InDepthNH.org (https://indepthnh.org/category/politics/page/9/)
Political news for New Hampshire and beyond.
The state budget passed by the Republican controlled House of Representatives for the next two years has many organizations in the state talking about potential impacts of cuts to municipalities, tourism, education, healthcare and family planning.
Imagine if you could save money on your electric bill by using a service provider to adjust your thermostats, switch your dishwasher or dryer on or off, or activate or deactivate your home electric vehicle charger, all as demand on the grid fluctuates.
Why wait until elections to get to know your lawmakers? Watch them in committee and in sessions on YouTube on your phone, tablet or computer. Maybe during your coffee break if you are at work. Or after work, you can catch the day’s recorded live stream.
“Elections have consequences,” is an old adage and the last general election may be one of the most consequential in many years, both in New Hampshire and nationally.
Despite the efforts of Democrats to offer a “better budget alternative,” the majority of Republicans in the House of Representatives approved a $15.4 billion two-year budget that cuts many services and hikes fees on Thursday.
The House wants to prohibit sanctuary cities or towns in the state to shelter undocumented immigrants, but Democrats argued now is not the time with the Trump administration deporting immigrants without due process or any evidence they committed a crime.
In sometimes emotional testimony, parents of school children spoke Thursday at a Senate Education Committee hearing for and against House Bill 324, which would ban “obscene,” “harmful” and “age-inappropriate” materials from schools and school libraries.
By a slim margin, the House Thursday approved expanding the Education Freedom Account program to every child in the state in the second year of the next biennium.
A bill mandating teachers answer parents’ questions about their child “completely and honestly” came under fire at a public hearing Wednesday.