New Hampshire State Lawmaker Argues for Remote Session Open

(TNS) — The top House Democrat urged the presumptive speaker of the New Hampshire House of Representatives to conduct the 2021 legislative session remotely until the public health threat from COVID-19 lessens.

House Democratic Leader  Renny Cushing  of Hampton made the plea on Friday after House Republicans voted in a private caucus to endorse Rep.  Sherman Packard , R- Londonderry, to replace House Speaker  Dick Hinch , R- Merrimack, who contracted COVID-19 and died eight days after taking the gavel.

The move makes it a certainty Packard will be elected speaker in early January.

"With a body of 400 members, it is essential that we figure out how to meet remotely beginning on Jan. 6. No legislator should have to put their life at risk to fulfill their duties," Cushing said.

Gov.  Chris Sununu  said he has consulted with legislative leaders but is letting them set all the ground rules for their own meetings.

During his weekly briefing last Thursday, Sununu said accommodations should be made for any legislator or staff member who does not feel comfortable attending a session or committee meeting in person.

"They need to make provisions if they are going to have hearings and sessions that they allow that process to take place remotely as well as in person for those who don't feel comfortable attending in that form they have set up," Sununu said.

Packard said he's been huddling with House leaders in both parties as well as state Health and Human Services experts.

"We have some significant challenges ahead of us. We need to get the people's work done in the midst of a public health emergency. It won't be easy, but I believe we can meet our goals and deadlines while putting health and safety first," Packard said in a statement Friday.

"Let's buckle down. Let's get to work. Let us lead by example. Let's conquer these challenges together.'"

Packard has said he was considering having the first session of the House take place in one of the parking lots at the University of New Hampshire next to the Hamel Recreation Center in Durham.

The technology exists for members sitting in their cars to vote and monitor the session in real time, Packard has said.

After the pandemic hit, Sununu gave the Legislature $150,000 for virus-related expenses, including the $20,000 purchase of handheld devices that enable House members to vote while socially distanced from colleagues.

During a remote meeting of the House Rules Committee last week, Packard and the House GOP members resisted making changes to give the next speaker unilateral authority to make adjustments on the fly to prevent the spread of the virus.

The panel did approve a change that permits the speaker to adjust deadlines and combine bills and hearings to "prevent the spread" of COVID-19.

"I see this as accommodating the power of the speaker and the House leadership," said Rep.  Timothy Smith , D- Manchester, closing on a humorous note.

"We don't know what kind of disasters are going to come up in the future — maybe an asteroid falls from space, who the hell knows."

Packard urged his colleagues to trust him to come up with a format that will keep everyone safe.

"This is something that Speaker (Stephen)  Shurtleff , myself and former Speaker Hinch had been looking at in the Legislative Facilities Committee," Packard had said.

"We are still in the process of trying to figure it all out." No word on spreadSununu said he didn't know precisely how many legislators and staff had contracted the virus and that information should remain private.

"I don't get a running tally of how many legislators or staff get COVID. We know that some do," Sununu said.

After a Nov. 20 caucus of House Republicans in Manchester, four members came down with COVID-19, Sununu said previously.

Two weeks ago, Sununu revealed one of his staffers had tested positive. The governor did not have to go into quarantine because he was not in close contact with the employee.

After House Speaker Pro Tem  Kimberly Rice , R- Hudson, announced last weekend that she had contracted the illness, legislative administrators set up two sites for lawmakers and staff to be tested.

"I couldn't tell you how many Republicans or Democrats have tested and been positive. A couple of staffers, I know them personally, have been infected by COVID," Sununu said.

"It is private information and just because they work in a certain building doesn't mean they give up their personal privacy."

(c)2020 The New Hampshire Union Leader (Manchester, N.H.). Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.