SB 219 – Act now to:
1. Sign in in support of the bill, next scheduled for a hearing in the House Education Committee Tuesday, 4/16/24.
2. Consider attending the committee hearing to testify in support of the bill, 4/16/24, at 9:30am in the Legislative Office Building room 205-207.
SB 219, The Students First Act, is an important bill that will crack down on sprawling and expensive school administration in New Hampshire to ensure that our education spending puts students and teachers first.
As amended by the Senate, SB 219 would require school districts to report six-figure salaries of diversity professionals and other high-paid administrators before school budget meetings.
These reports will prove to voters that they are being deceived. Despite decades of increasing school expenses around New Hampshire to reportedly benefit our students, no school tax increases are going to teacher pay. Instead, school districts are creating well-paid, left-wing administrative bureaucracies focused on expensive Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives and staffing, all at the expense of teachers and students.
WHAT YOU CAN DO:
1. Register your support of SB 219 by signing in in support of the bill here.
You can find step-by-step instructions on how to sign in here.
2. Submit written testimony. You can do this when you sign in. Simply hit “choose file” under step number four to upload a document with your testimony, or type your testimony into the provided box.
3. Come testify in person. We have step-by-step instructions on how to testify here. You can also reach out to us at cornerstone@nhcornerstone.org if you have any questions about the testifying process.
Important Note: Some have issues with the House remote sign-in page. If you are encountering problems, you can also email the committee directly to register your support of this bill and/or submitting written testimony. You can find their contact info here.
As we work to expand New Hampshire’s safe haven law to save more babies from fatal abandonment or abuse, it’s important to remember that every member of the body of Christ is called to a specific role in protecting the least of these.
This week, Pastor Kevin Twombly at Restoration Foursquare Church in Concord reminds us that Granite State churches have a special and unique opportunity to operate as safe havens. To learn more about how your church can function as a safe haven for vulnerable infants, read our blog of resources here.
Additionally, pastors have clergy-penitent privilege and cannot be compelled to reveal the identity of parents who want to anonymously surrender their baby. Check out Pastor Twombly’s video below and help spread his positive message to shed light on church safe havens by sharing it on Facebook, Twitter/X, and Instagram.
Several pieces of legislation seeking to address the issue of protecting women’s sports are being considered by the New Hampshire General Court with one, HB 396, uniquely positioned for passage. HB 396, permitting classification of individuals based on biological sex under certain limited circumstances, narrowly survived the House and is now headed to the Senate for review.
While other pending legislation focuses on sporting events alone, HB 396 provides for broader application by allowing “any person or organization, public or private” the opportunity to make a classification based on biological sex. This level of classification flexibility and protection is not present in any of the other bills.
HB 396 provides the most expansive framework to address these issues and has the greatest success of becoming law in New Hampshire. It is of vital necessity that the Senate pass HB 396, unamended in any way, as an important first and needed step in clarifying the state’s ability to differentiate based on biological sex. This bill will pave the way for any person or organization, public or private, to protect women in the areas of sports, prisons and places of intimate privacy.
WHAT YOU CAN DO:
We encourage you to stay tuned for any updates on HB 396 as it advances to the Senate. Read more about this important issue and its priority in our blog post here.
On March 21st, the New Hampshire House of Representatives, including many Republicans, ignored the voices of the disabled community, veterans, and concerned New Hampshire citizens of all ages and cast their vote to legalize state-sanctioned suicide. HB 1283, relative to end of life options, passed by the closest of margins in the House, 179-177.
HB 1283 poses a risk to all Granite Staters, but especially to young citizens, already at risk for suicide. You can read more on this risk and how assisted suicide, in all forms, must be opposed in this op-ed from Mary Fahey: Young People Need Suicide Prevention, Not Promotion.
WHAT YOU CAN DO:
As the issue of state-sanctioned suicide advances to the Senate, we urge you to continue strong opposition to the bill, and stay tuned for more Cornerstone updates on key dates, including when the bill comes up for a hearing before the Senate HHS Committee.
We will keep you informed on any additional opportunities to help halt this dangerous legislation.
