Latest news with #SenateBill284
Yahoo
01-05-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
House passes bill reducing parking requirements for housing developments
Housing advocates say parking requirements can hamper and even prevent some housing projects from moving forward. (Photo by Dana Wormald/New Hampshire Bulletin) The New Hampshire House passed a bill Thursday to prevent cities and towns from requiring more than one parking space per housing unit, a move intended to ease burdens on developers and encourage more housing. But in passing the bill, the House made some changes that could create a tussle with the Senate. Under current law, municipalities are capped at requiring 1.5 parking spaces per unit, or three for every two units. As originally introduced by Sen. Keith Murphy, a Manchester Republican, Senate Bill 284 limited municipalities from mandating more than one parking space but included some exceptions. For developments containing 10 units or more, or for one-bedroom and studio apartments that qualify as workforce housing, cities and towns could continue requiring 1.5 parking spaces. In April, the House Housing Committee proposed an amendment to Murphy's bill that would remove those exceptions, limiting all municipal parking minimums to one spot per unit. Housing advocates say parking requirements can hamper and even prevent some housing projects from moving forward, by raising costs and creating some logistical barriers. Opponents to the bill, such as the New Hampshire Municipal Association, argue cities and towns should have the flexibility to require parking minimums for housing developments in order to reduce the strain on other parking options in town. Rep. Joe Alexander, the chairman of the House Housing Committee, said the House's version was a better way to encourage the market to produce housing. 'The majority of the committee believes that the free market is the best determinant of what sufficient parking is needed for each residential unit and property owners are the best decision-makers when it comes to how much parking is necessary for their property,' Alexander wrote in an explanation in the House calendar. 'This bill as amended still allows municipalities to regulate parking up to one space per unit.' The bill was recommended by the Housing Committee 14-1, and passed the House 197-144. 'The state is imposing a one-size-fits-all mandate that may not reflect local realities, such as geography, population density, public transit availability, or tourism demands,' said Rep. Kim Rice, a Hudson Republican. 'What works in a compact urban area like Portsmouth may be entirely unworkable in the rural town with limited transportation alternatives.' Rice said the requirements could affect residents elsewhere who might not have access to parking, and could lead to 'poorly planned developments.' The bill will now head back to the Senate, which must vote on whether to accept the House's changes, reject them and kill the bill, or move to a committee of conference with the House to try to negotiate.
Yahoo
04-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Poll: Most Granite Staters support bills to override zoning policies, encourage housing
The poll found that 55% of respondents considered New Hampshire's housing shortage and high prices to be the number one issue facing Granite Staters. (Photo by Dan) Midway through the 2025 legislative session, large majorities of Granite Staters say they support legislation aimed at expanding housing in the state, according to a poll commissioned by New Hampshire Housing Action, an advocacy group. According to the poll, conducted in early March by YouGov, 88% of respondents said they would support legislation to allow residential homes to be built in commercial zones; 76% would support laws requiring cities and towns to allow homes to be built on smaller lot sizes; and 76% would support allowing property owners to build detached accessory dwelling units by right. The poll found that 55% of respondents considered New Hampshire's housing shortage and high prices to be the number one issue facing Granite Staters, surpassing inflation, taxes, homelessness, health care costs, and immigration. And 80% said the cost of housing is 'a problem' in the state. 'The message is clear: New Hampshire is experiencing a severe housing shortage that is being felt from southern New Hampshire to the North Country and all across the state,' Nick Taylor, director of Housing Action NH, said in a statement. The poll was released as lawmakers are considering a number of bills aimed at increasing housing development by requiring cities and towns to change zoning policies seen as barriers to construction. One bill, House Bill 577, would allow the construction of detached accessory units — additional units that are not directly attached to the primary resident — by right, stopping cities and towns from passing zoning ordinances that automatically exclude them. Another, House Bill 382, would restrict the minimum number of parking spaces a municipality could require of housing developments to one space per unit, in an attempt to block what some developers say are unnecessary burdens. Senate Bill 284 would also limit the minimum number parking spaces in town zoning codes, while Senate Bill 84 would block cities and towns from setting minimum lot sizes of more than one acre for residential homes serviced by sewer and water lines — for at least 50% of residential zoned land. And House Bill 631 would allow property owners in commercial zones to build residential units, while allowing cities and towns to impose some restrictions. HB 577, HB 382, and HB 631 have passed the House and are currently being considered in the Senate Commerce Committee. SB 284 and SB 84 have passed the Senate and are being taken up in the House Housing Committee. The bills have the support of affordable housing advocates and industry groups in construction, such as the New Hampshire Homebuilders Association and Housing Action New Hampshire. But they have drawn criticism from the New Hampshire Municipal Association, which represents cities and towns, and another conservative group, the Coalition of New Hampshire Taxpayers. Opponents say the bills improperly insert the state into local zoning code decisions, and that municipalities should be allowed to decide how best to change their codes to expand housing. Gov. Kelly Ayotte has vowed to help combat the housing crisis in part by directing state agencies such as the Department of Environmental Services and the Fish and Game Department to speed up their permitting processes, promising to guarantee the state permitting process takes no more than 60 days for developers. But the House Finance Committee's recommended version of the state's two budget bills, House Bill 1 and House Bill 2, makes a number of cuts to agencies and programs designed to help expand housing. The budget eliminates the state's housing appeals board, a recently created entity designed to speed up developers' appeals of adverse zoning and planning board rulings, and it defunds the Housing Champion Designation and Grant Program, which gives towns and cities grants and special benefits if they voluntarily overhaul their zoning to encourage more housing.
