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Senate chair outlines plan to prune duplicate bills from HB2; committee reviews dozens of retained sections
Summary
Committee chair and staff reviewed the House-passed index of House Bill 2, discussed which sections to keep or remove, and set a process and schedule for votes next week to delete or retain provisions that duplicate standalone bills.
CONCORD, N.H. — The committee spent substantial time reviewing the House-passed index of House Bill 2 and discussing a plan to remove duplicate or already-enrolled bills from the budget bill.
Chair Senator Lang told members the Senate would remove from HB2 provisions that duplicate bills on which the Senate has already taken a position, to avoid keeping the same policy in both a stand-alone bill and the budget. "If we've already disposed of the bill...the Senate position going forward will be whatever we take on that one," Lang said.
Staff walked the committee through an item-by-item list showing where bills and HB2 sections overlapped. The staff review named numerous examples: terrain-alteration language tied to SB110 (section 12); competing cell-phone policy bills HB781 and SB206; education topics such as HB215 and the school choice/education freedom accounts bills; video lottery terminal language in SB83; and numerous HHS and environment sections tied to prior committee work. Staff advised the committee which items had already passed both chambers (and thus could be removed) and which remained subject to further action.
Committee members asked for more time on some items and suggested a process for Monday's meeting: senators will identify specific sections they want retained or removed, staff will draft committee amendments to effect deletions, and the committee will vote on a grouped "committee amendment" to collect removals. Senator Waters noted overlapping policy and budget language (for example landfill and energy items) and asked that policy chairs weigh in when appropriate. Committee staff said they would prepare revised fiscal notes and agency recaps and would track adopted amendments as the committee proceeds.
One formal legislative motion recorded in the transcript was an ITL (Inexpedient to Legislate) recommendation the committee adopted for an item about excess funds paid to municipalities for school districts (the transcript records a successful motion for ITL and subsequent consent). Several other bills were tabled, scheduled as "pass" or "pass/straight pass," or set for further discussion next week.
Why it matters: The committee's decisions on which provisions to keep in HB2 will shape the final budget bill the Senate advances. Removing duplicate provisions simplifies conference with the House but can change which version of a policy is available for final negotiation.
Ending: Senators set a near-term schedule for more meetings and asked staff to prepare consolidated amendment language so the committee can vote efficiently the following week.
