The House and Senate wrapped up voting on their respective bills last week and have swapped the various surviving pieces of legislation. This week, lawmakers gear up for a new round of committee meetings and public hearings on everything from motorcycle noise and peeping toms to getting rid of gasoline additives and raising the age limit for the death penalty.

Slot machines and seatbelts suffered a blow last week as the Senate and House killed a pair of hotly contested bills. A bill brought forward by Sen. Lou D'Allesandro (D-Manchester) to bring video slot machines to the state's racetracks and grand hotels was defeated 18-6 by the Senate last Thursday. D'Allesandro promoted the bill as an easy source of revenue that could potentially add between $200 and $300 million to the state's coffers. Also last week, the members of the House voted down HB 705, which would establish a law requiring mandatory seatbelt use in the state.

Members of the House Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee will hear testimony this week on SB 48, which would increase the penalty for "peeping Toms" from a violation to a misdemeanor. The bill, sponsored by Sen. Iris Estabrook (D-Durham) is a response to the "Jack the Snipper" incidents at the University of New Hampshire in 2003.

The Senate Environment and Wildlife Committee will also take a look at HB 58, which would force the removal for additives such as MTBE from the state's gasoline supplies by January 1, 2007. MTBE was added to gas supplies in four counties in the late 1990s to comply with the Federal Clean Air Act. By 2002, MTBE had found its way into areas of the state's groundwater supplies, and a recent study by the U.S. Geological Survey found increased levels of the contaminant in public supply wells in Rockingham County. A similar bill, SB 195, has already been passed by the Senate and had its first hearing before the House Science, Technology and Energy Committee on April 5.

On Thursday, the Senate Judiciary Committee will hold a public hearing on HB 147, which would raise the age that someone could be sentenced to death in the state from 17 to 18 years old. The United States Supreme Court ruled in early March that capital punishment for those under 18 was unconstitutional. No one has been executed in New Hampshire since 1939.

The following week, the Senate Transportation and Interstate Cooperation Committee will look at pair of bills that could mean big changes for motorists. Up for discussion are HB 326, which sets limits to motorcycle noise levels, and HB 604, which would discontinue the use of tokens on the state's highways.

Under HB 326, bikers will not be able to have a straight pipe exhaust system on their bike. Violators who continue to use straight pipes would be fined between $100 and $300.

Meanwhile, HB 604 would chuck tokens from the state's highway system in favor of the new E-ZPass toll system, slated to appear at highway tollbooths this summer. The tokens are offered to motorists at a 50 percent discount and account for 60 percent of toll transactions in the state. It costs about $750,000 to process the tokens each year, according to the bill. E-ZPass, on the other hand, requires a credit card and registration. No discount rate has been set for E-ZPass, which is already in use throughout much of the Northeast. No matter what the Senate decides, the Governor's Executive Council has final say on toll rates and the future of tokens in the state. So far, the Council has expressed no plans to get rid of the tokens.

All meetings are open to the public. For a full calendar, visit the Legislature's Web site at http://gencourt.state.nh.us.