2018 New Hampshire legislative session

2018 legislative sessions coverage
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New Hampshire General Court
General information
Type:	State legislature
Term limits:	None
Session start:	January 3, 2018
Session end:	June 30, 2018
Website:	Official Legislature Page
Leadership
Senate President:	Chuck Morse (R)
House Speaker:	Gene Chandler (R)
Majority Leader:	Senate: Jeb Bradley (R) House: Dick Hinch (R)
Minority Leader:	Senate: Jeff Woodburn (D)/Donna Soucy (D) House: Stephen Shurtleff (D)
Structure
Members:	24 (Senate), 400 (House)
Length of term:	2 years (Senate), 2 years (House)
Authority:	Part Second, New Hampshire Constitution
Salary:	$200/two-year term
Elections
Redistricting:	New Hampshire General Court has control

This page provides an overview of the 2018 New Hampshire General Court (the state legislature) and its general and special sessions. The timelines below contain noteworthy events from the sessions curated by Ballotpedia throughout the year.

If you know of any additional events that should be added to this page, please email us at editor@ballotpedia.org.

Overview[edit]

In 2018, the New Hampshire General Court was in session from January 3, 2018, through June 30, 2018. A special session convened on July 25, 2018.^[1]

The Second Part of the New Hampshire Constitution establishes when the General Court is to be in session. Article 3 of the Second Part states that the General Court is to convene annually on the first Wednesday after the first Tuesday in January. Additionally, in even-numbered years, the General Court is to meet on the first Wednesday of December for organizational purposes.

The 2019 legislative session was projected to convene on January 2, 2019.

Partisan control[edit]

New Hampshire was one of 26 Republican state government trifectas in 2018. A state government trifecta occurs when one political party holds the governor's office, a majority in the state Senate, and a majority in the state House. For more information about state government trifectas, click here.

The following tables show the partisan breakdown of the New Hampshire General Court in the 2018 legislative session.

Senate[edit]

House[edit]

Leadership in 2018[edit]

Status of legislation[edit]

Regular session[edit]

March 15, 2018[edit]

State Senate votes to repeal death penalty
A bipartisan bill that would repeal the death penalty and replace it with life in prison without the possibility of parole passed the New Hampshire State Senate 14 to 10. The bill was sent to the state House for consideration. Republican Gov. Chris Sununu said he would veto the bill. Previous efforts to repeal the death penalty in New Hampshire have failed.^[2]

According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, the death penalty was authorized in 31 states as well as by the federal government and in the U.S. military as of February 2017.^[3] At the time of the bill's passage in the state Senate, New Hampshire had one inmate who faced the death penalty.^[2]

Update: The New Hampshire House of Representatives approved the legislation on April 26, 2018, and Gov. Chris Sununu (R) vetoed it on June 21, 2018.

April 26, 2018[edit]

State House approves death penalty repeal
The New Hampshire House of Representatives voted 223-116 to pass Senate Bill 593, which would abolish the death penalty in the state. It received bipartisan support. According to the Death Penalty Information Center, at the time of SB 593's passage, New Hampshire was the only state in New England with the death penalty and the state had not carried out an execution since 1939.^[4]

Update: Gov. Chris Sununu (R) vetoed SB 593 on June 21, 2018.

July 13, 2018[edit]

Gov. Sununu signs law establishing voter registration residency requirements for out-of-state students
Governor Chris Sununu (R) signed into law HB 1264, which established voter registration residency requirements for out-of-state students at New Hampshire colleges. Under prior law, students were not required to present documentary proof of residency (e.g., driver's license or vehicle registration) in order to register to vote in the state. HB 1264 established provisions requiring out-of-state students to provide documentary proof of residency in order to register.

Senate Majority Leader Jeb Bradley (R) supported the change, saying, "It is a simple matter of common sense to require those who participate in our elections to abide by the same set of guidelines and become residents of New Hampshire as other voters have done." State Representative Amelia Keane (D) criticized the legislation, saying, "Chris Sununu had the chance to show the young people of New Hampshire that he valued their voices by keeping his promise to veto HB 1264. Either he knowingly perpetuated a lie for eight months about a bill he never intended to sign or he succumbed to the political pressure of his party bosses today."^[5]

The bill cleared the New Hampshire General Court on May 16, 2018. At that time, Sununu requested that the New Hampshire Supreme Court review the legislation and provide an advisory opinion on its constitutionality. The state Supreme Court voted 3-2 on July 12, 2018, that the law was in compliance with the state constitution.^[5]

See also: Voting in New Hampshire

Special session on July 25, 2018[edit]

On July 11, 2018, the New Hampshire Executive Council voted 4 to 1 to convene a special session to address state taxes. The special session was called after the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that a state could collect sales taxes from online businesses located outside of its borders selling to customers inside the state. Gov. Chris Sununu (R) requested the special session to pass legislation requiring out-of-state businesses seeking to collect sales taxes to obtain authorization from the state Department of Justice. At the time, New Hampshire did not have a sales tax.^[6][1]

The governor feared that the Supreme Court's ruling would cause New Hampshire businesses selling products online to collect sales tax at no benefit to the state. Executive Councilmember Andru Volinsky (D), who voted against the special session, expressed concern that passing legislation could result in costly lawsuits and in businesses being fined for failing to submit sales tax collections.^[6][1]

See also: South Dakota v. Wayfair, Inc.

