This Week’s Recap – Culture War Bill Hearings Held and Partisan School Boards Gets a Thumbs Down in Committee
This week, hearings were held on three culture war bills, and NEA-NH was there to oppose all three. Enough is enough with classroom censorship bills that threaten educators and their livelihoods, and the Committee certainly heard that at the hearing. Thank you to all those who signed in or wrote in against these bills. Please stay tuned for upcoming action alerts for when these bills have a floor vote on the full House.
We also got positive news this week over in the Senate as the Senate Election Law Committee unanimously recommended killing two bills about turning school board elections into partisan ones that list a candidate’s political party and a bill that would have allowed a community to unilaterally withdraw from a cooperative school district. The full Senate will vote on those recommendations next week.
Keep Guns off College Campuses – Oppose HB 1793
HB 1793 would prohibit any public institution of higher education from enacting any rules or policies restricting the possession, carry, storage, or lawful use of firearms or non-lethal weapons on campus. It also specifies that no state or institutional permit or license shall be required for carrying these weapons and would invalidate any current campus restrictions.
Please SIGN IN or WRITE IN to OPPOSE HB 1793 and tell the Senate Judiciary Committee we don’t need to make it harder to keep our public colleges safe from gun violence. (Hearing is Tuesday, April 14 at 1:45pm in the Senate Judiciary Committee – full sign-in instructions below)
Mandatory Open Enrollment Committee Vote Expected This Week
SB 101 will finally be getting a Committee vote after two hearings where the public overwhelming came out to oppose this legislation, even with the amendments being presented. Use our form to contact your state representative(s) and the governor to let them know that this mandatory open enrollment plan does not work for students.
Voucher Double Dipping
The Senate Education Committee also held its public hearing on HB 1817 recently; this bill would allow families to accept a voucher and then also have the right to enroll in classes at their local public school. This is yet another attempt to expand the voucher program and take more public dollars away from public schools. This bill is a double whammy at a time when school districts are struggling to even level fund their budgets. NEA-NH was there to oppose the bill, but there is still time to contact the Committee before they vote on a recommendation. Let the Senate Education Committee know you’re opposed to using local property tax dollars to subsidize private education.
NEA-NH Action Center
Most of the tools and information you need to be a legislative advocate for public education are right at your fingertips through NEA-New Hampshire. Check out our NEA-NH Action Center to get all the information you need about issues we’re tracking at the State House, how to communicate with your lawmakers, and how to take action on specific bills.
Questions?
If you have questions on any of these bills or ones not mentioned here, please feel free to contact Brian Hawkins, NEA-NH Director of Government Relations at [email protected].
Need help signing in on legislation? Follow these comprehensive instructions (details for public hearings are contained in each action request).
For House hearings:
1. Visit this link: https://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/house/committees/remotetestimony/default.aspx
2. Enter your personal information
3. Select the hearing date
4. Select the committee
5. Choose the bill
6. I am - A member of the public
7. Choose who you are representing - Myself
8. Indicate your position on this bill
9. Upload remote testimony (Optional)
10. Review information and click submit
For Senate hearings:
1. Go to https://bit.ly/3S4Cof1 and click the date that the bill you are interested in is being heard
2. Select the committee that is hearing the bill
3. Select the bill you are interested in
4. Select a category – Member of the Public
5. Indicate your position on this bill
6. Click continue
7. Enter your name and contact information
8. Click continue
9. Carefully review the information to ensure it is entered correctly. If it is correct, check the box and click continue.