Yahoo
21-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Questionable elections bills going the wrong way
A bevy of bills making it harder to vote are being considered by lawmakers. (Getty Images) I think everyone agrees that Indiana's elections are safe and secure, which makes a move by Senate Republicans to hamper voting even more perplexing. The chamber collected three bills that would've made significant changes to Indiana's election system without a convincing explanation why. The trio of bills sat collecting amendments day after day — indicating their support was tenuous at best. Two died on Wednesday after sitting for two weeks on the calendar. The legislation would have made it harder or more complicated for voters to cast ballots, at the same time the state is scraping the bottom of the barrel in terms of voter turnout. And I haven't seen any similar efforts to ease voting. The company line for the bills is that they make Indiana elections more secure, but they already are. Sure, an occasional person steps out of line and gets arrested — caught by systems already in place to block fraud. One of the bills is still moving, though: Senate Bill 10. CONTACT US There is no reason to suddenly block use of student IDs from public colleges and universities that meet requirements in current law. They have been accepted for decades and now Republicans have a problem with them — without a single example of misdeeds offered up. The IDs are used simply to make sure the person voting is indeed the person registered. Poll workers look at the name to make sure it matches the poll book and then glance at the photo to match it with the person in front of them. That's it. The IDs have nothing to do with registering to vote, and college students still must meet those requirements. Now these students will have to go get a driver's license or ID card from the Bureau of Motor Vehicles to vote. Some students don't have an Indiana license because they are from out of state. According to the Indiana Secretary of State's Office, that is fine. 'NOTE: The intent of where students plan to return after attending college, or during summer and winter breaks, is not to be factored into the decision to approve their registration. They may register at school, if they so choose,' the agency's website says. Now let's talk about the bills that were halted this week. Senate Bill 284 would have cut the period of in-person early voting from 28 days to 14 days. Again, the month-long early voting has been around for years. Many people stop at their county office and vote during the week and some counties have satellite locations on the weekends. For years, lawmakers have resisted allowing more mail-in voting by saying Indiana leads the nation in the opportunity to vote early in person. Now they want to take that away too. Why? The reasons given were mixed. First was that most of the early voting is in the second half of the period. But that still means thousands voted in the first 14 days. And in some counties, there are so many people voting that they wait in line for hours. There was anecdotal evidence that a few counties struggle to find poll workers, and that the measure could save money. I, for one, don't want minimal cost savings to be the reason to take away voting options. The other bill to die was Senate Bill 201, which would've closed Indiana's primary system. Right now, Indiana's is partially open, meaning you can ask for whichever partisan ballot you want when you vote in a primary. No one registers specifically as a Democrat or a Republican. But a move to get Democrats to vote in the Republican gubernatorial primary last year riled up the GOP and they want to close the primary completely. I really don't have a dog in this fight. I just believe that the change would be chaotic at best as tens of thousands of Hoosiers no doubt would be unaware of the change and show up to vote — only to be told they can't cast the ballot they want. House Speaker Todd Huston said recently that he likes the current election laws and doesn't see the need for major change. Let's hope cooler heads prevail in the House. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
20-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Senate bills to close Indiana primary elections, reduce early voting days die. Could they come back?
Two Indiana Senate bills that might have made it harder for Hoosiers to vote have died, just before the halfway point of the legislative session. Senate Bill 201 would have closed primary elections in Indiana to allow only people affiliated with a specific party to vote in that party's primary election. Senate Bill 284 would have shrunk the state's early voting period from 28 days to 14. Both bills, carried by Republican senators, passed through legislative committees earlier this month but are now considered dead after the authors did not open them up for amendments on the Senate floor before a deadline to do so on Wednesday. Sen. Mike Gaskill, R-Pendleton, who authored SB 201 on closed primaries, said there wasn't enough support for the bill to pass the Senate. A similar bill filed in the House from Whiteland Republican state Rep. Michelle Davis also died this week after it did not receive a committee hearing. Similar language to all three bills could potentially be amended into other legislation during the second half of the legislative session, but it's unlikely that the concepts would pass the full Senate if they couldn't garner enough support the first go-around. More: Indiana voter turnout is almost last in the nation. Many are working to turn this around. The closed primary bills were filed after ReCenter Indiana, a centrist group, encouraged Democrat-leaning voters to cast ballots in the six-way Republican gubernatorial primary last year. The Democratic primary for the 2024 race was uncontested. Gaskill said he plans to continue to study the issue and share information with fellow lawmakers and political parties around the state. In recent years, there has been a national trend of Republican-leaning states closing primaries. 'I think it's something that people in Indiana are just completely unfamiliar with and a little cautious about,' Gaskill said. 'So it's fine to move a little slower on that and see if the appetite changes in the future.' Questions sent to a press secretary for Byrne about his bill reducing the number of early voting days were not immediately returned Wednesday evening. During the bill's hearing in the Senate's Committee on Elections, Byrne argued that some counties struggle to staff voting centers for the 28-day period for Hoosiers. While those two bills died, the Indiana Senate earlier this month advanced a different bill seeking to prohibit the use of student IDs for voting. Senate Bill 10, from Republican Sen. Blake Doriot, passed on a vote of 39-11. It now heads to the House. Contact IndyStar state government and politics reporter Brittany Carloni at Follow her on Twitter/X @CarloniBrittany. Contact IndyStar state government and politics reporter Kayla Dwyer at kdwyer@ or follow her on Twitter @kayla_dwyer17. This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Indiana Senate bills to close primary elections, slim early voting die
