Legislative Update 03/13/2023: A Win and a Loss: Updates on Recent Legislation and Where Your Action is Needed Now!

A Step Forward for Students in New Hampshire

SB 219, Thursday was an important step forward for the Students First Act, a bill we support. As amended by Senator Keith Murphy, the bill will require that—before school budget meetings—school districts show line graphs to voters on school costs, teacher pay, and administrator pay.

Why is this important? These line graphs will prove to voters that they are being duped. Despite decades of increasing school expenses around New Hampshire, no school tax increases are going to teacher pay. Instead, school districts are creating well-paid, left-wing administrative bureaucracies at the expense of teachers and students.

Despite pressure from teachers’ unions to kill the bill, the Senate made the right choice: to refer the bill back to the Senate Education Committee where Senator Murphy’s amendment can be considered.

We thank Senator Keith Murphy for his strong efforts to place students at the front and center of New Hampshire education instead of ever-growing and unchecked public school administrations.

We encourage you to thank Senator Murphy, especially if you are one of his constituents. We also encourage you to thank Senator Sharon Carson for moving to re-refer the bill to the Education Committee to consider Senator Murphy’s amendment. You can find your senator here.

You can email Senator Murphy at Keith.Murphy@leg.state.nh.us, or call him at 603-271-4063. You can email Senator Carson at Sharon.Carson@leg.state.nh.us, or call her at 603-271-3266.

New Hampshire House Protects Anti-Family Tax Policies

On March 9, the House of Representatives voted on an important piece of pro-family legislation, HB 294, a bill enabling municipalities to create a pro-child tax credit. Unfortunately, the House voted to table the bill, preventing its passing.

By voting against HB 294, the House protected New Hampshire’s government bias against families. Local governments in New Hampshire have been given a huge range of tools they can use to forcibly depress the number of families with children in their towns. However, those towns who want to attract young families will continue to have few tools at their disposal.

The vote against HB 294 is part of a decades-long pattern in New Hampshire of state and local government working to ensure that young, working families do not settle and remain in New Hampshire.

While the House decision to table HB 294 is disappointing, it is still important to encourage and thank those who stood up for families. We thank Representative Matt Simon for bringing the New Hampshire demographic issue to a greater light in the House. We encourage you to thank Rep. Simon, especially if he is your representative. You can find your representative here. Email Rep. Simon at Matthew.Simon@leg.state.nh.us or call him at 603-991-3710. 

New Hampshire is experiencing a rapidly-growing crisis that has received far less attention than it deserves. An unacceptably large percentage of our children are leaving New Hampshire to start new families elsewhere and, as a result, our state has entered a demographic winter.

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. We are grateful that some of our elected leaders see the need to address this urgent crisis.

Save The Date!

 

Help Protect Vulnerable Lives in New Hampshire

HB 224 is a bill that would repeal all penalties from our six-month abortion ban, turning the law into a meaningless joke. If this bill were to pass, there would be no consequences whatsoever for killing a healthy, viable child for any reason prior to birth.

New Hampshire law currently permits the killing of any healthy, viable child before six months’ gestation, and the Fetal Life Protection Act contains an exception for fatal fetal anomalies. Consequently, the lives this bill jeopardizes are viable pre-born babies six months and older. These children could live and thrive outside the womb if induced and delivered on the day the abortion takes place.

HB 224 stands as a significant threat topre-born life, as our governor, Chris Sununu, has called to remove the penalties for violating the Fetal Life Protection Act.  Sometimes falsely described as a pro-choice “moderate,” is the only Republican governor in America pushing for abortion up to birth.

Even Charlie Baker, the moderate, pro-choice former GOP governor of Massachusetts, vetoed a bill to decriminalize late-term abortion in 2020. In contrast, Sununu has pledged to sign HB 224 if it reaches his desk. Additionally, Sununu personally lobbied for a functionally identical bill in the House just last year.

HB 224 had an executive session in the House Judiciary Committee, on March 8. This session resulted in neither a recommendation of ITL—inexpedient to legislate—nor OTP—ought to pass, as each vote was split 10 /10 along party lines. Because HB 224 came out of the committee with no recommendation, once the bill goes to the House, the first floor motion will be OTP.

WHAT YOU CAN DO: 

Time is critical. Call your representatives now, 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.

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