27 April 2018 :

The House passed SB 593, a death penalty repeal bill, 223-116. The Senate had passed it 14-10 on March 15 (see). The bill would change the penalty for capital murder to life in prison without parole. The bill is on its way to Governor Chris Sununu (43, White, Republican), who reaffirmed Thursday that he would veto it. ‘‘I stand with crime victims, members of the law enforcement community, and advocates for justice in opposing a repeal of the death penalty,’’ Sununu said in a statement. A two-thirds majority in both chambers is needed to override vetoes. ‘‘We are very close,’’ to getting the votes needed to override a veto by the governor, said Representative Renny Cushing, a Democrat from Hampton whose father and brother-in-law were murdered in separate incidents. Cushing is opposed to the death penalty and has lobbied for years to repeal it. ‘‘We will continue doing public education and having private conversations with members who are wrestling with this issue,’’ Cushing said. The last time the House and the Senate voted to repeal the death penalty was 2000, but the bill was vetoed by then-Governor Jeanne Shaheen, a Democrat. More recently, the House passed a bill in 2014, but it died in the Senate, and the Senate deadlocked on a bill in 2016. The state hasn’t executed anyone since 1939, though one person is on death row. The death row prisoner is Michael Addison, who was convicted of murder in the death of Manchester police Officer Michael Briggs in 2006. The repeal would not apply to him.