State House News

Final State Budget Approval Approaching

Contact the Senate Finance Committee

Work on all bills is approaching the final round in Concord. All committee hearings and executive sessions (except for Senate Finance which we will get to in a minute)  are now complete. There will be votes on the remaining bills by the full House and Senate next week and then they will set Committee of Conferences to meet starting on the 16^th to see if they can work out their differences on bills that either chamber has amended. While we are close to the end, we still have a lot of unanswered questions, mostly due to the budget still being worked on.

This totally unnecessary bill creates the false and frankly insulting impression that we have rampant problems with extremely serious educator misconduct in so many of our public schools that it can only be solved by granting unprecedented investigatory power to the head of the Department of Education, through his hearing officers! Let me be clear, nobody wants the kind of person who would hurt students to stay in a position where they can ever do it again, whether that is as an educator, a volunteer, a sports coach, a clergy person or any other adult a child might encounter.

I am here today to express our staunch opposition to the non-germane amendment to SB 54 which would require providing all public school students firearms safety training at all grade levels as part of their public education. We have many concerns about this proposed legislation as educators, parents, grandparents, and Granite State citizens.

On behalf of our members and the people we serve, I am here to express my opposition to portions of the House passed budget HB1 and HB 2. It is said that budgets are a statement of priorities. That is especially true in times when revenues are scarce. For that reason alone, priorities must remain laser focused on meeting the state’s constitutional duties and providing assistance to those who most need it. 

It’s Time to Advocate for a Better State Budget

Another week just concluded where the actions under the State House dome are increasingly isolated from what people in Granite State cities and towns actually want. It makes you wonder, who does the extremist majority in this legislature think they are representing?

Legislative Cross-Over

Up Next: Book Bans and Expanded Vouchers

This week marked the crossover point in the legislative session. Bills that have passed the House now go to the Senate for a hearing and bills that have passed the Senate move onto the House for a hearing. It gives us a second chance to use our voices to try to stop awful policies, improve bad ones and, try to pass good ones.