Senate roundup: Assisted suicide bill sidelined
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May 16—CONCORD — A bid for New Hampshire to join Vermont and nine other states in legalizing assisted suicide went down to defeat Thursday in the state Senate.
The 17-7 vote to send HB 1283 to interim study requires supporters to start all over with a new bill in 2025.
The House had narrowly endorsed the legislation to permit those over 18 to obtain and take life-ending medications if they have been diagnosed with a terminal disease and a life expectancy of six months.
Senate Majority Whip Regina Birdsell, R-Hampstead, said what most concerned her was that, like only Vermont and Oregon, the bill would permit adults from out of state to come here to end their lives.
"This bill, because it has no residency requirement, would make our state a magnet for a much more tragic purpose," Birdsell said.
Sen. Keith Murphy, R-Manchester, said the issue was the most difficult one he dealt with the entire year, but he decided to support it because his aunt, who had terminal cancer, shot herself to death in her home rather than continuing to suffer.
"I can't bring myself to vote no on this," said Murphy, the only Senate Republican to support it.
Democrats Donna Soucy and Lou D'Allesandro of Manchester and Shannon Chandley of Amherst joined the other Republican senators in voting to sideline this measure.
Voter ID mandate stiffened
The Senate voted, 12-11, to initially endorse a House-passed bill that would remove all exemptions and require someone to present an identification and proof of citizenship in order to vote in elections (HB 1569).
Senate Majority Leader Sharon Carson, R-Londonderry, joined all Senate Democrats who had argued the bill would be unconstitutional and deny new residents to this country the right to vote unless they had their birth certificate or passport in their possession.
In 2022, 2,600 voters signed affidavits to vote because they did not have proper documentation.
"People don't walk around with a birth certificate or passport in their pocket," said Sen. Rebecca Perkins Kwoka, D-Portsmouth.
The Senate referred the bill to its Finance Committee, and Chairman Sen. James Gray, R-Rochester, said in the coming weeks he will offer a "kinder and gentler" version without offering any details.
Bail reform clears hurdle
The Senate endorsed, 22-1, and sent to Finance its bail reform measure (HB 318) that would require violent offenders to go before a judge prior to being released pending trial.
Much of the debate was over the House-passed plan to hire 10 court magistrates to handle bail hearings on nights and weekends rather than full-time judges.
Carson said the idea may have merit but it would cost at least $1.6 million a year and should only be considered when the next two-year state budget is put together in the spring of 2025.
"It would not be wise to create a whole new system to deal with bail when there is no telling what it would cost," Carson said.
