Week of March 9-13, 2020

Key Updates and Calls to Action

• Multiple key bills being taken up by the House with committee recommendations we hope to overturn. See list and details in this update.
• CACR-14 (Abortion in the NH Constitution) tabled by House!
• Senate to vote on abortion insurance mandate March 11.

House Session March 11 and 12

Note on emailing: Normally, Cornerstone advises that you send a separate email on each bill when you contact a legislator via email. With many bills on the House agenda for March 11 and 12, we recognize that this is not practical. If you choose to email your state representatives on the following House bills, mention in the subject line that you are a resident of the rep’s district.As always, the best messages are brief, clear, and courteous.

The following bills are listed in the order in which they appear in the House agenda (calendar).

BILL: HB 1163-FN, School Records Noting “Non-binary” Identity

CORNERSTONE POSITION: Cornerstone OPPOSES HB 1163-FN. However, we understand the practical implications of recently-enacted gender policy legislation. See Cornerstone’s testimony on HB 1163-FN.

WHAT YOU CAN DO: Contact your representative and ask him/her to vote to support the committee recommendation of “interim study” on HB 1163-FN. This bill is on the so-called “consent calendar” because the committee vote was so lopsided.

BILL: HB 1251, Participation in School Sports for Female Student Athletes (Save Women’s Sports)

CORNERSTONE POSITION: Cornerstone SUPPORTS HB 1251, and opposes the committee recommendation of “inexpedient to legislate.” The research and science are clear. Allowing biological males to compete against girls robs girls of the opportunity to win or participate. See Cornerstone’s written testimony on HB 1251.

WHAT YOU CAN DO: Contact your state representatives and ask that they overturn the committee’s “inexpedient to legislate” report, and instead vote “ought to pass” on HB 1251. 

FYI: A minority on the Education Committee supports the bill. Rep. Rick Ladd (R-Haverhill) wrote a minority report for his colleagues, with this important reminder: “The bill won’t deny any student the opportunity to play sports. It will provide an objective way to keep girls’ teams for girls. It will keep things just and fair.”

BILL: HB 1306, Relative to Recitation of Lord’s Prayer in Elementary Schools

CORNERSTONE POSITION: Cornerstone OPPOSES HB 1306. Read our testimony on the bill. Our position is a cautious one. While it in no way impacts student-led prayer, the original purpose of this law was to permit using the prayer text for an academic/historical purpose. We would not want to take that flexibility away from school districts.

WHAT YOU CAN DO: Contact your representative and ask him/her to vote to overturn the committee’s recommendation of “ought to pass” and instead vote “inexpedient to legislate” on HB 1306.

BILL: HB 1423, Regarding Educational Tax Credit Scholarships

CORNERSTONE POSITION: Cornerstone OPPOSES HB 1423. It is an unnecessary bill that would impose on families receiving education tax credit scholarships reporting requirements that violate pupil privacy laws. 

WHAT YOU CAN DO: Contact your representative and ask him/her to vote to overturn the committee recommendation of “ought to pass” and instead support the committee minority’s report of “ought to pass with amendment” on HB 1423.

BILL: HB 1459, Parental “Opt-Out” on School Surveys

CORNERSTONE POSITION: Cornerstone OPPOSES HB 1459. A similar bill was voted down last year. By requiring parents to “opt out” of non-academic surveys rather than “opt in,” parents are at risk of not getting those “written notices” sent home with students, opening the door to exposing children to questions and material parents would oppose. See Cornerstone’s written testimony on a similar bill from 2019.

WHAT YOU CAN DO: Contact your representative and ask him/her to vote to overturn the committee recommendation of “ought to pass with amendment” and instead vote “inexpedient to legislate” on HB 1459.

BILL: HB 1404, Prophylactic Treatment for HIV/AIDS for Minors Without Parental Consent

CORNERSTONE POSITION: Cornerstone OPPOSES HB 1404. By leaving parents out of the knowledge/consent process for dispensing prophylactic drugs to minors engaging in high-risk sexual behavior, we are failing to care for and adequately protect our children.

WHAT YOU CAN DO: Contact your representative and ask him/her to vote to overturn the committee recommendation of “ought to pass with amendment” and instead support the minority report of “interim study” on HB 1404.

BILL: HB 1577-FN, Relative to Changing Birth Records

CORNERSTONE POSITION: Cornerstone OPPOSES HB 1577-FN. It allows for the retroactive amending of birth records to record a self-selected gender identification other than a person’s biological sex. Cornerstone maintains that birth records play a critical role in ensuring accurate historical statistical and demographic data and should not be altered in this way. See Cornerstone’s written testimony on HB 1577-FN.

