnesses also said some placard systems can be checked by police via a placard number in DMV systems so personal information would not have to be printed on the placard itself.

In executive session the committee voted that SB 151 ought to pass; the clerk recorded a unanimous roll-call recommendation (15–0) to report the bill out of committee and place it on the consent calendar.

The committee’s discussion left several questions for follow-up: whether the sponsor will accept amendments adding towing authority, how a dedicated maintenance allocation would be written so it applies to municipal—not private—spaces, and whether the DMV/police connectivity is sufficient to avoid printing personally identifying information on placards.

Committee action on the bill will next be reflected in the committee report sent to the full House for consideration.