Latest news with #HouseBill468
Yahoo
13-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
From ivermectin to armed drones, New Hampshire lawmakers take action on a flurry of bills
New Hampshire lawmakers took final action on several bills on Thursday. Here, House members meet during a session in March. (Photo by William Skipworth/New Hampshire Bulletin) As New Hampshire's 2025 legislative session nears its end, state lawmakers are working to get some of the remaining pieces of legislation across the finish line — or kill them entirely. The New Hampshire House and Senate convened Thursday to review the bills, which required another vote because they were amended later in the legislative process. These are bills that one chamber approved before the other chamber added an amendment and passed a different version. Now, the chamber where the bill originated must review those amendments to decide whether they agree. Lawmakers had three options. They could accepted the amendment, advancing the bill to Gov. Kelly Ayotte; kill the bill outright, if they disliked the amendment; or aim to hash out their differences by creating a committee of conference, which includes lawmakers from both chambers. Here's a look at some of those votes. In many cases, the chambers simply agreed with the new amendments and decided to approve the bill. These bills will now be reviewed by Ayotte, who will have the option of signing them into law or vetoing them. She could also let them become law without her signature. Here are some of the noteworthy bills from Thursday headed to the governor's desk: AI child pornography: The Senate approved Senate Bill 300 in March, which makes it a felony to create child pornography — or any 'intimate visual representation' of a 'child's intimate parts' — using artificial intelligence or any other technology. It is already illegal to create child pornography using a camera. The House amended the bill to specify that, for it to be a felony, the perpetrator must be creating it 'for the purpose of sexual gratification or sexual arousal.' The Senate agreed Thursday. Drones and high speeds: House Bill 468 originally sought to make it illegal to use a drone in a manner that interferes with law enforcement, emergency response, or human-occupied airplanes or airports. The bill would also make it illegal for civilians to equip drones with weapons or fly them into restricted airspaces. The House approved the bill in February, but the Senate subsequently added an amendment that would make punishments for speeding more severe if the perpetrator drives over 100 mph. The bill would require fines of at least $750 on the first offense and $1,000 for subsequent offenses, and it would temporarily revoke the perpetrator's license. Local tax caps: The House approved House Bill 200 in March, legislation that makes it harder to override a local tax cap. Currently, if voters want to impose a tax cap on their local elected officials — forbidding them from raising taxes above a certain point — they must have a 60% supermajority of votes in favor of the tax cap. If they want to override the tax cap and allow their elected officials to raise taxes above the established threshold, they need only a simple majority. This bill seeks to change that and require a supermajority to override the tax cap as well. When the Senate's turn to consider the bill came, it amended the bill to remove a provision forbidding tax cap override votes from being put on the same ballot used to elect local officials. The House concurred Thursday. Crime reports: House Bill 218 seeks to require police to provide crime reports to the victim for free within 7 days if requested. The House approved it in March. The Senate amended the bill to specify the procedures for how the police should inform victims of their rights to receive crime reports. The House agreed with that amendment Thursday. Both chambers outright rejected several bills over their new amendments and decided against a committee of conference. Here are some of them: Medicaid … and ivermectin: Senate Bill 119 was originally proposed as a Medicaid efficiency program. The bill would've allowed Medicaid to purchase name-brand drugs when they are cheaper than generics, something it has long been prohibited from doing because historically name brands are more expensive. Recent market developments have resulted in some name-brand drugs being cheaper than their generic counterparts, so lawmakers introduced SB 119 to change that and save the state money. The Senate approved it in March. However, when the House took up the bill, a group of Republicans added a provision that would turn ivermectin — the antiparasitic drug that gained notoriety when it was erroneously touted as an effective COVID-19 treatment — into an over-the-counter drug that doesn't require a doctor's prescription. The Senate killed the amended bill Thursday. Horse racing … and vaccines: Senate Bill 60 was introduced to make online horse betting legal. Horse racing is already legal in New Hampshire, but lawmakers in support of this bill said the laws needed to be modernized to account for new digital advancements in gambling and to allow the state lottery commission to properly regulate it. The bill also would've allowed gamblers to deposit money into accounts before they place a bet, rather than paying each individual bet. However, when the House approved it, they added unrelated provisions that would take away the state health commissioner's ability to require that children receive certain vaccines. These provisions were taken from a different bill, House Bill 357, that was approved by the House but rejected by the Senate. The Senate rejected this Thursday. Migrant driver's licenses: The Senate rejected the House's amended version of Senate Bill 13 Thursday. The bill would've made out-of-state driver's licenses issued to immigrants who lack proper documentation invalid in New Hampshire. The Senate approved it in January, but when the House considered it months later, lawmakers added a provision that would've barred state employees from renewing driver's licenses for people with pending asylum claims, regardless of whether they have a previous or current work authorization in the country. The Senate voted this down Thursday and killed the bill.
Yahoo
03-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Allegations of a 'turf war' arise in debate over regulating kratom in NC
A laptop displays the website of an online kratom retailer. (Photo: Alexander Castro/Rhode Island Current) North Carolina legislators are once again looking to put restrictions on kratom, which is currently unregulated in the state. The House Regulatory Reform Committee on Tuesday advanced House Bill 468, which would require retailers to obtain licenses to sell kratom and prohibit sales to or purchases by people younger than 21. The bill now heads to the House Finance Committee. According to the federal Drug Enforcement Agency, kratom is a stimulant at low doses and a sedative at high doses. It is derived from a southeast Asian tree leaf and sold in the United States as tea, powered in capsules, or as liquid. The DEA sought to temporarily ban kratom in 2016, but backed off after a public outcry. That year, North Carolina legislators sought in separate bills to ban kratom or limit sales to people over age 18. Neither of those bills became law. Last session, a proposal to regulate kratom died in the battle between the state House and Senate over legalizing medical marijuana. Kratom has been a factor in hundreds of fatal overdoses since 2020, according to the Washington Post and the Tamp Bay Times. A handful of states have banned it. The committee debate Tuesday centered on provisions in the bill that would ban synthetic versions of the compounds that produce psychoactive effects. The argument centered on the compound known as 7-OH. 'At the time, we choose not to have any synthetic products on the market in North Carolina,' said Rep. Jeff McNeely (R-Iredell), the bill's sponsor. Isaac Montanya, CEO of 7-OH producer Charlotte Extraction Labs, said the bill inserted itself into a turf war. He called its prohibition on synthetics 'a sly way to regulate 7-OH out of the market.' His company manufactures an ethical product, Montanya said. Jeff Smith, national policy director for Holistic Alternative Recovery Trust, told the committee that people use 7-OH to ease opioid withdrawal. 'Banning 7-OH would turn patients into criminals,' he said. Sheldon Bradshaw, a former chief counsel with the FDA representing the industry group Botanicals for Better Health and Wellness, called 7-OH 'dangerous' and deceptively marketed. 'It has no business being on store shelves and in products that are being labeled as natural kratom and marketed as herbal supplements,' he said. McNeely said the ban on synthetics addresses the part of the plant that's going to be the most abused. 'We should have had kratom and cannabis regulated two years ago if not four years ago,' he said. 'Because it's been unregulated, we've allowed things to happen — good, bad, indifferent.'
