Legislative Update

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HB 1419: Book Bans are Back!

ACTION REQUESTED: Please take the time to sign in against HB 1419. The public hearing is Thursday, January 18th at 9:30am in the House Education Committee. HB 1419 is just one of this year’s attempts at a book ban modeled after similar bills recently introduced in other state legislatures. Like others before it, the bill contains vague language left open to interpretation and once again contains violations of the Code of Conduct. The bill sets up a process to follow that ends with the state board of education and does not truly allow local school districts to develop their own […]

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HB 1402: Take a Test…And you Get a Diploma!

ACTION REQUESTED: Before the public hearing on January 16th at 10am, please urge the House Education Committee to reject HB 1402 so we can ensure students who hold a New Hampshire high school diploma have had the opportunity to master the competencies that will help them succeed. HB 1402 gives the Commissioner of Education the power to develop a high school proficiency exam and adopt his own rules and procedures for administering that exam. Passing this unnamed exam would also result in that student testing out of high school and receiving a “state” or local school district diploma and would […]

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HB 1377: So-Called “Right to Work” Legislation is Still Wrong for NH

ACTION REQUESTED: Please sign in to OPPOSE HB 1377, which is being heard on Wednesday, January 10 at 3:00 pm in the House Labor Committee using the House online testimony submission tool. Speaking of re-run legislation, so-called “right to work” legislation is back again in the form of HB 1377 and will be heard this coming week in the House Labor committee. This anti-worker effort is still an attack on collective bargaining and an attempt to weaken unions. For decades NEA-NH has fought against this legislation because it is the centerpiece of an agenda to maximize corporate profits by passing […]

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OPPOSE HB 1206: New Version of “Teacher Loyalty Bill” – Now “Educator Indoctrination”

ACTION REQUESTED: Please sign in and/or submit written testimony to OPPOSE this bill being heard on Monday, January 8 at 2:30 pm in the House Education Committee. HB 1206 is a revamped version of a rejected bill two years ago called the “teacher loyalty” bill. It has a similar goal and approach to the banned concepts law: chill the delivery of an honest and accurate education by frightening educators with a vague law and harsh punishment.   HB 1206 states that “educators shall not present unproved theories as fact” and “an educator shall not push or assert, advocate for, or […]

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New Hampshire Legislative Session Starts with Attacks on Public Education

The New Hampshire Legislature began its 2024 session this week. The House met for two days to act on bills from the 2023 session. The Senate dealt with leftover bills on Wednesday, and conducted its first public hearings of 2024, including ones on important bills impacting public education and NEA-NH members. Thank you to all the members who signed in against the bills that had hearings this week that seek to resurrect last year’s parental rights legislation and expand private school vouchers.   Click here to view our full legislative tracker to see all the bills we are following this session. […]

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First Week of 2024 Session Starts with Action on Retained Bills and Hearings on Extreme Voucher Expansion Bills and “Parental Bill of Rights”

This is the first week of the 2024 Legislative Session. The state Senate is in session on January 3 and the House of Representatives is in session on January 3 and 4.   Let’s start with a state legislature primer/refresh. In New Hampshire, all bills eventually get a floor vote in their respective chamber. First up this week, the House and Senate will act on all bills that were held in committees from last year (retained bills). Each bill has a recommendation from the committee it was heard in. Committee recommendations include Ought to Pass (OTP), Ought to Pass with […]

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