HB 396 is needed to clarify that nothing in New Hampshire law prevents public facilities from differentiating between the biological sexes in athletic competitions, prisons, locker rooms, restrooms, or places of intimate privacy.
Other similar legislation is limited by focusing on sporting events alone. In contrast, by clarifying that “any person or organization, public or private” can make a common-sense classification based on biological sex, HB 396 provides the most expansive framework to address the ongoing harm to vulnerable women and girls and has the greatest success of becoming law in New Hampshire. This bill also seeks to address the growing issue of young New Hampshire boys who are displaced when the opposite sex uses their restrooms in schools.
HB 396 simply clarifies the state’s ability to differentiate based on biological sex; it mandates nothing in terms of any policy. However, it will send a clear message that, under existing NH law, organizations are not required to permit access to intimate spaces solely based on self-proclaimed gender identity. It is vital that the Senate pass HB 396, unamended in any way, as an important first step to stop the abuse of women and girls.
WHAT YOU CAN DO:
HB 396 could have an executive session in the Senate Judiciary Committee this week. During an executive session, the committee will vote to recommend the bill as OTP (ought to pass) or ITL (inexpedient to legislate). There is no opportunity for public testimony during this session.
We urge you to contact the committee and ask them to vote OTP on the bill as is with no amendments.
Last week, there was a public hearing in the Senate on HB 1607, relative to expanded safe haven protections. Now, the Senate has a critical opportunity to position New Hampshire as the leader in infant protections among our New England neighbors.
Last month, the most important part of the bill was removed on the House floor: Section 5, which would have ensured parents surrendering a baby would not have to fear prosecution as a result of their surrender. It is critical and necessary to include this exclusionary provision in the expansion of safe haven law to accomplish the law’s goal which is to save lives, NOT catch criminals or deter parents from doing the right thing for their child.
We know of instances where mothers have turned away from making use of the safe haven law out of a real fear of prosecution. This either leads to an increase in illegal abandonment and likelihood of infant death through malnourishment, exposure, or overdose or keeps an unwanted child in an unsafe and dangerous environment. Excluding the act of surrendering a child from being leveraged for prosecution does not preclude bringing a criminal to justice.
Work must still be done to protect at-risk babies from fatal abandonment or abuse. The Senate must re-insert the Section 5 exclusionary provisions of the bill to ensure parents are not discouraged from using this safe and secure means to surrender their unwanted child.
WHAT YOU CAN DO:
HB 1607 could have an executive session in the Senate Judiciary Committee this week. During an executive session, the committee will vote to recommend the bill as OTP (ought to pass) or ITL (inexpedient to legislate). There is no opportunity for public testimony during this session.
We urge you to contact the committee and ask them to amend the bill to reinsert the exclusionary rule, and then vote OTP on the bill.
HB 1283, relative to end of life options, would implement state-sanctioned suicide for those facing an illness which a physician has predicted would be terminal within 6 months.
Cornerstone strongly opposes HB 1283. It had a public hearing in the Senate HHS Committee, Wednesday, April 24, with many others also coming out in strong opposition to the bill. The bill came out of committee with a recommendation of interim study. This action, if approved by the Senate, means the actual bill is dead and will not come up for a vote.
WHAT YOU CAN DO:
We urge you to contact your senator and ask them to oppose state-sanctioned assisted suicide when it comes to the Senate floor soon.
Additionally, we encourage you to read this powerful op-ed from a Manchester high school senior, Charlie Taylor, highlighting the increased youth suicide risk bills like HB 1283 pose.
SB 219, The Students First Act, was killed on the House floor. The bill, though a simple reporting requirement, would have helped crack down on sprawling and expensive school administration in New Hampshire to ensure that our education spending prioritizes students and teachers first.
The fact is very little of our substantial school tax increases are actually 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 over teachers and students.
Sadly, we thought we had won this fight for voter transparency when the bill was actually passed earlier in Thursday’s House session. However, as GOP members were leaving, the Democrats quickly brought up SB 219 for reconsideration then killed it on the House floor.
Effectively, what they killed was serving the public interest by prioritizing the interests of union bosses and overpaid school administrators over students, teachers, and taxpayers. Spending irresponsible amounts of money on non-teaching positions like administrators and DEI consultants cannot remain the status quo if New Hampshire is to bring our declining math and reading scores up and provide high-quality public education for future generations. We will not give up the fight for this much-needed first step towards fiscal transparency that puts our teachers and students first.
