Concord, NH- House Republican Leader Dick Hinch released the following statement in response to Governor Sununu’s veto of HB1234, relative to state and local government administration.
“HB1234 is a prime example of everything that was wrong with the process the Democrats used to pass legislation this year. This bill consisted of over 40 different pieces of legislation, a vast majority of which was never seen by the House until this bill came over for a concurrence vote. There was no chance for the House to properly vet the over 20 Senate bills that were tacked on. This rushed, heavy-handed, and mismanaged process done by the Democrats left out important and long established steps to the process, such as committees of conference. This is yet another example of miserably failed management by the Democrats.”.
“Throughout this entire pandemic Republicans agreed that our work needed to be completed, but Democrats chose a process which shortchanged the legislative process, bypassed public scrutiny, and resulted in this log jam of a bill. Democrats went through all their storage boxes of decorations for this tree. In March, the House passed a rule ensuring bipartisan cooperation would not be pushed aside in the event of a pandemic, but unfortunately House Democrats kept Republicans in the dark for months. HB1234 sets a terrible precedent for future legislatures by saying one body and party can be denied a seat at the table, and I commend Governor Sununu for vetoing this bill.”