A bill overhauling the way numerous businesses file with the state has passed the Senate by a wide margin. The AP reports SB 203 passed on a 22–2 voice vote:
“It includes provisions for electronic communication, conflicts of interest and provides an
easier path for corporations to move to New Hampshire. Supporters say this will
bring New Hampshire up to speed with its neighbors.
The LLC law…would provide a standard set of operating rules for the popular business model in an effort to make operations easier and reduce litigation between business partners. Individual companies’ agreements could take precedence over the law.”
In an earlier committee hearing, supporters testified that the goal is to provide lay people with an easy-to-use law, free of legalese. Business people could simply pull it off the shelf and file for LLC protection with a minimum of confusion. The bill was put together by a group working under the aegis of the Business and Industry Association. As for today’s vote–and the bill’s future as it moves to the House, reporter Kevin Landrigan writes for TheLobbyNH.com:
“Sen. Jim Luther, R-Hollis, has been massaging this one and Sens. Andy Sanborn, R-Henniker, and Raymond White, R-Bedford, are the only two of the 24 who had not signed on prior to Wednesday’s session.
The ranking Democrat on the Senate Commerce Committee, Sen. Matt Houde, D-Meriden, loved Sanborn’s talk of sending this 140-page bill to study.
Fine, Houde said, the Democrats will run against you as anti-business.
Luther has stitched together bipartisan and strong support for this bill that will easily also clear the House of Representatives once it makes its way over there.”
Landrigan notes that New Hampshire’s LLC statutes haven’t been comprehensively updated in about 20 years. That puts the Granite State behind almost all of New England–except for Rhode Island. And, he goes so far as to call the new bill, “the most pro-business legislation of the year.”
If you’d like to scan the bill, you can check it out here:
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