[August 8, 2010] This bill passed both the House & the Senate, but the Senate amended it so it basically said the opposite of what we intended,. The Senate did this at the behest of two Senators who came from communities which charge businesses extra to stay open on Sundays. The conference committee was unable to reach an agreement,and died on the last day of the session, June 2, 2010.

TITLE XXX
OCCUPATIONS AND PROFESSIONS

CHAPTER 332-D
SUNDAY BUSINESS ACTIVITIES

Section 332-D:1

    332-D:1 Sunday Work. – No person shall do any work, business, or labor of his secular calling, to the disturbance of others, on the first day of the week, commonly called the Lord's Day, except works of necessity and mercy, and the making of necessary repairs upon mills and factories which could not be made otherwise without loss to operatives; and no person shall engage in any play, game, or sport on that day.

Source. RS 118:1. CS 124:1. GS 255:3. GL 273:3. 1883, 93:1. PS 271:3. PL 385:3. RL 448:3. RSA 578:3. 1973, 532:19, eff. Nov. 1, 1973.

Section 332-D:2

    332-D:2 Sunday Sales, etc. – No person shall keep his shop, warehouse, cellar, restaurant or workshop open for the reception of company, or shall sell or expose for sale any merchandise whatever on the Lord's Day; but this section shall not be construed to prevent the entertainment of boarders, nor the sale of milk, bread, and other necessaries of life, nor of drugs and medicines.

Source. 1860, 2365:1. GL 273:10. 1883, 95:1. PS 271:5. PL 385:5. RL 448:4. RSA 578:4. 1973, 532:19, eff. Nov. 1, 1973.

Section 332-D:3

    332-D:3 Sunday Racing Exempted. – No provision of this chapter shall prohibit or authorize the prohibition of running or harness horse racing meets or dog racing meets on Sunday after midday and no action shall be required because of the provisions of this chapter by the selectmen of a town or the city council of a city or a town meeting to permit any such meet.

Source. 1971, 528:2. RSA 578:4-a. 1973, 532:19, eff. Nov. 1, 1973.

Section 332-D:4

    332-D:4 Exceptions. – Nothing in this chapter shall prevent the governing body of any city or town from adopting bylaws and ordinances permitting and regulating retail business, plays, games, sports, and exhibitions on Sundays. Bylaws and ordinances adopted by the governing body in accordance with this section shall continue in force until altered or annulled by vote of the legislative body.

Source. 1931, 155:1. RL 448:5. 1943, 49:1. RSA 578:5. 1969, 306:1. 1971, 528:1. 1973, 532:19. 1993, 301:1, eff. Jan. 1, 1994.

Section 332-D:5

    332-D:5 Retail Businesses, Closed on Memorial and Veterans Days. – Any retail business that is required to be closed on Sunday under the provisions of this chapter may not be opened for business on Memorial Day and Veterans Day until twelve noon.

Source. 1967, 47:1. 1971, 9:1. RSA 578:5-a. 1973, 532:19, eff. Nov. 1, 1973.

Section 332-D:6

    332-D:6 Sunday Dancing Permitted. – Notwithstanding the provisions of RSA 332-D:4, public dancing shall be permitted on Sundays.

Source. 1971, 231:1. RSA 578:5-b. 1973, 532:19. 1975, 332:1. 1990, 255:12. 2003, 231:51, eff. July 1, 2003. 2007, 168:1, eff. June 18, 2007.

Section 332-D:7

    332-D:7 Penalty. – A person who violates any provision of this chapter is guilty of a violation.

Source. 1977, 588:15, eff. Sept. 16, 1977.

This is a simple bill: it is essentially a one-liner which deletes the entirety of RSA 332-D, which is part of Title XXX . RSA 332-D deals with "Sunday Business Activities" and consists of four sections regulating what can be done "on the first day of the week, commonly called the Lord's Day." It deals strictly with retail stores, restaurants and similar public accommodations. New Hampshire's state government happens to itself be a major retailer: our state liquor stores do (with a few exceptions) stay open on Sundays, as authorized by RSA 177:5.