WHAT YOU CAN DO: Contact your representative and ask him/her to vote to overturn the committee’s recommendation of “ought to pass with amendment” and instead vote “inexpedient to legislate” on HB 1577-FN.

BILL: HB 1616, Authorizing Minors Age 12 and Older to See Mental Health Practitioners Without Parental Consent

CORNERSTONE POSITION:Cornerstone opposes HB 1616, a bill that undermines parental rights. An Interim Study vote is sufficient to kill the bill.

WHAT YOU CAN DO: The bill is on the House’s consent calendar with other “non-controversial” bills, and is unlikely to come up for an individual vote. You can ask your state representatives to accept the committee’s unanimous interim study report on HB 1616.

BILL: HB 1659-FN Assisted Suicide

CORNERSTONE POSITION: Cornerstone OPPOSES HB 1659-FN. We believe this dangerous bill should be defeated now with a clear “inexpedient to legislate” vote. Codifying assisted suicide under state law will hurt the people of New Hampshire, particularly our most vulnerable neighbors. Read and share our blog post on HB 1659-FN.

WHAT YOU CAN DO: The committee is recommending “interim study” on a close vote. The minority want to kill the bill outright. Assisted suicide supporters hope to garner additional support with the study period. Contact your representative and ask him/her to overturn the committee’s recommendation and instead vote “inexpedient to legislate” (ITL) on HB 1659-FN.

BILL: HB 1675-FN, Born-Alive Infant Protection Act

CORNERSTONE POSITION: Cornerstone SUPPORTS HB 1675-FN. It simply provides the right for an infant who is born alive after an attempted abortion to receive life-sustaining medical care. Read Cornerstone’s testimony clarifying the bill and its scope.

WHAT YOU CAN DO: Contact your representative and ask him/her to vote to overturn the committee recommendation of “inexpedient to legislate” and instead vote “ought to pass” on HB 1675-FN.

BILL: HB 1678-FN, Prenatal Non-discrimination Act

CORNERSTONE POSITION: Cornerstone SUPPORTS HB 1678-FN. Children should not be selectively aborted because of their sex or a genetic test. Read Cornerstone’s testimony on the bill. 

WHAT YOU CAN DO: Contact your representative and ask him/her to vote to overturn the committee recommendation of “inexpedient to legislate” and instead vote “ought to pass” on HB 1678-FN.

Senate Session March 11

BILL: SB 486-FN, requiring health insurance policies that offer maternity benefits to cover abortions

CORNERSTONE POSITION: Cornerstone OPPOSES SB 486-FN. See Cornerstone’s testimony on the bill and the Union Leader’s coverage of the committee hearing. 

WHY: SB 486-FN is both a religious liberty and life issue. By coercing all business owners (and their employees and customers) to provide direct material support for abortion regardless of their personal or moral convictions, the bill clearly crosses a line by violating constitutionally protected religious freedom and conscience rights.

WHAT YOU CAN DO: Contact your state senator and urge that the Commerce Committee “ought to pass” recommendation be overturned, and then vote “inexpedient to legislate” on SB 486-FN.  

FYI: The Senate Commerce Committee’s OTP recommendation to the full Senate was a narrow vote (3-2) along party lines. Senators Harold French (R-Franklin) and Chuck Morse (R-Salem) voted NO, and they deserve thanks from their constituents. The other members of the committee are Sens. Kevin Cavanaugh (D-Manchester), Jon Morgan (D-Brentwood), and Donna Soucy (D-Manchester).

Upcoming Hearing: Tuesday, March 10

BILL: SB 480, Participation in School Sports for Female Athletes (Save Women’s Sports)

CORNERSTONE POSITION: Cornerstone SUPPORTS SB 480.  This is the Senate version of the Save Women’s  Sports bill. Every athlete, of whatever skill level, deserves the opportunity to compete on a level playing field. Biological males don’t belong in women’s sports. Read Cornerstone’s testimony on SB 480.

WHAT YOU CAN DO: Because of the great number of people seeking to testify, the March 3rd hearing was continued to March 10th at 9. Contact the Senate Education and Workforce Development Committee and ask for an “ought to pass” vote on SB 480.The committee could vote on the bill immediately after the hearing on March 10.

Update on Recent Legislative Action

Additional updates on bills we’ve been following

Great news on CACR 14 (abortion in New Hampshire Constitution)!!

The House met and, recognizing the likelihood of passage was remote, voted to table CACR 14. This means, unless it is revived (unlikely) the bill is dead. We are so grateful for the many voices that rose up against codifying abortion in our constitution. You were heard.