House Finance Division III votes to recommend SB 118 to full committee after rejecting amendment to strip home-grow language

CONCORD, N.H. — House Finance Division III voted 6-3 on May 22 to recommend that Senate Bill 118 move to the full finance committee as amended in the House, after members rejected an amendment that would have removed provisions allowing personal home cultivation of cannabis for therapeutic use.

Vice Chair Representative Maureen Mooney, presiding over Division III in the absence of Chairman Representative Jess Edwards, said the panel must report a recommendation on SB 118 to full finance by May 29. Division members considered several procedural options including recommending the bill as-is (ought to pass), retaining it, ITL (inexpedient to legislate), or adopting an amendment that would strip policy language and retain only funding measures for Hampstead Hospital.

The contested amendment, labeled 23-45H and offered by Mooney, would have deleted sections of the House version that add home cultivation for therapeutic cannabis (the provisions linked to House Bill 53) and retained sections 1–5 of the original Senate bill, which the committee said relate to Hampstead Hospital funding and related contractual provisions. Mooney said she supported the amendment as a strategic move to increase the bill’s chance of enactment, explaining, “My suspicion is that Governor Ayotte will veto Senate Bill 118 as it is presented to us today with this House amendment,” and that removing the home-grow language would preserve provisions the committee broadly agreed on.

Representative Stringham moved to recommend SB 118 as the House version that includes the home-grow amendment; Representative Priess seconded. The motion — OTP (ought to pass) on the House version of SB 118 as amended by the House (including the home-grow language) — passed on a roll call, 6-3. The committee previously held a work session on the bill two days earlier and resumed post-session on May 22 to finalize its recommendation before the May 29 deadline.

Division members also heard from Marissa Henn, deputy commissioner at the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services, on questions about employee payments tied to the Hampstead Hospital transition. Henn summarized the recent operational history: Hampstead Hospital, the state’s only psychiatric hospital for children, moved from private, for-profit ownership to state control in 2022; a private vendor provided services for about two years and used bonus pay during a tight labor market to attract staff. That vendor’s contract ended, and employees briefly became state employees while Dartmouth Health provided clinical support. Dartmouth Health later assumed full operational responsibility under a seven-year lease.

Henn said the Legislature previously committed to honoring one-year bonus payments for employees who briefly became state employees during the transition. She said a “relatively small number” of employees faced losing eligibility for that committed bonus when Dartmouth assumed operations, and that Senator Bernthal and others sought to make those employees whole. Henn described the amounts discussed: “I heard the question on the $160,000 for the employees,” and later explained that roughly $6,000 covered the bonus payments to a few employees while “most of the $60,000 is accrued time that… have never been paid out for it.”

Members debating the amendment focused on strategy and committee scope. Representative Telerski said Division III’s role is financial review and questioned undoing the House vote of the originating committee. Others, including Mooney and Representative Wallner, said sections 1–5 concern the fiscal responsibilities of Division III and argued for preserving those provisions even if removing the home-grow policy would make passage more likely.

After the vote to recommend the House version (OTP), members discussed logistics for the full finance hearing. The committee assigned point people to present arguments in favor of and against the recommendation before full finance: Representative Seaworth agreed to be the majority point person, and Representative Daniels agreed to prepare a minority report and serve as the minority point person. Mooney asked that both be prepared to summarize the committee’s discussion and the case for and against the recommendation when SB 118 reaches full finance (scheduled to meet May 28 for reporting and with the last day to act June 5).

The committee adjourned after confirming those assignments and noting the approaching deadlines for reporting and final action.

Votes at a glance

- Amendment 23-45H (Mooney): Motion to adopt amendment 23-45H (which would have removed House Bill 53 home-grow provisions and retained only Hampstead Hospital funding sections). Vote: 3 in favor, 6 opposed; outcome: amendment failed.

- Motion to recommend SB 118 (House version including home-grow language) to full finance (OTP): Vote: 6 in favor, 3 opposed; outcome: motion passed; recommendation will go to full finance.

What’s next

SB 118 will be reported to full finance for consideration before the May 29 reporting deadline; the full finance committee meets May 28 to receive reports. Members assigned as point people said they would prepare majority and minority language for the committee report.