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Commerce and Consumer Affairs committee declines further action on dozens of bills, records committee reports
Summary
At its final day for the 2023–24 session the committee largely voted to mark dozens of House and Senate measures as "not recommended for future legislation," while asking staff to record detailed blurbs for several bills and noting several items will return in revised form next year.
The New Hampshire House Commerce and Consumer Affairs Committee spent its final scheduled meeting reviewing more than 30 bills and, in most cases, voting to mark them "not recommended for future legislation." Chair opened the session asking members to volunteer to write committee blurbs summarizing the panel's concerns and suggested next steps.
Several measures were discussed only briefly before the committee approved motions to not recommend further action. Among those recorded as not recommended were HB 73 (repair of home appliances); HB 513 (clinician‑administered drug affordability and safety); HB 303 (insurance coverage for pain‑management services); HB 242 and related PFAS measures (noting one PFAS bill previously passed); HB 544 (legalizing retail cannabis); HB 1306 (condominium special assessments); HB 1374 (restaurant liquor licenses); HB 1395 (home heating oil and propane contracts); HB 1444 (local regulation of digital mining); HB 1636 (container deposit, refund and reuse system); HB 1645 (condominium dispute resolution board); and multiple Senate bills. In most cases the motion on the floor was "committee moves not recommended for future legislation" and the clerk recorded the roll call.
The committee did not treat all items identically. For some topics members asked for more focused future bills or study; for others, members said similar policy work was already underway in other committees. Representative Ammon noted a subcommittee interim study on HB 225 (currency and privacy) and distributed testimony files. For bills that the committee endorsed conceptually but found too broad as drafted—most notably a glucose‑monitoring insurance proposal—members asked the person preparing the committee blurb to spell out precisely how a narrower bill could be framed.
Several committee reports will be prepared and submitted by volunteers before the end of the session; the chair asked members to clear out their committee drawers and thanked staff and researchers. The meeting closed with brief farewell remarks from members who are not returning next term and a motion to adjourn.
