Gov. Chris Sununu stormed to re-election this year, sailing by with high approval ratings and economic goodwill. But his legislative track record proved rockier. For Sununu, it was an agenda framed by several crucial victories and a small cluster of high-profile defeats.
Here’s a tour of what went well, and not so well, for the governor this year.
The year starts with partisanship. On Jan. 3, the state Senate passes House Bill 372, which would amend the definitions of “domicile” and “residence” to make voting an act of declaring residency in New Hampshire. Sununu does not take a position on it, but he makes his general position known to a student activist in an undercover video in which he claims to “hate it.”
Republicans call it a way to strengthen elections; voting rights activists say it will deter student voting.
And with a comfortable margin, 184-162, the House passes the first round of a school choice “voucher” bill allowing some parents to use state funds toward private education.
A bill to establish a state-run paid family leave program clears its first major hurdle in the House, passing 186-164 before moving to another standing committee.
But a ban on “bump stock” firearm accessories – first proposed in the wake of a mass shooting in Las Vegas and heightened after a Feb. 14 shooting in Parkland, Fla. – falls in the Senate on party lines, after Republicans argue it is confusing and unnecessary.
Instead, the governor announces a school safety task force to look at safety procedures in schools, while avoiding the topic of firearms.
The governor nominates Judge Robert Lynn to be state Supreme Court Justice. And Eversource’s Northern Pass project is rejected by the Site Evaluation Committee, a blow to Eversource and to the governor, who had championed it.
Meanwhile, Sununu lends his face and political support to a major initiative: Marsy’s Law, which would enshrine victims’ rights in the New Hampshire constitution on a similar footing with defendants’ rights.
The governor takes a strong position against a bill to repeal the state’s death penalty, facing a majority support for the bill in the Senate. He puts his weight behind a bill to reduce the real estate transfer tax for first-time homeowners.
And his recovery-friendly workplace initiative, a program to provide training and resources to companies interested in hiring people in recovery for substance abuse, takes after another state in the model: Rhode Island.
In a 14-10, party-line vote, the Senate kills the paid-family leave legislation, citing solvency concerns with the bill’s opt-out insurance model. Those concerns had been shared and voiced by Sununu, who sent a public letter to the Senate urging defeat of the bill.
After a nine-month impasse, the governor announces a provisional agreement with all four public sector unions, meeting them in the middle with half the pay increase they had pressed for.
Sununu secures a $50 million commitment from the New Hampshire Hospital Association to help backfill the state’s drug and alcohol fund, underfunded in recent years, and use the existing money in that fund to pay the state’s share of Medicaid expansion without using taxpayer dollars. The announcement wards off a major threat to New Hampshire’s Medicaid expansion law, which had faced legal uncertainty after the Trump administration found the payment structure under the Hassan administration likely illegal.
But the governor receives a less-desired result from the Marsy’s Law bill, which goes down in flames on the House floor, 284-51, after bipartisan worries it could have unintended consequences for the justice system.
In the Senate, the death penalty repeal bill passes onto the governor’s desk – the first time since 2000 – and like his predecessor Gov. Jeanne Shaheen, Sununu makes clear his intention to veto.
And former state senator Molly Kelly jumps into the ring, announcing her long-awaited candidacy for governor of New Hampshire.
A Republican-backed push to add a work requirement to its Medicaid expansion program finally receives approval from the Trump administration – years after a similar effort was rebuffed by the Obama administration. Sununu, a proponent who negotiated the language on trips to Washington, welcomes the news.
The Legislature passes an anti-discrimination bill for transgender people, an effort also welcomed by Sununu. And a sister bill to the voting residency bill HB 372, House Bill 1264, passes the House and Senate on party lines and heads to Sununu’s desk, posing a political quagmire for a governor who had at one time voiced opposition.
Rather than sign it, Sununu passes the bill to the state Supreme Court for an advisory opinion on its constitutionality.
And with a windfall $150 million in unbudgeted funds, the Legislature passes a host of one-time spending initiatives, from road repairs to state employee contract raises, to mental health and substance abuse programs, to key legal settlement with the state’s hospitals – all of it a boost to Sununu.
