Over 1300 bills in NH Legislature – a look at bills on housing, energy, data privacy

NH Business: Over 1300 bills in NH Legislature – a look at bills on housing, energy, data privacy, environment, telecom

Fred Kocher sits down with Michael Skelton, the President and CEO of the Business & Industry Association of NH, to walk through legislative proposals that could impact businesses as well as many of us

BUSINESS. I’M FRED KOCHER. THERE ARE OVER 1300 BILLS IN THIS NEW HAMPSHIRE LEGISLATURE. EVERYTHING FROM HOUSING TO DATA PRIVACY TO THE PRODUCTION OF GRAY SQUIRRELS. WE’RE NOT GOING TO TALK ABOUT THAT ONE. BUT WITH ME TO WALK THROUGH LEGISLATIVE PROPOSALS THAT COULD IMPACT BUSINESSES AS WELL AS MANY OF US IS MIKE SKELTON, PRESIDENT AND CEO OF THE BUSINESS AND INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. WELCOME. NICE TO HAVE YOU, MICHAEL, IN THE STUDIO. ALWAYS GLAD TO BE HERE. NOW, AS YOU KNOW, THE SHORTAGE OF AFFORDABLE HOUSING IS JUST ABOUT ON EVERYBODY’S LIST. AS A SOMETHING THAT NEEDS SOLUTIONS. AND WE’VE GOT A BILL THAT DOES THAT. A COUPLE OF BILLS ACTUALLY. AND LET’S GO TO THE HOUSING TAX CREDITS PURCHASED BY EMPLOYERS TO OFFSET BUSINESS PROFITS TAX AND BUSINESS ENTERPRISE TAX LIABILITY, WITH THE CREDITS BEING USED FOR CONVERTING OLD MILLS, WAREHOUSES AND OTHER UNDERUSED BUILDINGS INTO HOUSING. WHAT’S SAY YOU. WELL, I THINK THIS IS A REALLY GOOD IDEA, SOMETHING THAT WE’RE SUPPORTIVE OF. THIS IS ONE OF MANY HOUSING BILLS IN THIS SESSION. AS YOU NOTED, WE ARE FACING A HOUSING SUPPLY CRISIS IN NEW HAMPSHIRE. AND IT’S IMPACTING OUR WORKFORCE AND OUR ABILITY TO GROW OUR ECONOMY. SO MEASURES LIKE THIS ARE PART OF AN ALL OF THE ABOVE STRATEGY. WE NEED TO BUILD MORE APARTMENTS, MORE CONDOS AND MORE SINGLE FAMILY HOMES. THAT’S GOING TO HELP US GROW OUR ECONOMY. AND YOU SAID AS A BOATLOAD OF HOUSING BILLS IN THIS SESSION, ABSOLUTELY. YEAH. THIS IS ONE OF DOZENS OF BILLS LOOKING TO INCREASE HOUSING SUPPLY. AND NOT ONE ALONE IS GOING TO SOLVE THE PROBLEM. SO WE REALLY NEED MULTIPLE SOLUTIONS LIKE THIS. NOW HERE’S A BILL THAT YOU SAY WOULD RESTRICT THE EXPANSION OF WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS IN NEW HAMPSHIRE. HOUSE BILL 1487 COMMUNICATIONS ANTENNAS MUST BE PLACED AT LEAST 1640FT FROM RESIDENTIALLY ZONED AREAS. SCHOOLS, PARKS, PLAYGROUNDS, ETC., TO PROTECT AGAINST HEALTH EFFECTS CAUSED BY RADIO FREQUENCY WAVES. UM, WHAT ABOUT THAT? IS THERE A PROBLEM HERE? I DON’T THINK THERE’S A PROBLEM HERE. AND YOU KNOW, THIS FALLS INTO THE CATEGORY OF WHAT WE SEE AS UNNECESSARY REGULATIONS THAT CAN IMPACT OUR BUSINESS CLIMATE. YOU KNOW, OUR JOB AT THE CIA AS STATEWIDE CHAMBER IS TO MAKE SURE OUR STATE’S BUSINESS CLIMATE IS HEALTHY AND PROSPEROUS AND A LEADING STATE FOR BUSINESS. AND ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT THINGS WE CAN DO IN THAT REGARD IS MAKE SURE THAT WE DON’T HAVE BURDENSOME REGULATIONS. AND THIS IS SOMETHING WHERE I THINK THERE’S WELL-INTENTIONED EFFORTS TO MAKE SURE THAT WE’RE SAFE. BUT THERE IS NO DOCUMENTED PROOF THAT THERE’S RISKS ASSOCIATED WITH THESE TYPES OF ISSUES. AND THIS WOULD REALLY ADD SOME COMPLEXITY AND DIFFICULTY TO WHAT WE NEED TO DO TO MAKE SURE OUR INFRASTRUCTURE SYSTEM SUPPORTS ECONOMIC GROWTH. NOW, DATA, DATA PRIVACY, SOMETHING THAT WE’RE ALL CONCERNED ABOUT THESE DAYS. AND HERE ARE TWO BILLS. UH, THE CONFIDENTIALITY CONFIDENTIALITY OF MEDICAL RECORDS, ALL MEDICAL INFORMATION IN POSSESSION OF A HEALTH CARE PROVIDER IS ALSO THE PROPERTY OF THE PATIENT AND CAN BE ACCESSED BY THE PATIENT AND ALSO THE PATIENT. PROTECTION OF PERSONAL INFORMATION ON DRIVER’S LICENSES. NOW, THESE ARE TWO BILLS, MICHAEL, THAT YOU’RE IN SUPPORT OF. WE’RE CONCERNED ABOUT PRIVACY. YEAH. AND SO THIS IS WHEN IT COMES TO DATA PRIVACY. THE DETAILS MATTER I THINK WE ALL AGREE THAT THE PRIVACY OF CONSUMER DATA SHOULD BE PROTECTED. BUT HOW THE LEGISLATURE GOES ABOUT THAT IS REALLY IMPORTANT TO ENSURING THAT THE BUSINESSES THAT RELY ON HAVING ACCESS TO THIS INFORMATION ARE ABLE TO PROVIDE CONSUMERS WITH THE SERVICES THAT THEY WANT. SO WE NEED TO TREAD CAREFULLY WHEN MOVING FORWARD ON THESE. AND THERE USUALLY IS SOME ROOM FOR COMPROMISE AND THE ABILITY TO MAKE SURE THAT WHAT THE LEGISLATURE’S INTENT IS MATCHES WHAT WE NEED TO DO TO ALLOW COMMERCE TO CONTINUE TO OPERATE. OKAY, NOW YOU SAY YOUR BILL SAYS ENERGY PROJECTS IN NEW HAMPSHIRE ARE BEING DELAYED IN THIS PARTICULAR COMMITTEE? UH, SO TO ATTRACT INVESTMENTS FOR MODERNIZING AGING INFRASTRUCTURE BY REDUCING THE EVALUATION CITED EVALUATION COMMITTEE MEMBERS FROM 9 TO 5 PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION THREE, DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY ONE AND THE PUBLIC ONE. WHAT’S GOING ON HERE? WELL, THIS HAS BEEN A A LONGTIME EFFORT TO LOOK AT HOW WE PERMIT AND CITE ENERGY INFRASTRUCTURE IN NEW HAMPSHIRE AND ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT THINGS WE CAN DO TO LOWER ENERGY COSTS IS MAKE IT EASIER TO BUILD STUFF IN NEW HAMPSHIRE. IT SOUNDS SIMPLE, BUT IT’S ACTUALLY PRETTY COMPLEX. THE THE SITE EVALUATION COMMITTEE IS THE KEY BODY THAT WE HAVE HERE. WE NEED TO MAKE IT MORE EFFECTIVE, MORE TIMELY, MORE ABILITY TO ASSESS THIS INFRASTRUCTURE AND GET SHOVELS IN THE GROUND MORE QUICKLY. I THINK THIS EFFORT, THERE HAVE BEEN DELAYS AND DECISIONS. ABSOLUTELY AND VERY QUICKLY ON THE ENVIRONMENT RESTRICTING USE OF POLYFLUOROALKYL ALKYL AND I ACTUALLY PRONOUNCED IT, WHICH ARE SUBSTANCES OF PFAS SUBSTANCE IS A GROUP OF SYNTHETIC CHEMICALS USED IN CERTAIN CONSUMER PRODUCTS, SUCH AS PACKAGING AND FABRICS. YEAH. AND THIS IS AN IMPORTANT ISSUE THAT I KNOW MANY FOLKS ARE INTERESTED IN CONCERNED ABOUT. IT’S BEEN IN THE NEWS HERE IN NEW HAMPSHIRE AND MANY OTHER STATES LATELY. AND IT’S SOMETHING THAT, AGAIN, WE NEED TO TREAD CAREFULLY IN TERMS OF HOW WE GO ABOUT THIS, BECAUSE THESE SUBSTANCES ARE USED IN DOZENS AND DOZENS, HUNDREDS OF PRODUCTS. ALMOST EVERYTHING WE USE ON A DAILY BASIS. AND WE HAVE TO STRIKE THE RIGHT BALANCE OF MAKING SURE THAT WE’RE ACTUALLY USING SCIENCE BASED REGULATIONS TO PROTECT INDIVIDUALS, WHILE ALSO PROTECTING CONSUMERS. AND I JUST DON’T KNOW, THE ENVIRONMENTAL DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICES IS INVESTIGATING THOSE SUBSTANCES IN NEW HAMPSHIRE, IN MANY PARTS OF THE STATE. ABSOLUTELY. AND SO WE KNOW THAT MICHAEL SKELTON, PRESIDENT AND CEO OF THE BUSINESS AND INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION OF NEW HAMPSHIRE, THANK YOU. THANKS, FRED. AND IF YOU MISSED PART OF THIS BRIEFING ON POSSIBLE LEGISLATION AT THE STATE HOUSE OR BILL BILLS THAT ARE ALREADY GOING THROUGH THE PROCESS, YOU

