The Senate approved legislation allowing the public to sit in on collective bargaining negotiations with public unions, in a 12-11 vote Wednesday to send the proposal to the House.
The bill, Senate Bill 420, would remove language exempting any negotiations from the right-to-know law, which otherwise requires that public bodies keep their meetings open. Under the proposed change, only “strategy sessions” held by a single party would qualify as exempt.
Supporters have pointed to the law as a boost to transparency for voters. But a broad coalition of interest groups – from public unions to select board members to the state Municipal Association – have opposed the idea, saying it would hamper the ability of parties to effectively negotiate.
Speaking on the floor, Sen. Dan Feltes, D-Concord, made the point, arguing that allowing in audiences would turn the discussions into an unproductive spectacle.
“To have the public present during actual negotiations, that raises a whole host of issues,” he said.
But Sen. Harold French, R-Franklin, who voted for the bill, said it was a matter of public access. Numerous constituents had called him, he said, all pressing for the measure to provide transparency.
Many of the callers felt that they the information they get on negotiations is insufficient, French said. Negotiations with teachers’ and police unions are made behind closed doors and the public gets to decide on the contract only when everything is all but finalized, French argued.
“They’d like to know before the contracts are made rather than after the contracts are made,” he said.
The law, if passed, would have broad implications for annual negotiations at both the local and state level. Last year, an impasse between Gov. Chris Sununu and several state workers’ unions led to a standstill and a lack of a contract; an independent fact-finding report is expected this month.
Despite the Senate vote that took some lobbyists by surprise, the proposal’s future is cloudy. A similar bill, House Bill 1344, was killed in the House by voice vote this month after the New Hampshire Municipal Association vigorously lobbied against it and urged local officials to call their representatives.
(Ethan DeWitt can be reached at edewitt@cmonitor.com, or on Twitter at @edewittNH.)