Legislative Update June 17

Week of June 17th – June 21st 

Tell Governor Sununu it’s time to take out his veto pen!

While these bills have not yet reached the Governor’s desk, the House and Senate have agreed on the language for each bill. The Governor is the last line of defense against ill-advised legislation. Urge him to veto the bills listed below! Another item of concern is the state budget. Read on for more information!

BILL: HB 446, Initiating Amendments and Corrections to Birth Certificates

STATUS: Passed by both the House and the Senate, this bill is awaiting the enrollment process before it goes to the Governor.

CORNERSTONE POSITION OPPOSED.  For more information including the text of the amendment the Senate adopted, see the blog post on the Cornerstone website

WHAT YOU CAN DO: Ask Governor Sununu to veto the bill. Vital records exist to document facts, not feelings about one’s own age, sex, or place of birth.

BILL: HB 608 Expanding the Law Against Discrimination Based on Gender Identity

STATUS: Passed by both the House and the Senate, this bill is awaiting the enrollment process before it goes to the Governor.

CORNERSTONE POSITION OPPOSED. What seems like a harmless housekeeping bill is a lot more insidious, a way to punish those who don’t get on board with LGBTQ policies. Read about the unintended consequences here

WHAT YOU CAN DO: Ask Governor Sununu to veto the bill.

BILL: HB 669, Relative to Gender Identity Information on Drivers’ Licenses and Non-Driver ID

STATUS: Now that it has been passed by both the House and the Senate, this bill is awaiting the enrollment process before it goes to the Governor.

CORNERSTONE POSITION:  OPPOSED. The bill would allow a gender notation of M, F, or X (meaning non-binary or “other”) on drivers’ licenses and state-issued non-driver IDs. It makes no sense to allow a subjective feeling to determine the data appearing on such documents. Read Cornerstone’s testimony on HB 669. 

WHAT YOU CAN DO: Ask Governor Sununu to veto HB 669. Don’t be swayed by appeals to counterfeit compassion for people who identify as neither male nor female. The information on a driver’s license has never before been dictated by feelings. 

BILL: SB 263 Relative to Anti-Discrimination for Students in Public Schools

STATUS: Passed by both the House and the Senate, this bill is awaiting the enrollment process before it goes to the Governor.

CORNERSTONE POSITION: OPPOSED No one wants invidious discrimination in schools, but SB 263 does not attack the problem of discrimination or bullying among students. It poses more questions than solutions, and it requires far more serious study than it has received so far in the legislature. See “Gender Politics Goes to School,” Cornerstone’s most recent commentary on the bill.   The very title of the bill – “relative to anti-discrimination protection for students in public schools” – is offensive and misleading, suggesting that anyone who points out the bill’s flaws is actually trying to discriminate against children.

WHAT YOU CAN DO:  Ask Governor Sununu to veto SB 263. It would allow lawsuits against school districts on grounds of discrimination, without holding individuals responsible; it does not protect students from bullying by their peers; it does not specify the burden of proof to be met after a discrimination complaint is made; it leaves open the question of what transgender “discrimination” means in the context of school athletics; and it provides no cap on the dollar amount of damages that can be paid out nor does the bill contain a cap on legal fees – causing the taxpayer to carry the financial burden.

BILL: HB 480 Sports Betting

STATUS: Passed by both the House and the Senate, this bill is awaiting the enrollment process before it goes to the Governor.

CORNERSTONE POSITIONOPPOSED. HB 480 would expand legal gambling in a manner that makes the state rely on gambling addiction in order to make sports betting a reliable state revenue source. Read Cornerstone’s op-ed, “Gambling With Our People.” 

WHAT YOU CAN DO:  Ask Governor Sununu to veto the bill. The profitability of the commercial sports betting industry relies on exploiting addicted gamblers. New Hampshire deserves better.

Tell Gov. Sununu: Keep Abortion Out of State Budget!

New Hampshire taxpayers will be funding abortions directly if Governor Sununu accepts the state budget passed by the Senate. 

A Senate and House conference committee will meet Monday, June 17 to reconcile their differences over the state budget, with Sen. Lou D’Allesandro (Lou.Dallesandro@leg.state.nh.us) serving as chairman. Please let the committee know you do not want one dime of your tax dollars to be used for abortion. Given the makeup of the committee, however, abortion dollars are likely to stay in the budget so that’s why the governor needs your support to veto it.

Call Governor Sununu at 271-2121 and let him know you do not want one dime of your tax dollars to be used for abortion! This point alone will make a veto of the state budget necessary, if the House and Senate conferees don’t remove abortion funding from the budget. 

Other ways of contacting the Governor include email and fax (603-271-7680). You can write a letter to the Governor at State House, 107 N. Main Street, Concord NH 03301.

From the New Hampshire Union Leader, 6/7/19, “Democrats moving Senate budget toward finish line”: “The debate turned to abortion when Senate Democrats added language to allow state spending for abortion in response to the Trump Administration’s ‘gag rule’ that threatens to reduce federal grants for family planning.” 

FACT: That “rule” is not in effect, due to a judicial injunction. Even if that rule were in effect, it would simply be an order that federal family planning funds should not go to abortion providers. New Hampshire’s Senate Democrats want to use that rule as an excuse to use your money to pay for abortions, even though they know the proposed rule is not in effect.

FACT: Under the federal Hyde Amendment, federal Medicaid dollars cannot be used for most abortions. New Hampshire has had a similar policy on the state level, up to now. The state budget being considered by the House/Senate conference committee would throw that policy out the window.

It’s up to Governor Sununu to make the final decision on what’s included in the budget. Let him know: NOT ONE DIME for abortion.

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