Yesterday I testified before a committee of the NH House of Representatives. KC1AAI, an elected state rep, had submitted a copy of the ARPA bill, which the Board has voted to pause, so, with the help of N5AUS, I proposed a substitute bill – which was submitted to legislative counsel and brought to the committee.

Another rep, W1CBY, co-sponsored the original bill.

The NH CAI lobbyist had signed up to testify in opposition, but left before the bill was heard. Five people had signed up to speak in favor, including the NH SM, K1PJS.

Only the sponsor (KC1AAI) and I testified, which went well, I thought.

Frankly, I really enjoyed delivering my opening line of testimony:

If you Google “HOA Horror Stories,” you’ll get a million hits.  More like 1.2 million actually. If you Google “Ham radio in emergencies,” you’ll get two million hits. Radio amateurs are being prevented from being available in times of emergency.

I am attaching the bill as submitted. I take full responsibility for any flaws, asking only that you understand we had to draft a bill from scratch in 48 hours. All suggestions for the next draft, to be submitted to the next legislature, welcome.

I’ve circulated this bill to the SMs, ASMs, and SGLs in each of the other five states in the New England Division.

Fred Hopengarten, Esq.    K1VR     hopengarten@post.harvard.edu

Six Willarch Road

Lincoln, MA 01773                        antennazoning.com

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