The New Hampshire House passed Gov. Kelly Ayotte’s priority bail reform fix, HB 592, in a 204-175 vote over Democratic opposition, according to NH Journal. The measure scraps a 2024 magistrate bail system and aims to reduce the release of violent offenders on personal recognizance. Republicans cast the vote as correcting a mistake from an earlier reform.
As NH Journal reported, House Republicans celebrated “promises made, promises kept” when the bill passed. Ayotte has called the system she is reversing “a failed social experiment” that produced “a revolving door for criminals.” Rep. Ross Berry (R-Weare) pointed to the origins of the 2018 reform at a presser before the vote.
The legislature was sold a false bill of goods,
NH Journal
Berry tied the original change to outside money and said the moment had arrived to undo it.
There was a George Soros-funded effort, saying ‘Hey, you’re keeping poor people in jail for crimes they might not have committed for way too long,’ and it just wasn’t true.
NH Journal
It was a mistake to push that law in 2018, it was a mistake to listen to George Soros, and it’s never happening again. I can assure you that,
NH Journal
Rep. Terry Roy (R-Deerfield) described a prior attempt to fix the law that fell short, noting the difference a Republican majority makes.
The bill last year was a good bill, but it wasn’t a Republican bill because we didn’t have a Republican majority,
NH Journal
Now there’s a Republican majority and we’re going to pass a Republican bail bill. We don’t need to be ashamed of that. We’re Republicans and that’s what we’re going to do.
NH Journal
Democrats overwhelmingly opposed the legislation, with many urging the state to continue the “decarceration” effort that motivated the 2018 reform, NH Journal reported.
Read the full story at NH Journal.
