A Senate committee deadlocked on the heavily lobbied bill to eliminate annual safety inspections for cars and trucks, even after the House passed full repeal by a wide margin, according to the New Hampshire Union Leader. The split left the measure stalled before the panel. The bill had cleared the House overwhelmingly weeks earlier.
House Majority Leader Jason Osborne and Transportation Chairman Tom Walsh defended the bill in a joint statement, according to the New Hampshire Union Leader.
House Majority Leader Jason Osborne, R-Auburn, and Transportation Chairman Tom Walsh, R-Hooksett, said in a joint statement after the meeting that the bill is about getting rid of intrusive, unnecessary government.
the New Hampshire Union Leader
The House had already spoken decisively on the question, the New Hampshire Union Leader reports.
“Every study done concludes that these inspections are ineffective. We don’t see cars littering our highways,” Murphy said
the New Hampshire Union Leader
Sen. Keith Murphy pointed to the research on inspections, the New Hampshire Union Leader reports.
A compromise had been floated before the deadlock, according to the New Hampshire Union Leader.
Commerce Committee Chairman Dan Innis, R-Bradford, had proposed a compromise, to require inspections every other year and to eliminate the unpopular emissions tests for most vehicles.
the New Hampshire Union Leader
Murphy cited the evidence, according to the New Hampshire Union Leader.
“Every study done concludes that these inspections are ineffective. We don’t see cars littering our highways,” Murphy said
the New Hampshire Union Leader
In his own words, House Majority Leader Jason Osborne framed it this way, the New Hampshire Union Leader reports.
This mandate hits working families the hardest, adding costs and inconvenience without clear benefits. In a state built on personal responsibility, it’s fair to ask whether this system still serves the people,
Jason Osborne
The Senate committee split came after the House had passed full repeal by a wide margin, leaving the measure in limbo. A compromise to require inspections every other year and drop emissions tests for most vehicles had been floated before the deadlock, the New Hampshire Union Leader reports.
The deadlock left the future of the repeal uncertain even after the House had spoken decisively. Osborne and Walsh argued the inspections amount to intrusive government that falls hardest on working families, the New Hampshire Union Leader reports.
Supporters cast the repeal as a way to lift an unnecessary mandate from working families, the New Hampshire Union Leader reports. Supporters said they would keep pressing the case that the inspection mandate has outlived its usefulness.
Read the full story at the New Hampshire Union Leader.
