It’s the legislative session that never ends.
Top Republican lawmakers are calling the House and Senate back to Concord on June 16 in the hopes of reviving a $1.5 million drug enforcement bill that died Wednesday.
“You can’t just let the drug dealers run rampant,” said House Speaker Shawn Jasper, a Hudson Republican. “We have to deal with this; people are dying.”
The legislation funds law enforcement efforts to crack down on drug dealers, and is modeled the Manchester police effort known as Operation Granite Hammer.
The proposal was one of many supported by Democrats and Republicans this year as a way to curb the state’s ongoing opioid crisis. But it was defeated by one vote in the House on Wednesday.
Some Republicans opposed the bill, saying arrests aren’t the way to solve a drug problem. The enforcement money was attached to a controversial state retiree health benefits plan that some Democrats opposed.
Party leaders cast blame on each other for the bill’s demise.
Democratic Gov. Maggie Hassan applauded lawmakers’ plan to return and approve the spending.
“I thank legislative leadership for working quickly to address this issue,” she said in a statement. “I look forward to continuing to work with legislators from both parties to expand Operation Granite Hammer so that we can assist state and local law enforcement across the state in their efforts on the front lines to combat the heroin and opioid crisis.”
In order to reconsider, the House and Senate must vote by a two-thirds majority to suspend their rules. Senate and House Republican leaders plan to submit a bill that only deals with drug enforcement and does not include the retiree plan.
“I expect the governor to deliver the Democrat votes and make sure this passes,” said Senate President Chuck Morse, a Salem Republican.
The $1.5 million grant program, administered by the Department of Safety, would pay overtime costs and dedicate an estimated additional eight law enforcement officers per day to the drug problem. The funding would also cover overtime costs and supplies at the state forensic lab, which tests drug samples.
Safety Commissioner John Barthelmes said the funding is part of a “well-thought out strategy.”
“These extra dollars would have made a huge difference,” he said. “Law enforcement is overwhelmed.”
(Allie Morris can be reached at 369-3307, amorris@cmonitor.com or on Twitter @amorrisNH.)