Upcoming Hearings and Votes (Week of 4/1/24)

Welcome back to another edition of our weekly Upcoming Hearings and Votes email! This week, we are focusing our efforts on several bills that are set for votes in the New Hampshire Senate. Among these are three anti-LGBTQ bills, and bills related to substance use treatment and childhood lead exposure. Let’s dive in!

Learn more and take action below:

Upcoming Public Hearings

Tuesday, April 2 at 11:10 AM - Child Marriage (Legislative Office Building, Room 206)

The House Child and Family Law Committee is holding a public hearing on SB 359, which would raise the legal age of marriage in New Hampshire from 16 to 18 years old. This bill has already passed the Senate.

Upcoming Executive Sessions

The Senate Finance Committee is expected to vote on a recommendation for two of our priority bills on Tuesday, April 2. Following the Committee vote, the bills will likely go to a Senate floor vote on Thursday, April 4.

Oversight of Substance Use Treatment System: SB 495 would improve New Hampshire’s substance use treatment system by strengthening patient protections and ensuring high-quality services. Email the Senate Finance Committee to urge them to protect the health of individuals battling addiction.

Preventing Childhood Lead Exposure: SB 392 increases efforts to make New Hampshire homes and communities lead-safe by allocating additional resources to a fund that helps remove lead hazards from residential buildings. This would help prevent lead exposure in NH children, who are at the highest risk for lead poisoning. Email the Senate Finance Committee to urge them to protect NH children from the harms of lead exposure.

Upcoming Senate Votes

This week likely marks the last Senate session before crossover, meaning that many of our priority bills will have votes in the Senate this week.

Child Care for Child Care Teachers: SB 404 provides child care workers with automatic access to the New Hampshire Child Care Scholarship program to help keep qualified early childhood educators in the field. The bill met an unexpected hurdle last week when the Senate Finance Committee passed an amendment that would remove funding needed to help child care teachers access scholarship funds for their own children. Email your state senator to encourage them to overturn the Senate Finance amendment and pass the earlier version of SB 404.

Supports for Child Care Centers: SB 596 would provide child care centers with the necessary resources to care for children with additional development and behavioral needs. Last week, the Senate Education Committee unanimously voted not to recommend passage for this bill, however, there is still time to email your state senator and encourage them to overturn the committee recommendation and pass the bill!

Mandatory Outing in Schools: SB 341 would require school employees to disclose the gender identity or sexual orientation of students to parents. Requiring teachers to share sensitive information with parents before the student is ready removes the students' opportunity to feel supported by a trusted adult. Additionally, outing a student to unsupportive parents can threaten their physical and mental health. If you haven’t already, email your Senator to urge them to oppose forced outing bills to protect youth in schools.

Sports Bans for Transgender Girls: Both SB 375 and SB 524 would ban transgender girls from playing on school sports teams that align with their gender identity at both the interscholastic and intercollegiate level. Sports and athletics offer opportunities for all students to build a sense of belonging and learn important life skills like teamwork, leadership, confidence, and self-discipline. Email your Senator to urge them to oppose sports bans for transgender girls so they won’t be denied the positive opportunities that sports provide.

Discrimination in Public Spaces: SB 562 would allow for discrimination against transgender people by banning them from using bathrooms or locker rooms and participating in sports that align with their preferred gender identity. Bans such as these prohibit transgender youth from participating in typical daily activities and make them feel unwelcome in their communities, which leads to poorer mental health outcomes. Email your Senator to urge them to oppose bills that discriminate against transgender people in public spaces.

Recapping Last Week

House Votes

Recovery Housing: The House voted to pass HB 1521, which supports the development of recovery housing in New Hampshire by helping cities and towns develop recovery housing resources. The bill will now advance to the Senate.

Protecting the Alcohol Fund: The House voted to send HB 1702 to interim study, meaning it will not advance this session. This bill would have repealed the Liquor Commission Fund and removed the requirement that five percent of gross profits from state alcohol sales be directed to the Alcohol Abuse Prevention and Treatment Fund.

To check in on the status of all our priority bills, visit our Current Legislation page and select an issue you care about!