New Hampshire House votes in favor of $35 million parking garage for lawmakers

House members voted Thursday to spend $35 million to build themselves a new parking garage. 

Their current garage in downtown Concord, built in 1974, has long outlived its 20-year lifespan and is in such disrepair lawmakers are tripping and falling and cutting their hands on stair railings.

House Bill 1661 passed Thursday on a voice vote with an amendment that will use $35 million in state surplus money to demolish the existing garage and the Department of Justice building that sits nearly adjacent to the State House. A new 600-space garage would go there. 

The state has not yet found a new home for the Department of Justice, and the $35 million does not include money to rent or buy new space.

The bill proposes the project sidestep the state’s usual review and capital budgeting process, in part because the cost is so high it would leave little to no money for other projects under consideration.

Rep. Louise Andrus, a Salisbury Republican, spoke against the proposal. While she supports building a new garage, she does not support doing it now with so many details unknown. And the current “double-digit” inflation rate also makes this the wrong time, she said.

“I know a new garage will have to be built,” she said. “But I believe the time is not here and is not now.”

Rep. Kate Murray, a New Castle Democrat, disagreed and pointed to a parking garage that recently collapsed in Boston, killing a worker.

“The current garage is in a state of serious disrepair,” she said. “For years, there have been discussions regarding the parking garage and the need to replace it. But the can has always been kicked down the road. Today we’ve reached the end of the road and action is required now.”