By PAULA TRACY, InDepthNH.org

CONCORD - Republican Gov. Kelly Ayotte turned down one of two bathroom-related measures on Friday while the second has not arrived at her office. She rejected several additional proposals and approved 54 bills.

She vetoed Senate Bill 552, which would have allowed classification of individuals based on biological sex in specific situations. The measure cleared the Senate along party lines by a 16-8 vote and passed the House with Republican support on a 179-159 tally.

The governor has rejected comparable legislation previously.

Ayotte stated in her veto message, "I have continued to ask the Legislature to address this issue in a thoughtful, narrow way while protecting the privacy, safety, and rights of all Granite Staters. Unfortunately, there is minimal difference between this bill, the bill I vetoed earlier this year, the one I vetoed last year, and the one vetoed in 2024 by Governor Sununu. Trying the same thing again is not going to get a different result. For this reason, I have vetoed Senate Bill 552."

The Kent Street Coalition, a volunteer grassroots progressive advocacy group, urged its supporters to contact the governor's office this week to request a veto.

"Trans people deserve to be treated with dignity and respect and should be allowed to participate fully in public life," the group's website states.

On Wednesday, bill supporters gathered outside the women's bathroom on the second floor of the State House just before the Executive Council meeting to advocate the opposite position.

In a Friday opinion piece in the New Hampshire Union Leader, state Rep. Erica Layon, R-Derry, Bronwyn Sims of Nelson, state chapter leader of the Independent Women's Network, and Shanun Carey, a House candidate from Goffstown, noted that the bill does not mandate every school, business, or organization to designate spaces based on biological sex but "simply restores the ability to do so when appropriate...asking that (private) spaces remain available is not discrimination," the three wrote. "It is an acknowledgement that biological differences matter in certain contexts," such as a locker room.

The primary sponsor was state Sen. Kevin Avard, R-Nashua, along with co-sponsors Sen. Tim Lang, R-Sanbornton, and Sen. Regina Birdsell, R-Hampstead.

A similar measure, House Bill 1442, passed both chambers on a concurrence vote with the Senate approving it 15-8 without Democratic backing and the House passing it 181-164. It has not yet reached Ayotte's desk.

SENATE BILL 552 "provides a definition for 'biological sex' and provides that certain designations by biological sex do not constitute unlawful discrimination."

Opponents argued it carved out an exception and weakened the state's human rights law against discrimination in RSA 354-A:1.

House Minority Leader Alexis Simpson, D-Exeter, said of the SB 552 veto: "This is a victory for the transgender community and the many advocates who spoke out against rolling back protections that have been part of New Hampshire law since 2018. House Democrats will vote to uphold the veto when we take it up this fall and ensure those protections remain in place."

Megan Tuttle, President of NEA-New Hampshire, released the following statement in response to Ayotte signing HB 1817. "New Hampshire lawmakers should be focused on supporting public schools, which are attended by nearly 90% of students, not taking resources away from them.

"HB 1817 opens the door to voucher double dipping. Local public schools that lose state aid for students who receive a voucher will now be required to allow those same students to enroll in classes at the local public school, with no requirement that they receive reimbursement. Let us be clear - this is yet another expansion of New Hampshire's unaccountable voucher scheme. Enough is enough," Tuttle said.

The Governor vetoed the following bills:

HB 1097 - Requiring legislative approval of the amendment or permanent removal of historical markers

HB 1369 - Relative to the manner of posting the warrant for town meetings

HB 1491 - Relative to pool risk management programs

HB 1726 - Relative to the sale of surplus state-owned land and establishing a commission to study the sale of state-owned property

HB 1766 - Relative to cruelty to livestock

SB 661 - Relative to pooled risk management programs

The Governor's veto statement for House Bill 1097 says:

"I have tremendous respect for the principle of separation of powers outlined in the New Hampshire Constitution, and I find no compelling reason that the Legislature should be given responsibility over the process of removing historical markers. Governor Sununu vetoed similar legislation to this in 2024 on the same grounds. For these reasons, I have decided to veto HB 1097."

The Governor's veto statement for House Bill 1369 is below:

"Town meetings are where some of the most important decisions that affect Granite Staters' daily lives are made and play a critical role in ensuring local community voices are heard. The public posting of town meetings notices in print is an important part of notice to ensure participation in the decision-making process. Allowing municipalities to only post these notices online or at the place of the meeting but otherwise not in a printed publication can limit public participation. That is a step in the wrong direction for New Hampshire. For these reasons, I have vetoed HB 1369."

The Governor's veto statement for House Bill 1491 and Senate Bill 661 is below:

"Risk pools are cooperative self-insurance organizations that allow our municipalities, counties, and school districts to manage health care costs and other risks instead of utilizing commercial insurance. Predictability is essential to deliver on this goal, which means reserves driven by actuarial expertise and operations following industry best practices.

