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N.H. Lawmakers Reject Sununu's Call for 90-Day Freeze on New Regulations

Allegra Boverman for NHPR
During Governor Chris Sununu' inauguration earlier this month, he called for a 90-day freeze on state regulation.

In one of his very first acts in office, Governor Chris Sununu called for a 90-day moratorium on new state regulations. But lawmakers who oversee New Hampshire's regulatory process said the new governor Friday: no can do. 

New Hampshire has thousands of regulations, covering everything from massage therapists to geologists to the state lottery commission. But any new or amended state administrative rule first needs the OK from a group of lawmakers called the Joint Legislative Committee on Administrative Rules.

On Friday that committee sent a letter to the Governor denying his request - saying he lacks the authority to put a freeze on rulemaking. 

Senator Dan Feltes sits on the committee. 

“The committee respects the Governor’s interest in the rulemaking process; however, this is a role that the Joint Legislative Committee on Administrative Rules already serves," Feltes said. "We heavily scrutinize the rules coming forward from the administrative agencies and the committee will continue business as usual.”

The letter also echoed Sununu’s call to agencies to reevaluate exiting rules and regulations to determine if they are actually needed.

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