New Hampshire, Welcome To The Nanny State Part 5

The New Hampshire house voted in favor of a bill that makes releasing a helium filled balloon into the sky littering. You could be charged a $250 fine if your child lets go of their balloon if this gets signed into law. Once again I say to New Hampshire voters, you wanted Democrat leadership, you got it. I hope you are happy.

From the New Hampsire Union Leader:

Imagine you are at the county fair this fall. You buy your kid a balloon, and — oops! — there it goes into the sky. Drying the kid’s tears will be the least of your worries. A nearby police officer steps over, whips out his ticket pad, and suddenly you’re stuck with a $250 fine.

If House Bill 62 becomes law, that could happen. The bill imposes a $250 fine for the intentional release of even a single balloon into the sky. How you will prove that the balloon inadvertently slipped out of your child’s hand is anyone’s guess. Kids, after all, are curious. Sometimes they just like to see how high it’ll go. Satisfying that curiosity ought not result in a fine.

Rep. Kevin Waterhouse, R-Windham, wanted to forbid the release of 26 or more balloons at once. The remains allegedly get choked on by wildlife, (though the evidence is mostly circumstantial). But the do-gooders in the House got hold of the bill, and now little Johnny and Suzie could lose all their allowance for years just for losing their grip.

This outrage has been brought to you by overzealous legislators inspired by (can you guess?) a group of school children.These ones were studying ecology.

Yes, the House has passed yet another dumb bill sponsored by a legislator at the request of school children. That must explain the lopsided vote (215-111) in favor of the bill. Legislators hate to vote against the school children. But the school children are. . . school children. They’re cute, but they really should not be legislating.

In this case, oddly, the original kid-inspired bill was much better than the one the adults concocted. However, neither bill was shown to be justified. And now legislators are halfway to passing a law that would place a grossly out of proportion fine on a littering violation of questionable harm (latex balloons are fully biodegradable) and which, in windy New Hampshire, can be a costly accident. The Senate should kill the bill.