This week, the House of Representatives will vote on an important piece of pro-family, pro-child legislation. HB 294, the “child tax credit” bill, is a bipartisan bill that should have the support of every Granite Stater who cares about the future of our state, regardless of party affiliation. HB 294 will be considered for passage by the house on March 9, at 10:00 AM.
HB 294 does not mandate anything but simply paves the way for municipalities to consider child tax credits in their planning. This would be an important first step in recognizing the importance of children and families to the future of our state. Learn more about the bill by reading our FAQ.
New Hampshire is experiencing a rapidly growing crisis that has received far less attention than it deserves – our state is becoming catastrophically old. As Cornerstone Executive Director Shannon McGinley has emphasized, a large percentage of our children are leaving New Hampshire to start new families elsewhere. For New Hampshire to remain competitive, we must reverse course by giving our communities more tools to attract and retain young families.
We are already experiencing the negative effects of an aging state. Without an immediate infusion of young families and workers to replace those who are retiring, New Hampshire will become a far less desirable place to live as our economy, local services, and the continuity of communities come into even more serious jeopardy.
Some have raised objections to paragraph II of the bill, which is aimed at incentivizing landlords to rent to families. However Rep. Matt Simon has introduced a floor amendment to remove this paragraph. We support this amendment.
WHAT YOU CAN DO:
Now is the time to contact your representative—whatever party they belong to—and urge them to support Rep. Simon’s floor amendment to the bill, and cast a vote for the well-being of New Hampshire families by supporting HB 294.
SB 219, The Students First Act, is an important bill that will crack down on sprawling, expensive school administration in New Hampshire and ensure that education spending prioritizes students first. This week, the Senate will consider SB 219, on March 9, at 10:00 AM.
Senator Keith Murphy has proposed a floor amendment to SB 219 that would require school districts to post the six-figure salaries of diversity professionals and other high-paid administrators before school budget meetings. Cornerstone supports the amended version of this bill and advocates that the bill be passed with the amendment. Contact your Senator and ask them to support Senator Murphy’s amendment and not to let school administrators conceal this information.
While low teacher pay is being used to justify higher school costs, ever-growing and bloated public school administrations are raking in the lion’s share of the budget through unchecked hiring and astronomical salaries. Thanks to the teachers’ unions, a push is currently underway in the Senate to cover for New Hampshire’s giant school bureaucracy by quietly killing the bill.
To finally stop our endlessly-increasing school costs, conservatives must reframe the debate. As NH Board of Education member Ryan Terrell has argued, NH teacher pay is not low because schools are underfunded, but because education spending is being systematically abused across the state.
HB 224 is a bill that would repeal all criminal and civil legal penalties against health care providers for violating the Fetal Life Protection Act. If this bill were to pass, it would no longer be a class B felony for any health care provider to perform or induce an abortion after 24 weeks of pregnancy.
HB 224 stands as a significant threat to pre-born life, as our governor, Chris Sununu, has called to remove the penalties for violating the Fetal Life Protection Act. A pro-choice individual, he is the only Republican governor in America pushing for abortion up to birth, and has pledged to sign the bill if it reaches his desk. Additionally, Chris Sununu personally lobbied for a functionally identical bill, HB 1609, in the House just last year.
HB 224 has an executive session in the House Judiciary Committee, this Wednesday, March 8, at 10:00 AM. During this session, the committee will decide on whether to recommend the bills pass (Ought to Pass or OTP) or fail (Inexpedient to Legislate or ITL) if sending to the full House for consideration, or they could take other interim actions that would keep the bill from being sent out of committee for a House vote. Interim actions would include referring for an interim study or re-referring to the committee.
WHAT YOU CAN DO:
While there is still time, we strongly urge you to call your representatives and ask them to oppose this bill. You can find your Representative here. For more information on the Fetal Life Protection Act, visit NHabortion.com.