This bill does not remove all references to Sunday or "the Lord's Day" from the RSA's. In particular, this bill leaves alone RSA 275:28-35, dealing with labor regulations related to work on Sunday and on holidays. That section of the law book importantly guarantees (RSA 275:32) workers a day off per week by stipulating that workers who don't get Sunday off can take another day off later in the week. Updating RSA 275 might actually be a good idea— but that is beyond the scope of this bill (as introduced.)

As passed by the House, this bill also doesn't change RSA 21:36, which specifies the Sundays when daily saving time begins and end. (That RSA actually is out of date: daylight saving time now runs from the second Sunday in March to the first Sunday in November.) Nor does it effect 287-E:7 or 287-E:13, which currently stipulate that you can't conduct Bingo games until noon on Sunday (as opposed to 11 a.m. every other day.)

The Sunday closing issue has been addressed before by this legislature. The last change to this law was in 2007, when we decided that public dancing should be allowed all day (RSA 332-D:6), not just after 2:00 p.m. In 1993, we changed RSA 332-D:4 to reflect changes in municipal governance. In 1976 and 1977, there was a local uproar in Nashua, when local retailers defied the city's "blue laws." That controversy spilled over to the House Commerce Committee, and the General Court added Section 332-D:7 at that time (stating, "A person who violates any provision of this chapter is guilty of a violation.") .

This bill certainly does not totally remove God from the law books. I note with a certain amusement the fact that the bill has been introduced in "In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Ten."

HB1171 ought to pass because

• This bill removes an unnecessary religious reference from the law books. New Hampshire may have been founded as a Christian state, but it is now a secular state with no established religion.

• This bill removes outdated laws which are never enforced and which are so full of exceptions and local options as to be meaningless. In practice, very few retail establishments are closed on Sunday: most choose to be open seven days a week. And, in any case, businesses ought to be able to decide for themselves what days they wish to be open, without interference from either state or municipal government.

• The existing law does not impose any meaningful penalty on those who violate it. This was apparently the sensible result of a series of compromises made several decades ago. This bill offers an even more sensible solution: take the law off the books altogether.

• This bill takes the state out of a long running controversy over what day of week should be the sabbath. Most Christian churches observe a Sunday sabbath, but Seventh day Adventists and some other groups observe the original Jewish sabbath on Saturday. Muslims observe their sabbath on Friday, as do the members of the Baha'i faith. Other groups observe other schedules, and many people in New Hampshire observe no sabbath at all.

The Seventh Day Adventists got me thinking about this issue back in September. I represented the Strafford County Democrats one day (not anyone's sabbath, as far as I know) at the Rochester Fair. Our booth was in a rather remote and lightly-trafficked exhibition hall, right next to the Adventists. The Saturday sabbath (running from Friday night through Saturday afternoon) is the core of their religious practice, as the name "Seventh Day Adventist" implies. The Adventists are extremely worried about the possibility of a universal mandatory Sunday sabbath law: they view such a law as a sign of the End Times, and, like myself, they hope to put off the end of the world as long as possible. I was actually asked that day to consider sponsoring a bill repealing our state's existing Sunday sabbath laws. I frankly didn't give that issue much thought at the time, but when I learned a few weeks later that Rep. McGuire was sponsoring this bill, I signed on as a cosponsor.

I doubt that HB1171's passage will delay the end of the world, but this bill would take an outdated law off the books. HB1171 would bring Title XXX of the New Hampshire RSA's into compliance with the current consensus, which is that businesses should be free to remain open on any days of the week they want to be open.

