Jim Kofalt will take on a new role in New Hampshire House leadership this year.
The Wilton Republican, embarking on his third term as a state representative, will be an adviser to Speaker Sherman Packard. In this role, Kofalt said, he’ll influence his party’s legislative priorities and political strategies.
“As we move forward, we’ll be just advising the speaker on what I think his priorities should be and how we can most effectively implement those,” said Kofalt, whose Hillsborough County District 32 include Wilton, Temple and New Ipswich.
Those priorities have a good shot at getting passed this year. Republicans have a larger majority heading into the 2025 session, with big-ticket items on the docket. They’ll push to make Education Freedom Accounts universally available, establish a “parental bill of rights” and propose bills on transgender-related issues and healthcare.
Kofalt has already been involved with decisions on other House leadership roles and who should lead various committees. Packard, who announced the appointment on Dec. 23, said Kofalt has a “strong track record” as a legislator.
“His deep understanding of this process, combined with his pragmatic approach to problem-solving, makes him an invaluable asset in advising the speaker on key legislative priorities and strategies,” Packard stated. “His appointment underscores the trust in his ability to navigate complex challenges and provide strategic counsel in shaping meaningful outcomes.”
Kofalt made some waves in the Legislature last year with a bill that would have restricted access to bathrooms and locker rooms based on “biological sex.” The bill passed but was vetoed by Gov. Chris Sununu, who said it sought to address issues that weren’t occurring in New Hampshire and that it invited “unnecessary discord.” He’ll introduce the same bill again in 2025, he said.
Kofalt and Republican leadership will also look to lower the cost of living in New Hampshire, he said. The interest and dividends tax ended as of Jan. 1 — House Republicans held a mock funeral for the tax on Monday, celebrating its repeal — but Kofalt said there’s more to be done.
“Many property taxes are implemented or raised at the local level, and yet, there’s a lot we can do at a state level to try to address the fact that property taxes just went up for a lot of people in New Hampshire,” Kofalt said. “We want to try to attack that and see how we can make a meaningful difference in the property taxes that people are paying at the local level.”
As for the parental bill of rights, Kofalt said it’ll likely look similar to an attempt that failed last year. Packard himself is taking the lead on that bill, and Kofalt said it could be expanded further.
“There have been some discussions about perhaps changing some of the provisions in it to strengthen parental rights beyond what we had on the table last year,” Kofalt said. “That is very much under discussion right now, but the starting point is last year’s bill.”
Kofalt also said he plans to file several bills to expand “medical freedom,” as he called it, on items like vaccines and other medical procedures.
Charlotte Matherly is the statehouse reporter for the Monadnock Ledger-Transcript and Concord Monitor in partnership with Report for America. Follow her on X at @charmatherly, follow her Capital Beat newsletter and send her an email at cmatherly@cmonitor.com.
