State Reps. Jim Kofalt and Shane Sirois briefed the New Ipswich Select Board this week on bills that have recently passed, failed, or been vetoed.
Several of the bills related to education.
• The Legislature approved House Bill 324, prohibiting obscene or harmful-to-minors material in public school libraries and classrooms, including content related to sex, and required school boards to adopt policies to resolve complaints. But it was vetoed by Gov. Kelly Ayotte.
Kofalt said the bill was not an attempt at “censorship” — suppressing publishing or purchasing certain material. Rather, he said, it made sense to set sensible limits on what children could obtain.
“We would not put pornographic magazines in the school library, or I hope we wouldn’t, and yet we have some books that are pretty close to the same thing,” Kofalt said. “It’s not censorship; it’s drawing boundaries over what we think are age-appropriate materials for children.”
• Kofalt said the Legislature decided to require all school districts to consider a school-tax cap this November. The bill would limit growth of the school budget based on the previous year, adjusted for inflation and new construction. A two-thirds majority of voters could allow higher spending, a hurdle that Kofalt said would not be “insurmountable.”
• Kofalt was a sponsor of HB 408, which limits state vaccination requirements for children in foster families only to those required for school or child care programs. It also allows children in foster homes to claim a religious exemption from state-required vaccines.
Previously, the Department of Health and Human Services could require that children in foster care be up to date on vaccines recommended by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practice, and allowed only medical exemptions.
• The Legislature also voted to require able-bodied Medicaid recipients ages 19 to 64, who are enrolled in the Granite Advantage Health Care Program, to complete at least 20 hours a week of work or community engagement. Paid work, job training, school, and volunteering all count toward the requirements.
• Kofalot and Sirois noted that the Legislature has eliminated the requirement for regular motor vehicle inspections. Kofalt said people are “generally pretty happy” with the decision though some had safety concerns.
Sirois said he had looked at states that have eliminated their inspection requirements, and studies showed no increase in accidents due to mechanical failure. Kofalt said the law does not prohibit police from ticketing unsafe vehicles.
• Kofalt also talked about Gov. Ayotte’s vetoes. One killed a proposal to allow prisoners to apply for an appeal if there was new evidence in their case, or new technology became available to examine evidence. The state now allows a three-year window for appeal.
Ayotte also vetoed multiple “bathroom bills,” which would have allowed businesses, schools and state facilities to separate spaces such as restrooms, locker rooms and athletic teams by biological sex at birth. Ayotte found that the bills were overly broad, impractical to enforce and potentially exclusionary.