Amid its ongoing appeal, New Hampshire moved to seek a vendor for state car inspections, the New Hampshire Union Leader reported. House Majority Leader Jason Osborne (R-Auburn) called the step a procedural box to check while the House GOP holds firm against the program’s return. The state issued the request as it awaits a federal review, the outlet noted.
The step came even as the state pressed its appeal of the order to restore the program, underscoring the gap between legal compliance and the GOP’s stated goals. As the New Hampshire Union Leader reported, the request for proposals set a timeline for selecting a new vendor while officials maintained their position that inspections should not return.
As the New Hampshire Union Leader reported, Osborne described the search for a vendor as a required legal step that does not change the GOP’s position.
House Majority Leader Jason Osborne, R-Auburn, said finding a new vendor was a necessary legal step but doesn’t change the House GOP’s determination that inspections never return in New Hampshire.
the New Hampshire Union Leader
He pointed to a pending federal review as the decisive factor, according to the New Hampshire Union Leader.
“This is just another box to check while we wait for the final word from Administrator Zeldin.”
the New Hampshire Union Leader
The reporting noted the EPA’s stated timeline for acting on New Hampshire’s request to exit the inspection requirement.
EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin announced Monday that his agency would work at “record speed” to complete its review of New Hampshire’s bid to exit the requirement under the federal Clean Air Act.
the New Hampshire Union Leader
Osborne expressed optimism about the federal process even as the litigation continued.
“We look forward to a quick remedy from the EPA in reference to the sticker scheme despite the nuances of federal injunctions,” Osborne said in a statement.
Jason Osborne
As the New Hampshire Union Leader reported, the Division of Motor Vehicles sent out the request for proposals with a scheduled selection date for a new vendor, requiring interested companies to submit price estimates that would remain in force for at least 180 days. The outlet noted that state prosecutors described the move as one of legal compliance rather than a signal of intent to bring back inspections, which the Legislature ended at the start of the year, and that attorneys for the attorney general had called the underlying ruling flawed in their appeal.
The full story at the New Hampshire Union Leader details the request for proposals, the status of the appeal, and the federal review the state is counting on to resolve the dispute.
For House Republicans, the step did nothing to soften their stated determination to keep inspections from returning. The request for proposals, as the New Hampshire Union Leader reported, was cast as a procedural necessity tied to the litigation rather than a change in policy direction, with leaders pointing to a pending federal review as the decisive factor.
Read the full story at the New Hampshire Union Leader.
