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Bill would formalize right of petitioners to present warrant articles at town meetings
Summary
Representative Diane Power's bill would require moderators to give a designated primary petitioner the opportunity to introduce and be allotted time equal to the longest presentation given to governing bodies or budget committees when petition warrant articles are considered.
House Bill 228, presented by Representative Diane Power, would change how petition warrant articles are handled at annual and special municipal and school district meetings. The bill would require petitioners to identify a primary petitioner on the written petition application. If no primary petitioner is identified, the first registered voter listed on the petition would serve that role. The bill would also require moderators to provide the primary petitioner an opportunity to introduce the petitioned article and to give that petitioner at least the same amount of time as the longest time granted to the governing body or to the budget committee when introducing its warrant articles.
Proponents said the change would level the playing field at meetings where petitioned articles are sometimes treated as "second class," a concern several witnesses described from recent meetings where petition articles were not heard or were limited in time. Eric Power, a Brookline planning board member, supported the bill and urged that petitioners deserve consistent opportunity to be heard. Multiple residents said they had been prevented from presenting or that procedural approaches had limited public debate.
The New Hampshire Municipal Association opposed HB 228, arguing the "primary petitioner" designation is unnecessary because any petitioner may speak and that the bill's language (for example, requiring moderators to grant the primary petitioner the same time as the longest governing‑body presentation) would be vague and potentially disruptive. NHMA warned that the drafting could require moderators to track and match variable presentation lengths during meetings and could allow a single petitioner to consume a disproportionate amount of meeting time. NHMA noted the legislative body already can set debate limits and could overrule a moderator if needed.
Committee members queried enforcement and how the requirement would relate to existing hearings for zoning petition articles (which are governed by planning boards) and to whether the bill should use more precise terms such as "deliberative session" or "traditional town meeting". Representative Power said she was open to clarifying amendments.
No committee action was recorded at the hearing; the committee will consider the bill in executive session.
