This week, New Hampshire lawmakers will be dealing with legislation involving workforce housing, clean energy, employment and, yes, more bills about mandated COVID health measures.
On Tuesday morning, expect a lot of opposition at the Senate Commerce Committee’s hearing on Senate Bill 210, which would require a majority vote of all residents in order to form a cooperative to buy their manufactured housing park. This would torpedo such sales, say those who facilitate them, since it is very difficult to get a majority to attend meetings in the early stages of the process. Tenant cooperatives are one of the ways to keep this affordable housing option alive, they argue.
Also on Tuesday, the Senate Commerce Committee will hold a hearing on SB 203, Manchester Democratic Sen. Donna Soucy’s perennial bill on the minimum wage, raising it to $15 an hour.
The House Municipal and County Government Committee will hold hearings on more housing bills. HB 1087 would limit the authority of local land use planning boards relating to ordinances governing lot sizes. HB 1098 would limit the number of parking spaces required per occupied dwelling. And HB 1122 would allow municipalities to collect and resell construction and demolition debris, a way to possibly lower construction costs.
The House Municipal and County Government Committee will hold hearings on several renewable energy bills dealing with net meeting. HB 1595 would increase the net energy metering limits for individual and business customers. HB 1629 would reduce reimbursement for those who net meter by defining default service as only the electrical energy portion of a bill; And HB1248 would also make net metering more difficult by requiring certain customer-generators to provide replacement power when they cannot meet their grid-export obligations. There is also HB 1599, which would lower net metering reimbursements to larger generators.
Also, the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee will hear two bills, SB 268 and SB 440, which would ease the approval of offshore wind energy projects.
And the House Labor Committee will continue a public hearing on HB 1363, which would make noncompete agreements unenforceable in areas with labor shortages. Also, HB 1514, which would require employers pay for employees unused vacation days.
In addition, the committee will hold hearings on HB 1143, which would require an employer’s pay severance to workers who are let go because they refuse to get vaccinated against Covid, and HB 1410, which would allow a worker to sue his company over alleged side effects from vaccine should the employer mandate one as a work requirement.
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