NH Business: Over 1300 bills in NH Legislature – a look at bills on housing, energy, data privacy, environment, telecom

There are over 1,300 bills in this New Hampshire Legislature from housing to data privacy and much more.We continue to face a housing crisis here in the Granite State and it is impacting our work force and our ability to grow our economy. One bill, out of dozens, Housing Bill SB 364, is put in place as one strategy to build more apartments, condos and single-family homes; all in part to help us grow the economy. There is not one bill alone that will help solve the housing crisis problems, as multiple solutions are needed in order to achieve this.On this segment of New Hampshire’s Business, Fred Kocher sits down with Michael Skelton, the President and CEO of the Business & Industry Association of NH, to walk through legislative proposals that could impact businesses as well as many of us.

MANCHESTER, N.H. —

There are over 1,300 bills in this New Hampshire Legislature from housing to data privacy and much more.

We continue to face a housing crisis here in the Granite State and it is impacting our work force and our ability to grow our economy.

One bill, out of dozens, Housing Bill SB 364, is put in place as one strategy to build more apartments, condos and single-family homes; all in part to help us grow the economy.

There is not one bill alone that will help solve the housing crisis problems, as multiple solutions are needed in order to achieve this.

On this segment of New Hampshire’s Business, Fred Kocher sits down with Michael Skelton, the President and CEO of the Business & Industry Association of NH, to walk through legislative proposals that could impact businesses as well as many of us.

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