Concord update: NH Legislature gearing up for 2024

Happy Hanukkah and Merry Christmas. In these sometimes trying and contentious times, I hope we all can take a moment to catch our breath, reflect on where we have been and recommit ourselves to spreading a little good cheer, not only this holiday season but for the days, weeks and months to come.

My next scheduled office hours will be on Saturday, Dec. 16, between noon and 2 p.m., at the Lane Memorial Library in Hampton. If you have any questions or just want to stop by to say hello, please join me then. You can also reach me at chris.muns@leg.state.nh.us.

Hampton Democrats host 5-part public education forum

Education will be one of the big issues the Legislature will be dealing with in 2024 (more on that in a moment). If you are interested in learning more about the very real threats to public education that are occurring in New Hampshire, I encourage you to sign up and participate in the 5-part public education forum on Zoom organized and hosted by the Hampton Democrats. The first session was held on Nov. 15. The next session will be held on Dec. 13. Additional sessions will be on Jan. 10, Feb. 7, and Feb. 28. To sign up, go to www.hamptonnhdems.org.

2024 legislative session kicks off Jan. 3, 2024

The N.H. House of Representatives will begin our 2024 session on Jan. 3. Our first order of business will be to vote on all bills held over from our 2023 session. We will then act on the nearly 800 bills submitted for consideration in this session.

While it is early in the process, the policy areas that will receive a great deal of attention are:

Women’s reproductive health: There are currently no state laws that protect abortion rights in N.H. and the N.H. Constitution does not include the right to an abortion. Republican and Democratic lawmakers are working together to craft an amendment to enshrine protections for safe, legal abortion in our state Constitution. At the same time, however, a bill (HB 1248) has been introduced, which would outlaw all abortions in N.H. after 15 days. That is one of the most restrictive bans in the country, and I will be voting against that.

Education funding: State funding of our public schools will be front and center when the Legislature reconvenes in January. This is because of rulings by the N.H. superior courts in the two separate lawsuits. In Conval School District vs. the State of N.H., the court ruled that the current levels of base adequacy aid provided by the state to school districts are too low and therefore unconstitutional. In Rand vs. the State of N.H., it ruled that the current administration of the statewide education property tax (SWEPT), which funds a large proportion of the state’s obligation was unconstitutional. Pending a possible appeal by the state to the N.H. Supreme Court, we (the Legislature) will have to rethink how we fund public education in a way that will pass constitutional muster.

Housing: Noth the lack and the high cost of housing – continues to be a major issue. According the Housing Action N.H., the vacancy rate among available rental units is only 0.6%, and there is a shortfall of 23,670 new affordable homes to address the economic needs of the state. To afford a two-bedroom apartment in N.H. now, someone needs to earn the equivalent of $29.86 an hour ($62,000 a year). Those numbers are not sustainable and unless we take dramatic steps to address this now, N.H. will become too expensive for our children and grandchildren to live here. Ten bills have been filed to address housing-related issues.I hope some of those will enable us to make some real progress on this important issue.Childcare: Five bills have been filed to address the issue many families are having to find affordable childcare. According to the N.H. Fiscal Policy Institute in 2022, the average annual price for an infant in center-based child care in N.H. was $15,340, and $10,140 annually for family child care. The average annual price for an infant and a 4-year-old in center-based care was $28,340. Those levels are also not sustainable.

In addition to these important issues, we will unfortunately have to again deal with issues that the vast majority of Granite Staters have no interest in, including – in particular – the question of whether or not N.H. should secede from the union! In 2022, 13 Republican state representatives voted in favor of a constitutional amendment calling for N.H. to secede from the United States of America. Now a bill (HB 1130) has been introduced that would establish a commission to study the “economic, legal, and sociological aspects of New Hampshire exerting its sovereign state rights,” including questions such as “What currency would an independent New Hampshire use? How would interstate travel and commerce be managed? How would New Hampshire defend itself against domestic and foreign threats?” I for one do not want to remove N.H.’s star from the Star-Spangled Banner, and I look forward – eagerly – to voting no on HB 1130.

I have introduced two bills:

HB 1320, which provides for greater transparency to purchasers of property and to tenants or lessees of the flood risk of the property they are looking to purchase or rent.

HB 1197, which will hopefully be a small step forward in expediting the processing of completing criminal background checks required for employment in positions such as social workers and teachers.

If you are interested in learning more about these bills, please let me know. I look forward to keeping you posted on the progress of each of these.

NH Commission to Study Environmentally Triggered Chronic Diseases

On Friday, Dec. 15 at 3 p.m. in the Community Meeting Room at the Hampton Academy Junior High School, I will be hosting a public meeting of the N.H. Commission to Study Environmentally Triggered Chronic Diseases.

The commission was formed to not only continue the work done to investigate the connection between environmental threats on the Seacoast and the cluster of pediatric cancer cases discovered in 2016, but to also address similar concerns in other parts of the state. A particular focus of the commission is continuing the assessment of the health impacts of PFAS at the local, state, and federal levels to maximize protection from adverse effects. To learn more about PFAS in N.H. go to www.pfas.des.nh.gov and download a copy of the N.H. Department of Environmental Services (NHDES) fact sheet.

I am a member of the commission and the chairperson of the commission’s Coakley Landfill Subcommittee.

Since closing, many people living around the Coakley Landfill and nearby Berry’s Brook have expressed concern that chemicals — including PFAS and 1,4 dioxane — will migrate from the landfill and contaminate their drinking water wells. Several homes with wells were provided bottled water and connected to municipal water supplies.

In 2019, the Legislature mandated that a plan to address any contamination from the Coakley Landfill be implemented by no later than September 1, 2020. While additional monitoring and testing has occurred, no comprehensive remediation plan has been implemented or approved.

At my urging, NH DES has agreed to publish by the end of 2023 a report of efforts to date and recommendations of what should be done going forward. I am hopeful that they will also schedule a public meeting to discuss these findings with interested members of the public.

If you are interested in learning more about the work the commission has been doing, not just concerning the Coakley Landfill but elsewhere in the state please join me at our meeting on December 15.

Election fraud update

In my last update to you, I reported the following: After a months-long investigation, the N.H. Attorney General’s office concluded that Republican State Representative Troy Merner did not live in his district and should, therefore, not have been eligible to vote in the N.H. House during most of 2023. The day after the report was released, Rep. Merner resigned.

Since then, there have been new revelations, including that the investigation began days after the election, and the Legislature was alerted before “Organization Day,” when Representative Merner and all representatives were sworn in and the vote to select a speaker was held. Why no action was taken by the Republican leaders of the House remains an open question.

There are still many unanswered questions, and the citizens of New Hampshire deserve an answer to all of them. Stay tuned.

NH presidential primary: Write-in Joe Biden

Our first-in-the-nation NH Presidential Primary will take place on Tuesday, January 23. Republicans and Democrats will be holding their primaries on the same date. Regardless of your “political persuasion,” I encourage everyone eligible to vote to do so for the candidates of your choosing. I am encouraging all Democrats and Independents to request a Democratic ballot and write in Joe Biden for president in the Democratic primary.

Once again, season’s greetings! May the peace and goodwill that the holidays we celebrate represent extend to you and your family.

Thank you.

Chris Muns is one of Hampton’s five N.H. state representatives. He is currently serving his second term, having previously served between 2012 and 2014.