But he suffers a major defeat when the House strikes down a revived version of the “school voucher” bill by five votes, killing its chances for the rest of the year.
Sununu signs the Medicaid expansion bill. He vetoes the death penalty repeal bill. He transitions into election-mode, moving staff over to his re-election campaign.
On June 21, the U.S. Supreme Court deals a death blow to New Hampshire’s way of life. Maybe. In the 5-4 “Wayfair” decision, the court determines that states can collect sales taxes from New Hampshire businesses that sell to their residents. Sununu vows to find a legislative fix to protect the state’s tax advantage, calling for a special session and assembling a task force.
The governor also issues a pair of charged vetoes on energy bills: one intended to expand solar projects and the other intended to prop up the state’s struggling biomass industry. Both bills are vetoed with ratepayers in mind, the governor says; both open criticisms from green energy representatives.
Following a state Supreme Court advisory opinion in which three of the five judges found that law constitutional, Sununu signs HB 1264, the voter residency bill, reversing course on his stance and supercharging praise and criticism in the gubernatorial race.
Then, on July 25, a bill to address the Wayfair sales tax decision, cobbled together by legislators and the governor’s office, falls to its doom in the House. Representatives cite reservations with the bill, calling it a welcome mat for more out of state taxation. Sununu is sharply criticized for being out of town on a fundraising trip in Aspen, Colo.
Months after Congress appropriates $46 million to help the Granite State combat the opioid crisis, Sununu and his Health and Human Services unveil their vision for the money – the hub and spoke model. The governor says his administration will create a network of nine hubs across the state to centralize services for those with substance use disorder, and update the state’s 211 hotline to provide 24/7 integration with those hubs. The plan, modeled after Vermont, is applauded by treatment advocates.
Sununu also orders a “Save our Summers” commission to examine mandating a state-wide school start date after Labor Day, bringing together lawmakers, educators and representatives of the recreation industry.
Molly Kelly wins the Democratic primary and doubles down on her focus on Sununu, after months of largely ignoring her Democratic opponent Steve Marchand.
Sununu’s veto of the biomass energy bill is overturned by the Republican Legislature, restoring subsidies to the industry after several biomass plants had ceased operations. But lawmakers uphold his veto of the bill expanding solar power net metering.
The gubernatorial race heats up, with Kelly and Sununu clashing over the business tax cuts, school funding formula and gun laws. Of particular focus: paid family and medical leave. Kelly castigates Sununu for helping kill the House-passed bill in the Senate and for a gaffe in which he called the policy a “vacation.” Sununu parries with the stance that the bill was unsustainable and floats a blueprint of a plan that would include private insurers.
Defying a Democratic wave, Sununu holds onto his seat handily, defeating Kelly with 52 percent of the vote to Kelly’s 45. But shifting winds flip the Senate and House decisively to Democratic control, posing new challenges for the Republican. Sununu and incoming House and Senate leaders downplay differences and vow to find common ground, but cracks quickly develop over paid family leave, taxes and constitutional carry.
After a bruising campaign, Bill Gardner is re-elected Secretary of State for the 22nd time, narrowly defeating challenger Colin van Ostern with Sununu and other Republicans’ support.
The Trump administration approves final language for New Hampshire Medicaid expansion work requirement, but adds new requirements that advocates say would make the law more onerous. Democrats and Republicans on the joint rules committee vote to oppose the new language, but Sununu and his health and human services department say they will enact it in the New Year.
And Sununu takes a stand against an effort by some New Hampshire Republicans to change party bylaws to allow the party to endorse and financially support incumbent President Donald Trump should he face a primary challenge, despite years of neutrality.
At a New Hampshire Public Radio debate in October, Sununu responded to a moderator’s question about some of his legislative failures with characteristic cheer. “You are complaining because we didn’t have a 100 percent success rate?” he said. The governor has a litany of funding wins, from DCYF to mental health, to roads and bridges.
But after a year in which some legislators in his own party have grumbled about the governor’s lack of persistent outreach – on school vouchers, retail sales tax protection and Marsy’s law – Sununu appears to have room to improve.
Facing strong opposition in both chambers Jan. 2, he may need it.