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Update on NH State Legislature: HB 1445 and HB1543

Please read last Sunday's post for background info on HB1445.



What happened on Tuesday:

Concord Legislative meetings of January 30, 2024 -- HB-1445 public hearing at 11:20 AM was well attended. 11 people in total spoke all in opposition. The count of online testimony was two people in support, 514 opposing.

The bill’s sponsor, Representative Doug Trottier of Belmont, began by acknowledging that he had recently spoken with “professionals” (BWANH) and that he saw no need to alter current regulations on Class 1,2,3 e-bikes.

State Rep. Trottier also indicated that he would welcome working together to come up with an appropriate bill. Dave Topham spoke representing the NH Rail Trails Coalition, Paula Bedard spoke representing the Bike-Walk Alliance of New Hampshire (BWANH).


The message that current regulations for Class 1,2 3 e-bikes should not be altered came through loud and clear, thanks to the MANY people who showed up, spoke, or gave online testimony opposing (Thank you all!) 

 

Yesterday (February 1st) we learned that HB-1445 was ITL’d (the committee is against the bill).

 

The other bill addressing Personal Electric Vehicles, HB-1543, was also ITL’d.

This bill was introduced by NHRTC and BWANH to address OCEV * regulations in our state.

 

What comes next:

The NHRTC and BWANH will file a new LSR (Legislative Service Request) by September for the next session.

 

What YOU can do now:

Please sign up for email newsletters from local nonprofits: Bike-Walk Alliance of New Hampshire (BWANH), NH Rail Trails Coalition, and Seacoast Area Bicycle Riders of course :-) These organizations will post updates late summer when new discussion starts on the subject again. These nonprofits are run by volunteers, so please consider joining an advocacy group in your town to promote safe bike and e-bike regulations NOW!


*OCEV stands for “Out of Class Electric Vehicle” It refers to electric vehicles that do not fall within the defined classes, typically Class1, Class 2, Class 3.

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