This Week’s Recap: House and Senate Take Final Action on Campus Carry, Banned Concepts, and More Bills
Good News: Senate Kills Campus Carry Legislation and House Kills Banned Concepts 3.0
The Senate killed HB 1793, the campus carry bill, when they refused to accede to the House request for a Committee of Conference on this bill to prohibit any higher education institution from prohibiting firearms on campus. An amendment adopted by the Senate gave faculty the right to carry firearms on campus without restriction, but that was not enough for House Republicans, which means this bill is dead for this session.
Over on the other side of the wall, the House killed HB 1792, which was informally referred to as the “CHARLIE Act” when it originated in the House. As amended by the Senate, this bill would have made new changes to the existing “banned concepts” law that is under appeal in federal court after a lower court deemed it unconstitutional. The bill was defeated by a combination of unanimous Democratic opposition and a cohort of Republicans who felt the Senate’s version strayed too far from their original legislation.
Not So Good News: Two Culture War Bills Pass
While the House did defeat HB 1792, two other culture war bills are advancing to Governor Ayotte’s desk after the Senate agreed with House changes. While the timeline is undetermined, we expect SB 430 and SB 434 to go to Governor Ayotte’s desk within the next month or so:
- Mandatory Disclosure Bill – SB 430 is the return of a bill that mandates written answers from educators in response to inquiries; it is too broad and risks putting educators in a position of outing a student. SB 430 also uses the threat of a potential violation of the educator code of conduct as an enforcement mechanism.
- One More Book Ban Bill – As amended, SB 434 would require school boards to adopt and post a policy for addressing complaints against public school materials. The language, however, uses several undefined and vague terms that will only invite a flood of subjective claims against books and other materials that will chill the diversity of educational material available for students.
If you believe in the freedom to read for all New Hampshire students, we hope you’ll join us and partners including the ACLU of New Hampshire for a Read-In to Keep Book Bans Out on Thursday, June 11 at 11:00 AM. We’ll be gathering at the New Hampshire State House to urge Governor Ayotte to VETO HB 434. Click here to find out more and RSVP!
Next Week: Major Committees of Conference to Pay Attention To
Going into this next week we are tracking over a dozen bills that the House and Senate agreed to form a Committee of Conference. This small group of appointed state representatives and senators will try and arrive at a compromise between the two versions of bills. If agreement is reached, that final version of a bill would need to be voted on by each chamber on the final day each chamber meets in session, which is June 4th. So, circle your calendars.
Here are the most consequential bills where a committee will be meeting next week:
- HB 1300: Mandatory Tax Cap Vote – The Senate passed HB 1300 with an amendment. As amended, the bill would set up a one-time vote this November (rather than at every even-year November General Election as the House proposed) on instituting a tax cap tied to inflation for each local school district. If adopted in that community, the tax cap would be in place until it was repealed. The House version required a vote every two years to adopt or maintain such a cap. Both versions specifically target school districts with arbitrary caps that don’t address the real issue of public education funding inequities in our state. The Committee of Conference on HB 1300 will meet on Wednesday, May 27 at 10:10 AM at 1 Granite Place in Room 228.
- HB 751: Open Enrollment – The House and Senate had their first Committee of Conference meeting this past week on this bill. As it stands currently, this bill mimics the version of mandatory open enrollment that recently failed in the House (SB 101) with the addition of a statewide enrollment cap of 500 students in the first year with an automatic escalator each year. The cap, however, would go away if it is not met for two consecutive years, without the Legislature passing a new law to do so. A disappearing cap would turn a somewhat small open enrollment program into a much larger one with significant consequences for some school districts. The latest proposal still does not address concerns that have been raised about special education and other access issues, nor does it address the fundamental inequities in our state’s public school funding system. The Committee of Conference on HB 751 will next meet on Tuesday, May 26 at 2:00 PM at 1 Granite Place in Room 231.
You can see the full list of bills we are tracking in Committees of Conference here.
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.
