Anti-sanctuary city bill cruises through NH House
Feb. 6—A compromise anti-sanctuary city policy bill (HB 511) cleared the House of Representatives with near unanimous support Thursday.
The two parties broke along partisan lines, however, on a second bill (HB 71) to ban the use of public schools and colleges as temporary housing for illegal immigrants.
Two years ago, when it was narrowly divided by party, the House voted, 203-168, to table an anti-sanctuary bill that the state Senate had passed. The vote effectively killed it.
On Thursday, the House voted 351-6 to advance HB 511 and send it to the House Finance Committee for more review.
No House Democrat spoke on the bill and the party leadership issued no statement on it.
House Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee Chairman Terry Roy, R-Deerfield, offered some modifications that won unanimous support in his policy committee.
Those changes included carving out an exemption so victims reporting a crime could not be prosecuted as illegal immigrants and limiting local law enforcement's cooperation with federal authorities to cases of those held in custody and accused of violating state crimes.
"I think the Democrats decided they didn't want to die on this hill, that the voters have spoken in favor of this policy change," Roy told reporters.
The legislation is not as tough as one (SB 71) the Senate approved last week which makes no allowance for victims of crime and could subject a municipality that adopts a sanctuary policy to the loss of up to 25% of its state aid.
"I haven't read the Senate bill yet but I don't think we have to legislate fines against communities in doing this," Roy said.
House Republicans said banning schools from being used to shelter illegal immigrants would avoid the $1 billion in costs for migrants that taxpayers have picked up in the neighboring state of Massachusetts.
"This will ensure our schools are dedicated to our primary purpose," said Rep. Juliet Harvey-Bolia, R-Tilton. The bill also includes a carve out for emergency situations caused by a "specified disaster," she noted.
Rep. Peggy Balboni, D-Rye, said passing the bill could put the state at risk of losing $12 million to $18 million a year in federal funding.
Rep. Muriel Hall, D-Bow, added, "This demonstrates a lack of basic humanity."
The House passed the bill, 211-146.
Gov. Kelly Ayotte has urged lawmakers to send her an anti-sanctuary city bill as soon as possible.
klandrigan@unionleader.com
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