The New Hampshire House and Senate kept their social distance Wednesday as they met to take up bills vetoed by Gov. Chris Sununu earlier this year. The Democrat-controlled Legislature failed to override any of Sununu’s 22 vetoes.
Read more: N.H. Veto Tracker: Sununu Rejecting Record Number of Bills
The vetoed bills included some measures Republicans had backed just a few months ago. But the agenda was heavy with top Democratic priorities, including a paid family leave program, a bill to raise the minimum wage and a plan to allow online voter registration and no-excuse absentee voting.
With a two-thirds majority required to override, some Republicans would have needed to break rank with Sununu; too few did to overturn even a single veto.
Democratic leaders were quick to chide Republicans for engaging in what Senate President Donna Soucy called “partisan showmanship.”
Republicans meanwhile, celebrated their fealty to Sununu. A few Republicans in the New Hampshire House, which met at UNH Whittemore center, were more celebratory than others. They apparently drank beer during Wednesday’s House session, which drew a rebuke from House Speaker Steve Shurtleff.
