Week of March 25th – March 29th
Executive Session: Committee Vote
Wednesday, March 27 10:00am
BILL: HB 481, Legalizing and Regulating Recreational Marijuana
STATUS: House Ways and Means Committee will vote Wednesday, March 27 on HB 481 (NOTE: Because this bill has a huge financial cost connected to it, and will impact our state budget, it must be approved by the House Ways and Means Committee).
CORNERSTONE POSITION: OPPOSED. Enabling widespread use of recreational marijuana PRIVATIZES THE GAINS AND SOCIALIZES THE LOSSES of marijuana commercialization: NH taxpayers will lose money on the creation of an expensive executive agency, the Cannabis Control Commission. 8 of the 11 Cannabis Advisory Board members must be involved in the pot industry by statute, and only 3 will be in law enforcement, public health, or social justice. Translation: the CCC will not care about the well-being of the average NH citizen, just the success of big pot.
WHAT YOU CAN DO: Contact the Ways and Means Committee (HouseWaysAndMeansCommittee@leg.state.nh.us) and urge them to vote “Inexpedient to Legislate”. HB 481 is wrong for New Hampshire.
Senate Session
3 p.m. Wednesday, March 27 and at 9:00 a.m. on Thursday, March 28.
BILL: SB 263 Relative to Anti-Discrimination for Students in Public Schools
STATUS: Coming to Senate floor with the House recommendation of “Ought to Pass with Amendment.”
CORNERSTONE POSITION: OPPOSED. As written, any student who is denied the opportunity to play on the sports team of his/her choice on the grounds of being transgender may sue the school and school district.
WHAT YOU CAN DO: Contact your Senators, ask them to overturn the committee report and vote “Inexpedient to Legislate.”
BILL: SB 318 Relative to Donations to the Education Tax Credit Program
STATUS: Coming to Senate floor with the House recommendation of “Ought to Pass with Amendment.”
CORNERSTONE POSITION: OPPOSED. This would undermine the ETC program by adding a politicized management commission to the ETC scholarship process. The program is NOT broken and does NOT need fixing. (See School Choice NH’s analysis.)
WHAT YOU CAN DO: Contact your Senators, ask them to overturn the committee report and vote “Inexpedient to Legislate.”
Update on Recent Legislative Action
Bills we have been following, that are now on to the next steps. Your voice still needed and still matters!
BILL: HB 632-FN Education Tax Credit Repeal
STATUS: Tabled at last Tuesday’s House Session. Any future attempt to take it off the table will require a two-thirds vote of the House.
CORNERSTONE POSITION: OPPOSED. The bill would gut this important program that has made school choice a practical option for many New Hampshire families.
WHAT YOU CAN DO: While it’s good news that the bill has not advanced, the House still has time to take up the bill again. Be sure your state representatives know that you are OPPOSED to HB 632.
BILL: HB 480 Sports Betting
STATUS: Passed at Tuesday’s House Session, vote 269-82.
CORNERSTONE POSITION: OPPOSED. It is a bad idea for the state budget to rely on addictive behavior. That’s exactly the behavior that would be required for sports betting to be the revenue source on which the House is relying. Full position here. See also the item below about SB 310, the casino bill, which was revived last Thursday.
WHAT YOU CAN DO: Cornerstone will continue to fight this bill as it comes to the Senate. Watch for updates in the next coming weeks.
BILL: HB 669, Relative to Gender Identity Information Included on Drivers’ Licenses and Non-Drivers’ ID cards
STATUS: HB 669 passed the House on a “voice vote.” Video below!
CORNERSTONE POSITION: OPPOSED to this bill which would add “X” (“nonbinary”) as an option to M for male or F for female on drivers’ licenses and non-drivers’ identification cards. We can show tolerance and respect for those who identify as a different gender while still maintaining factual data that helps our government identify and solve health and safety threats.
WHAT YOU CAN DO: Cornerstone will continue to fight this bill as it comes to the Senate. Watch for updates in the next coming weeks. (below is the 20-second audio clip of the House passing HB 669. Listen closely to the ayes and nays, and decide for yourself if the “ayes” really did have it.)
BILL: HB 291 Establishing a Committee to Study Certain Findings and Other Initiatives Regarding End-of-Life Care.
STATUS: House vote “Ought to Pass”. NOTE: Before the final vote, the House rejected, on a 146-208 vote, an amendment by Rep. Barbara Griffin (R-Goffstown) that would have ensured that assisted suicide would not be part of the study.
CORNERSTONE POSITION: OPPOSED. Cornerstone would have supported HB 291 WITH AFOREMENTIONED AMENDMENT, which would ensure that a study of palliative and hospice care would not provide cover for physician-assisted suicide. HB 291 is now a dangerous bill that Cornerstone must oppose as it goes to the Senate.
WHAT YOU CAN DO: The bill now goes to the Senate. Watch our updates for further action.
BILL: SB 310 Relative to Casino Gambling
STATUS: In a surprising move on March 21, the Senate removed SB 310 from the table and passed this dangerous bill. The chief sponsor of the bill managed to persuade several of his colleagues to switch their original vote, which is a good reminder that a tabled bill is not necessarily a dead bill.
CORNERSTONE POSITION: OPPOSED. Expanded gambling of this type and scale is bad for New Hampshire families.
WHAT YOU CAN DO: The bill now goes to the House. Watch our updates for further action.
