CONCORD — Bowing to internal party pressure, five House Republican incumbents and two incoming legislators said they’ve dropped their impeachment inquiry into abuse of power by Gov. Chris Sununu in favor of legislation to reduce emergency powers that governors have.
The announcement came on the eve of House Republican Leader Dick Hinch of Merrimack becoming speaker of the House of Representatives, as the Legislature prepared to organize Wednesday at an outdoor ceremony on the campus of the University of New Hampshire in Durham.
State Rep. Michael Sylvia, R-Belmont, said the group became convinced that Hinch would assert the authority of the Legislature to act in a time of crisis even while lawmakers consider their proposal to alter the emergency authority that was given to the state’s governor in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
“With a Speaker Hinch at the helm, we have full faith that the House of Representatives will assert its constitutional role moving forward,” Sylvia said in a statement.
Rep. Kevin Verville, R-Deerfield, said the group will seek to repeal and refund fines that state prosecutors imposed upon business owners who failed to comply with COVID-19 restrictions.
“As we move forward with this process, we will continue to hold Governor Sununu accountable on overreaching emergency orders, including the destructive fines levied by his administration through Attorney General Gordon MacDonald,” Verville said. “We will be seeking legislative relief for any business fined for failure to follow these emergency orders.”
Rep. Andrew Prout, R-Hudson, said Sununu was only acting upon the expansive powers given to him at the onset of the pandemic.
“It’s completely predictable that one overworked person issuing orders according to the crisis of the day would be a failure,” Prout said.
“That’s why the Democrats put Governor Sununu in that position, and he took the bait instead of calling on the Legislature to do our job. The new Republican majority won’t do that. It’s time for Governor Sununu to realize reinforcements have arrived.”
State Republican leaders had branded the impeachment inquiry as a “foolish” idea that lawmakers would reject given that Sununu easily won reelection to a third term and independent polls concluded that Sununu’s actions in dealing with COVID-19 were very popular.
But given their 213-187 majority in the House, GOP leaders realized they could ill afford to have even a small band of its members trying to undercut their efforts to get action on a joint House GOP-Sununu agenda during the 2021 legislative session.
Other cosponsors of the initial impeachment request were Republican Reps. Scott Wallace of Danville and Josh Yokela of Fremont, and GOP Reps.-Elect Melissa Blasek of Merrimack and David Binford of Bath.
Democratic legislative leaders sued Sununu last spring, maintaining he illegally used his executive powers to spend money without their permission.
A Hillsborough County Superior Court judge dismissed the case and cited the 2002 law permitting any governor to exercise unchecked powers as long as a state of emergency exists.
The House plans to meet Wednesday on UNH’s field hockey field. Incoming Senate President Chuck Morse, R-Salem, and Hinch decided to ask UNH officials if they could hold the event outdoors out of concern with the rising number of positive cases of COVID-19 in the state.
House and Senate leaders had earlier scheduled the organization day for the basketball court at Hamel Recreation Center on the UNH campus.
At this ceremony, House and Senate members take their oaths of office for the next two years, formally elect their leaders and then jointly decide who will serve as secretary of state and state treasurer.
The New Hampshire Legislature has never acted to impeach a sitting governor.
The House has in its history voted to impeach two judges, most recently then-Supreme Court Chief Justice David Brock in 2000. The state Senate voted by a super-majority to acquit Brock after a trial on charges he acted unethically and abused his powers.
