Testimony on HB458 - Rolling Back SB142 - an Unconstitutional Unfunded Mandate - Granite Grok

Testimony on HB458 – Rolling Back SB142 – an Unconstitutional Unfunded Mandate

Judy Aron 2

Yesterday I thanked the elected NH House Republicans for “listening” to GraniteGrok and deciding to unwind SB142 another unfunded mandate. It mandated supplying menstrual products in school district bathrooms and locker rooms in violation of the NH Constitution, Article 28-a.

Related:

Article 28-a prohibits such actions by the General Court that force costs on towns without funding them.

While the new legislation is still committee (HB458), I’m hoping that the right thing will get done, and after, if individual school districts, after a proper vote by their Legislative Bodies (their voters) wish to do that, fine.

Doing it because Gov. Sununu signed an unconstitutional law passed by folks that don’t care about the NH Constitution, Ummm, no.

NH State Rep Judy Aron was mentioned in the Concord Monitor piece that caught my eye; she emailed me as I had mentioned her in my post:

—— Original Message ——
From: “Judy Aron” <Judy.Aron@leg.state.nh.us>
To: “Skip” <Skip@granitegrok.com>
Sent: 3/8/2021 12:26:07 AM
Subject: HB458 – and your article in grok

Hello Skip.

Thanks for the mention in your grok article about HB 458. Just wanted to send you a copy of my testimony (below) when I presented the bill to the education committee.
Also you should know Rep. Jess Edwards has a similar one coming up HB276. to be heard 10 am Tuesday. I co-sponsored his, too…

~ Judy

Again, good on her for doing so, and without further ado (and my ramblings but with my emphasis below), here is her testimony:

02/23/21 – House  Education Committee
Recommend Ought to Pass on – HB458 – An Act relative to provision of menstrual products for students in need.

Dear House Education Committee Members,

In 2019, SB142, was passed in the State legislature in response to accommodating a need that was identified, having to do with providing students attending NH public middle and high schools, who could not afford feminine hygiene products, with sanitary napkins and tampons in school bathrooms.  The concept had, and still has, much merit.  However, there are several things wrong with the current statute which needs to be fixed, which is why I am presenting this bill to you today.

First and foremost, it is our sworn oath and duty to uphold our NH Constitution. Our NH Constitution makes it very clear in [Art.] 28-a.

[Mandated Programs.] The state shall not mandate or assign any new, expanded or modified programs or responsibilities to any political subdivision in such a way as to necessitate additional local expenditures by the political subdivision unless such programs or responsibilities are fully funded by the state or unless such programs or responsibilities are approved for funding by a vote of the local legislative body of the political subdivision. 

This statute that was created in 2019 created an unfunded mandate to our school systems.  It first mandates through RSA 189-16a I, that menstrual hygiene products MUST be made available at no cost in all gender neutral bathrooms and bathrooms designated for females located in public middle and high schools and then it goes on to further say in RSA 189-16a III that  “The school district shall bear the cost of supplying menstrual hygiene products.”   This is clearly a violation of Art 28-a of the NH Constitution. 

The bill that I am presenting seeks to repeal the statute and replace it with one that is in line with our Constitutional oath and duty, yet it still allows for females in need to be provided with menstrual products.

First of all, I thought it was better to place this statute in a section more appropriate for the topic, as this does not belong in an area of statute having to do with School Boards, Transportation and Instruction of Pupils. Instead, it seems better suited to be in the section of the Education statute having to do with School Health and Sanitation. Usually, young ladies would go to the nurse’s office if they were in need of sanitary supplies. Nurse’s offices always had supplies available in an emergency or if someone was genuinely in need.

This bill also leaves it up to the school administration to decide for themselves if they have an issue of students being in need of menstrual products, and to determine how and where to provide those products.  I don’t think the state of NH should micromanage schools regarding how and where to provide products.  Those things should be left up to the discretion of the school administrators.

When writing this bill, I heard from people telling me that their schools were experiencing problems with the current policy as set in 2019 by RSA 189:16-a.  In passing, people told me that current policy has been very costly for their school and ultimately the local taxpayers.  Schools have had to buy machines or other distribution devices for every bathroom, at great cost, and they constantly have to refill product that is left in restrooms.  Products are ending up being hoarded by ALL students, and worse, removed by non students.  The truth is if you leave a basket of tampons or napkins, they will disappear in a flash.   Clearly this was not the intention of this statute.  The unintended consequence here is that the reality is that schools are supplying all students, plus any school visitors with menstrual products, and not just those who are in need.  This is a costly proposition for schools and may in fact not allow products to be actually available by the ladies who this RSA was intended to help, if product is gone from the restroom when they are there.

I think it makes much more sense for the schools to decide their own policies regarding the availability of menstrual supplies and how to distribute them to those who truly need them.  If they want to supply products to everyone, then that is their choice as well.

With regard to how school districts pay for these supplies, that is also another matter. Since this bill before you does not mandate that every bathroom and every school offer these products, it is no longer an unfunded mandate.  The bill also states clearly that if a school decides to offer product that the cost can be covered by donations to the school, or purchased via available grant money, or through any available state or local funding reimbursement programs.

This bill still allows products to be made available, but leaves decisions regarding availability to be made by the local administration and allows them the flexibility regarding how to cover the cost of the products

This makes for Constitutionally sound and flexible statute which overall benefits our schools as well as our  students in need.

Thank You,

Rep. Judy Aron
NH State Representative
Sullivan County District 7

(Acworth, Goshen, Langdon, Lempster, Washington)
Environment and Agriculture Committee, Vice-Chair
Transportation, Member

Once again, many thanks, especially for the recognition that in everything we do, we ALL (but especially for Reps and Senators creating new Law, the Constitutionality of such should always be uppermost. It should never be the outlook of our elected officials that “it’s somebody else’s job, not mine”. Sorry, we didn’t give you a carte blanche to do whatever you micro-tyrants and busybodies think is best for us and mandate those behaviors just because you think we’re too stupid. That “Choice” for many of you really is a four-letter word.

You swore an oath as NH State Rep Aron states – by breaking that oath, should we just start calling you liars to your face? Or will “micro-tyrants” get the point across?

 

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