July 19, 2018[edit]

A committee of lawmakers finalized language for Senate Bill 1 (SB 1), the bill under consideration in the special session. SB 1 would implement procedures for states attempting to collect sales taxes from New Hampshire businesses selling products online. According to New Hampshire Public Radio, a state wishing to obtain sales tax from a New Hampshire business would first have to register with the New Hampshire Attorney General, pay a fee, and prove that the tax collection was lawful. It also would have allowed businesses to charge other states for the cost of tax collection. The committee members recommended the legislation by a 17-0 vote.^[7][8]

See also: South Dakota v. Wayfair, Inc.

July 25, 2018[edit]

Legislature fails to pass bill on online sales tax collection
Senate Bill 1 (SB 1) failed to pass the state General Court. SB 1 proposed implementing procedures for out-of-state tax jurisdictions collecting sales taxes from New Hampshire businesses.

After the state Senate unanimously approved the bill, the House passed an amendment in a bipartisan 164-151 vote that removed all but one provision. The provision would have created a commission to study ways to protect the state's no-sales-tax rules. The House vote surprised senators, who voted unanimously not to concur.^[9][10]

Representative J.R. Hoell (R) said he opposed the bill because it "created a roadmap for outside states to compel our corporations to collect their taxes."^[9] Rep. Carol McGuire (R) also opposed the bill. "The New Hampshire advantage is 'no sales tax.' It is not 'only sales tax for those jurisdictions who can jump through hoops,'" she said.^[10]

Gov. Chris Sununu (R) criticized the House for what he said was wasting time and failing to protect the state's small businesses: "They left our state’s small businesses vulnerable to being forced to collect other state’s sales taxes."^[9]

Senate President Chuck Morse (R) said the General Court would revisit the legislation and hold another special session. According to New Hampshire Public Radio, it was not clear whether the governor would call for legislators to reconvene.^[9]

See also: South Dakota v. Wayfair, Inc.

August 23, 2018[edit]

Governor announces executive action in response to Wayfair decision
Gov. Chris Sununu (R) announced executive action in response to the Wayfair decision.

First, the governor directed the state Department of Justice to prioritize detecting and alerting state residents about potential tax collection scams. Second, he directed the department to gather information about out-of-state tax jurisdictions wishing to collect sales taxes from New Hampshire businesses. Third, the state established a single website for information about developments in the Wayfair decision's aftermath.^[11]

Sununu said in a statement, "The actions announced today are important steps that the Executive Branch can take while we continue to push for legislative action."^[11]

See also: South Dakota v. Wayfair, Inc.

Legislatively referred constitutional amendments[edit]

In every state but Delaware, voter approval is required to enact a constitutional amendment. In each state, the legislature has a process for referring constitutional amendments before voters. In 18 states, initiated constitutional amendments can be put on the ballot through a signature petition drive. There are also many other types of statewide measures.

The methods in which the New Hampshire Constitution can be amended:

See also: Article 100 of the New Hampshire Constitution and Laws governing ballot measures in New Hampshire

There are two paths to altering the New Hampshire Constitution: A legislatively referred constitutional amendment or a constitutional convention.

Legislature[edit]

See also: Legislatively referred constitutional amendment

A 60% vote is required during one legislative session for the New Hampshire State Legislature to place a constitutional amendment on the ballot. That amounts to a minimum of 240 votes in the New Hampshire House of Representatives and 15 votes in the New Hampshire State Senate, assuming no vacancies. Amendments do not require the governor's signature to be referred to the ballot.

In New Hampshire, an amendment needs to receive support from two-thirds (66.67%) of the votes cast on the measure.

Convention[edit]

See also: Convention-referred constitutional amendment

According to the New Hampshire Constitution, a question about whether to hold a state constitutional convention is to automatically appear on the state's ballot every 10 years starting in 1972. New Hampshire is one of 14 states that provides for an automatic constitutional convention question.

The table below shows the last and next constitutional convention question election years:

2019 measures:

See also: 2019 ballot measures

Certified:

The following measures were certified for the ballot.

No measures to list

2018 measures:

Below is a list of measures that were referred to the 2018 ballot by the legislature.

See also: New Hampshire 2018 ballot measures

Certified:

The following measures were certified for the ballot.

• New Hampshire Question 1, Taxpayer Standing to Bring Legal Actions Against Government Amendment (2018)
• New Hampshire Question 2, Right to Live Free from Governmental Intrusion in Private and Personal Information Amendment (2018)

See also[edit]

Elections	New Hampshire State Government	State Legislatures	State Politics
New Hampshire State Senate elections, 2018 New Hampshire State Senate elections, 2016	New Hampshire General Court New Hampshire House of Representatives Governor of New Hampshire New Hampshire Supreme Court	State legislative elections, 2018 State legislative elections, 2017 State legislative special elections, 2017 State legislative elections, 2016	State government trifectas State government triplexes State executives State courts Ballot measures

External links[edit]

• Official website

Footnotes[edit]

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