This is a simple bill: it is essentially a one-liner which deletes the entirety of RSA 332-D, which is part of Title XXX . RSA 332-D deals with "Sunday Business Activities" and consists of four sections regulating what can be done "on the first day of the week, commonly called the Lord's Day." It deals strictly with retail stores, restaurants and similar public accommodations. New Hampshire's state government happens to itself be a major retailer: our state liquor stores do (with a few exceptions) stay open on Sundays, as authorized by RSA 177:5.

This bill does not remove all references to Sunday or "the Lord's Day" from the RSA's. In particular, this bill leaves alone RSA 275:28-35, dealing with labor regulations related to work on Sunday and on holidays. That section of the law book importantly guarantees (RSA 275:32) workers a day off per week by stipulating that workers who don't get Sunday off can take another day off later in the week. Updating RSA 275 might actually be a good idea— but that is beyond the scope of this bill (as introduced.)

The Sunday closing issue has been addressed before by this legislature. The last change to this law was in 2007, when we decided that public dancing should be allowed all day (RSA 332-D:6), not just after 2:00 p.m. In 1993, we changed RSA 332-D:4 to reflect changes in municipal governance. In 1976 and 1977, there was a local uproar in Nashua, when retailers near the state line defied the city's "blue laws." That controversy spilled over to the House Commerce Committee, and the General Court added Section 332-D:7 at that time (stating, "A person who violates any provision of this chapter is guilty of a violation.") .

This bill certainly does not totally remove God from the law books. I note with a certain amusement the fact that the bill has been introduced in "In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Ten."

HB1171 ought to pass because

• This bill removes an unnecessary religious reference from the law books. New Hampshire may have been founded as a Christian state, but it is now a secular state with no established religion.

• This bill removes outdated laws which are never enforced and which are so full of exceptions and local options as to be meaningless. In practice, very few retail establishments are closed on Sunday: most choose to be open seven days a week. And in any case, neither the states nor the towns and cities should not be telling businesses what days they can or cannot be open.

• The existing law does not impose any meaningful penalty on those who violate it. This was apparently the result of a series of compromises made several decades ago. This bill offers a more sensible solution: take the law off the books altogether.

• This bill takes the state out of a long running controversy over what day of week should be the sabbath. Most Christian churches observe a Sunday sabbath, but Seventh day Adventists and some other groups observe the original Jewish sabbath on Saturday. (The church I was born into, the Roman Catholic Church, moved halfway back to a Saturday sabbath a few decades ago by making a Saturday night mass the main event of its weekly worship cycle.) Muslims observe their sabbath on Friday, as do the members of the Baha'i faith. Other groups observe other schedules, and many people in New Hampshire observe no sabbath at all.

The Seventh Day Adventists got me thinking about this issue back in September. I staffed the Strafford County Democrats booth one day (not anyone's sabbath, as far as I know) at the Rochester Fair. We were placed in a rather remote and lightly-trafficked exhibition hall right next to the Adventists, which turned out to be good because Democrats and Adventists have many interests in common. The Saturday sabbath (running from Friday night through Saturday afternoon) is the core of their religious practice, as the name "Seventh Day Adventist" implies. The Adventists are extremely worried about the possibility of a universal mandatory Sunday sabbath law: they view such a law as a sign of the End Times, and, like myself, they hope to put off the end of the world as long as possible. I was actually asked that day to consider sponsoring a bill repealing our state's existing Sunday sabbath laws. I frankly didn't give that issue much thought at the time, but when I learned a few weeks later that Rep. McGuire was sponsoring this bill, I easily convinced myself to sign on as a cosponsor.

I doubt that HB1171's passage will delay the end of the world, but this bill would take an outdated law off the books. HB1171 would bring Title XXX of the New Hampshire RSA's into compliance with current business practice. There is a general consensus that businesses should be free to remain open on any days of the week they want to be open.

One minor point I will add is: RSA 332-D:3 contains an obsolete reference to "dog racing meets" which needs to be deleted since dog racing was abolished in our state last year. (There is another bill currently being considered, HB1354, which would delete all the references to dog racing from the existing RSA's.)