By PAULA TRACY, InDepthNH.org
CONCORD – From banning cell phone use in classrooms to passing a balanced budget and working to find more affordable housing units, Senate Republicans said they will keep New Hampshire among the safest states in the nation and along the path to prosperity, despite what is expected to be a tough economic period.
Gathering with the press moments before the start of the legislative season, the new Senate President Sharon Carson, R-Londonderry, said Republicans in her chamber are ready to get to work on a number of bills and indicated some of the same priorities laid out by Democrats, Tuesday in the areas of the environment, care for children and increasing housing.
She said there will be a bill Republicans support to require school boards to develop policies surrounding cell phone use in classrooms https://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/bill_status/billinfo.aspx?id=225&inflect=2, something that has been implemented in 11 states.
State Sen. Tim Lang, R-Sanbornton, said there will also be a number of measures to ensure that parents have more rights and controls and that there is more of an emphasis on the relationship between parents and teachers.
While they have listed among the priorities to maintain the state’s Education Freedom Account, there was no language in their proposals to make what started out as a financial aid opportunity into a universal voucher system, which Democrats have feared.
There are now 16 members of the Senate who are Republicans, up from 14 since the election in November and there are now eight members of the Senate who are Democrats, down from 10 the past two years.
“We are ready to get to work for the people of New Hampshire,” said Carson. “We will ban sanctuary cities in our state, we will ban U.S. adversaries from owning property near our military bases, we will continue to support and fund the Northern Border Alliance and we will pass mandatory and minimum sentences for trafficking and distributing large amounts of fentanyl.
“When it comes to education, we will prohibit the use of cell phones by students in the classroom, we will increase transparency in school budgets, we will continue to support funding for special education and provide communities with property tax relief by sending state aid to local school districts through the student-centered education funding formula, and most importantly, we will protect the rights of parents when it comes to the education of their children,” Carson said.
Senate Majority Leader Regina Birdsell, R-Hampstead, said Republicans are looking forward to passing fiscally responsible legislation including the next budget which will be crafted this spring.
She touted the success of the state which has been under Republican control in the House, Senate and Executive branch in the past and increasingly so, for the next two years.
“We are number one in the country for women and children’s health, we are the free-est and the safest state in the nation. Republican policies have put the Granite State on the map and put the state on the path to prosperity. The New Hampshire advantage helps our state grow and thrive and this year we will continue to maintain that advantage,” Birdsell said.
The Republican Senators, she said, plan to block any sales or income tax and cut red tape that makes it harder for businesses to grow here and streamline licensing processes.
Birdsell said Republicans in the Senate will keep families healthy by protecting the Granite State Advantage program and protecting newborns who have the care they need and will continue to work to ensure water is safe to drink.
Part of the list which is likely to see support from Democrats would be to continue to improve and expand electric net metering, support clean water initiatives including efforts to reduce PFOAS and cyanobacteria contamination in lakes.
Republicans laid out that they will encourage the development of diverse energy resources in New Hampshire “by defeating all attempts to implement green energy mandates.”
They also will support the updating of New Hampshire’s solid waste regulations to protect the Granite State’s valuable natural resources, just as a proposal to build a new landfill in Dalton makes its way through the permitting process.
In a statement Carson said, “Inflation has hit every New Hampshire family hard. Republicans will deliver a balanced budget with no income tax, sales tax, or capital gains tax. New Hampshire voters entrusted us with increased majorities in the State House and we are working to deliver on this mandate. We are working to protect your wallets and lower energy costs in order to help all Granite Staters. This will help us preserve our New Hampshire Advantage and keep our state on the path to prosperity.”
