Hello everybody!
This week was a HUGE week in the state legislature with House and Senate
voting on some incredibly important bills. I'm highlighting four below that
are important for Democrats to know and speak out about, but am also
including a list of the several other important bills I've been
highlighting over the past few months. If I omitted information on a bill
you'd like to learn more about, please just let me know!
Thanks,
Sarah
*SB 193
<http://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/bill_status/Results.aspx?q=1&txtsessionyear=2018>
- school vouchers:*
- Over two days, the State House rejected Sununu's signature legislative
priority twice with a handful of Republicans joining Democrats to overturn
this voucher bill
- SB 193 is an unconstitutional bill that would cost school districts
$141.1 million over 10 years and would force kids to either attend
unregulated unaccommodating private, religious, or parochial schools or
else stay at underfunded and abandoned public schools
- *IMPORTANT UPDATE: *Last night, Sununu had Senate Republicans add on
the original SB 193 language as an amendment to the bill HB 1636
<http://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/bill_status/Results.aspx?q=1&txtsessionyear=2018>.
It now will head to the House for another vote on MAY 10TH. They will be
able to vote for it, against it, or send it to a conference committee where
the Senate and House will work out a compromise
- SB 193 isn't going away so we need to keep up the pressure
for the sake of New Hampshire students
*HB 1319
<http://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/bill_status/Results.aspx?q=1&txtsessionyear=2018>
- transgender civil liberties:*
- Senate Democrats carried a bipartisan transgender rights bill across
the finish line with every Dem in both chambers voting for HB 1319
- This is a huge win or New Hampshire's LGBTQIA community
- With this soon to be signed bill, transgender equality will be
codified in state law
- This vote will make New Hampshire a better state for generations to
come
*HB 1264
<http://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/bill_status/Results.aspx?q=1&txtsessionyear=2018>
- voter suppression:*
- On a party line vote in the Senate, Republicans pushed through HB
1264, sending it back to the House for another vote
- 1264 and its twin HB 372 are modern day poll taxes that would keep
young legal voters from performing their civic duty
- It would force them to comply with time-consuming and costly residency
requirements if they want to vote
- While the Senate voted, Sununu questioned why its wrong to support
residency requirements when Maine and Mass both do it, misinterpreting both
<https://bangordailynews.com/2018/03/08/politics/lewiston-mayor-voting-carries-additional-legal-obligations/>
states'
<https://www.brennancenter.org/analysis/student-voting-guide-massachusetts>
residency requirements.
- HB 372
<http://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/bill_status/Results.aspx?q=1&txtsessionyear=2018>
is headed to a conference committee
- Sununu has said he "hated" HB 372 but has refrained from committing to
veto either bill, signaling to Republicans his inevitable support
- Continue to urge Sununu to veto by calling his office (603) 271-2121
*SB 313
<http://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/bill_status/Results.aspx?q=1&txtsessionyear=2018>
- Medicaid Expansion:*
- This week, House Democrats voted to reauthorize NH's
Medicaid Expansion for the next five years in a huge win for the more than
50,000 Granite Staters who rely on this program
- The Expansion has also proven a key tool in fighting the opioid crisis
- The bill passed on a voice vote even though, earlier in the process, a
majority of Republican House members voted against the reauthorization
- It now heads to Sununu's desk
- Senate and House dems have worked incredibly hard to negotiate with
Republicans to come up with a deal that meant not one person would lose
insurance
- Thank you to all Democrats who supported this bill!
*Other important votes:*
- Commuter Rail (HB 2018
<http://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/bill_status/Results.aspx?q=1&txtsessionyear=2018>)
- was removed
<https://twitter.com/AdamSextonWMUR/status/992212935719243777>from the
10-year transportation plan by Senate Republicans
- Access to birth control (HB 421
<http://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/bill_status/Results.aspx?q=1&txtsessionyear=2018>)
- passed the House, on to the Governor.
- DCYF bills - all passed and moved along to the Governor
--
Sarah Guggenheimer
Deputy Communications Director
New Hampshire Democrats
sguggenheimer@xxxxxxxx
(203) 940-1979