"Unfortunately, both bills reforming risk pool operations fail to deliver on these needs. HB 1491 creates a 'choose-your-own-regulator' model that dilutes necessary oversight. SB 661 arbitrarily caps reserves to manage liabilities as well as mandating an immediate policy change impacting current health care policies for hundreds of municipalities and school districts across the state.

"As we have seen from recent risk pool failures, this is an important policy area to get right and these proposals need more work. For those reasons I am vetoing HB 1491 and SB 661."

The Governor's veto statement for House Bill 1726 is below:

"I agree that we need to improve the management of state-owned assets such as surplus land. However, the change of law in this bill limits the proceeds of sales or leases to the fund originally used to purchase the property. This is not an efficient or fiscally prudent structure for allocating revenues and does not improve state management of surplus land. For that reason, I am vetoing House Bill 1726."

The Governor's veto statement for House Bill 1766 is below:

"It is important that we protect livestock owners' due process rights and ensure fair treatment under the law. However, HB 1766 would hinder the ability of local law enforcement, veterinarians, and animal welfare professionals to respond to cases involving neglect and abuse of animals. By centralizing power with the State, this bill would increase the size of state government, cost taxpayers more money, increase animals' pain and suffering, and lead to forced euthanasia of abused but otherwise healthy animals."

Ayotte signed the following bills into law:

HB 113 - Relative to OHRV operation on certain highways within the town of Windsor

HB 297 - Relative to providing self-funded employer health benefit plans access to their claims data

HB 524 - Relative to disbursement of funds by the New Hampshire vaccine association

HB 564 - Relative to the adoption of school administrative unit budgets

HB 1013 - Relative to games wherein the object is to capture a pig

HB 1089 - Extending the authorization of the department of environmental services for the evaluation and mitigation of new community water system contamination risks

HB 1140 - Enabling certain disabled persons to hunt from a motor vehicle

HB 1153 - Establishing a committee to study New Hampshire statutes relative to cats and dogs

HB 1199 - Enabling the fish and game department to create a permit and fee for the use of fish and game staff by other state agencies and departments

HB 1228 - Relative to the enforcement of alimony orders and relative to waivers of alimony

HB 1253 - Exempting dogs guarding livestock or crops from nuisance dog statutes when engaged in such work

HB 1266 - Allowing election moderators access to the area designated for counting votes during the performance of their duties

HB 1298 - Relative to the disposal of electronic ballot counting device external memory devices

HB 1308 - Relative to increasing the penalty for passing a stopped school bus

HB 1318 - Renewing the committee to study non-pharmacological treatment options for patients with chronic pain

HB 1331 - Enabling the Derry town council to incorporate the Derry Cooperative School District as a department of the town through a charter amendment

HB 1361 - Relative to the procedure concerning search warrant inventories

HB 1363 - Relative to employee candidate background checks

HB 1460 - Prohibiting the sale of a child's personal data

HB 1466 - Relative to obtaining a certificate of title for certain trailers

HB 1468 - Relative to a flood resilience section in municipal master plans

HB 1483 - Creating a motor vehicle license plate for amateur radio operators

HB 1489 - Relative to interstate depositions and discovery

HB 1514 - Requiring the department of education and the department of revenue administration to send school monitoring and financial reports to relevant school and school board authorities

HB 1535 - Relative to clarifying eligible renewable energy classes under the renewable portfolio standard

HB 1537 - Relative to the use of high resolution cameras to identify school bus stop light violators

HB 1569 - Repealing the directive that the state sell the Anna Philbrook Center for Children property in Concord

HB 1630 - Prohibiting the sale of nitrous oxide and certain inhalants for recreational purposes

HB 1698 - Relative to electronic credentials

HB 1733 - Relative to the reconciliation of default electric service rates

HB 1742 - Relative to customer-generators inadvertently enrolled in a municipal or county aggregation program

HB 1758 - Relative to school bus drivers' certificates

HB 1763 - Establishing a committee to study siting and maintenance rules regarding certain intellectual and developmental disability (IDD) and acquired brain disorder (ABD) community residences

HB 1780 - Relative to seed laws

HB 1817 - Relative to access to curricular courses and cocurricular programs within school districts

SB 405 - Relative to amounts reported by political committees

SB 445 - Relative to adjudicative proceedings where there is a council or board with jurisdiction

SB 470 - Relative to the expungement of certain disciplinary matters

SB 482 - Establishing consumer protections for digital access transaction kiosks

SB 487 - Allowing credit union members to pay members of the board of directors for their services as a board member

SB 496 - Relative to supervision and registration requirements for associates of broker-dealers

SB 502 - Removing references to the department of business and economic affairs and the office of planning and development, and making various changes to how certain committees and commissions participate or operate

SB 507 - Establishing a committee to study violence in schools directed at staff members and obstacles to disciplining or expelling students