Coming up for debate in the New Hampshire House of Representatives on Wednesday, January 8th is an amendment to House rules 44-52 that would allow a committee to table a bill before a public hearing if 3/4 of the committee votes in favor.
In an op-ed, Rep. Dan McGuire says, “Wasting time on bills that have no hope makes it that much harder to do a good job on the others.” While this rule change may seem like a step toward government efficiency, it is a sinister, and at best selfish, betrayal of representative government in New Hampshire.
Respectfully, here’s why Rep. Dan McGuire is wrong.
McGuire is implying that, if a bipartisan committee majority opposes a bill, the bill has no hope. This is fantastically false. Our network of churches and supporters has proven it false again and again, year after year.
Key committees are traditionally stacked with a “bipartisan” uniparty majority that is out of step with the full legislature.
Under GOP former chairman Ned Gordon, a pro-abortion fanatic, a bipartisan majority of the House Judiciary Committee tried several times to enshrine unlimited abortion through nine months of pregnancy. Yet their efforts were consistently defeated by the full legislature.
If Rep. Gordon had been able to dictate policy for the whole state with his “bipartisan majority” in 2021, New Hampshire would now have unlimited elective abortion—a position supported by under 30% of New Hampshire voters.
In 2023, a bipartisan majority of the House Judiciary Committee, including GOP Rep. Dave Testerman, voted to incarcerate biological men in women’s prisons. Their position was then repudiated by a majority of the House.
Over the past two sessions, almost all of Cornerstone’s endorsed positions on bills have prevailed in the full legislature. But our positions very commonly suffer temporary setbacks in committee, where uniparty elites and lobbyists can more easily use manipulation and arm-twisting to get their way.
Not every representative who wants this rule change is actively trying to enact a left-wing agenda. As Rep. McGuire points out, being a New Hampshire state representative is a very demanding, full-time, volunteer position. Some Republican representatives are tired of working exhausting hours for free and simply want less work to do.
Perhaps there are other solutions to this that are worth exploring, such as requiring multiple cosponsors or even paying state representatives. But entrusting total power to a small elite of party leaders and paid lobbyists is not a solution: it is a complete betrayal of republican government.
If this egregious rule change passes this week, it will be consistently used by an alliance of Democrats and weak Republicans to block conservative legislation that could have passed the full legislature.
Call your state representative now and tell them to oppose this rule change.
