We learned it was “Parental Rights Day” in House chambers this week. It was a long day filled with drama and notable activity as we went through the pile of 49 bills in front of us. In attendance were roughly 206 Republicans and 161 Democrats in the House, so the vote results were pretty predictable as Republicans took full advantage of their majority. Our docket of bills included more legislation fulfilling campaign promises outlined in our “Contract with New Hampshire.” Notably missing from the chamber today was the Democrat crying baby… but we had many other grown-up Democrat crying babies in attendance that threw tantrums and screamed. More about that later. With so many bills, I am going to have to stick to some of the highlights… but you can always go to the live-stream recording and watch at your convenience.
We learned that our first big bill of the day was HB10, establishing a parental bill of rights. This bill establishes a framework regarding the education and care of parents’ minor unemancipated children. It ensures that parents are informed about their children’s health and well-being and education while in school custody. The provisions of this bill are that parents shall have the right to direct the education, care, upbringing, and moral/religious training of their children. Eighteen states currently have parental rights statutes. Thirty-two more states and the District of Columbia have proposed new legislation known as parents’ bill of rights. So this is not something groundbreaking, but to Democrats, it is absolutely horrific. Rep. Jonah Wheeler (D- Peterbrough) stood up and spoke in favor of the bill, much to the chagrin of his caucus.
We adopted an amendment that made some changes, and the Speaker himself gave the Parliamentary Inquiry (PI) on the amendment. After he was done, some random Democrat in the gallery loudly shouted, “Shame”. The vote on adopting the amendment was 210Y-162N. House Democrats rose to try to table the bill. Rep. Mark Pearson (R-Hampstead) said in his speech that “children belong to parents,” to which some random Democrat in the gallery shouted, “No, they don’t!”. Yes, folks, this is the mentality of the Left. They do not believe parents should be in charge… they think the State, controlled by Leftists, should be in charge of children. They hate parents. The motion to Table died 163Y-209N. Rep. James Kofalt (R- Wilton) said that governments do not own children and that parental rights are natural rights and that parents have a fundamental liberty interest. We should stop presuming parents are unfit until proven otherwise, and we already have laws in place regarding that issue. The bill passed OTP/A on a roll call vote 212Y-161N. This bill reaffirms that parents, not the government, hold the primary responsibility for their children’s well-being.
Furthermore, the bill establishes clear legal protections for parents, affirming their right to access information about their children’s education, health, and development. Schools and government agencies will now be required to involve parents in key decisions, ensuring transparency and reinforcing the fundamental role of families in raising children. They cannot hide information from parents, as they have been doing. This bill doesn’t change any existing parental rights—it simply ensures that they are respected and upheld. House Democrats, of course, think that this will result in parents killing their children if they find out something about their kids they don’t approve of. Perhaps that says something about what they think of the very people that gave birth to and raised them, which is pretty sad and tragic.
We learned that HB433 passed with a roll call vote of 193Y-178N. This bill makes 17 the age of consent for marriage if either party is active duty military. That way the spouse is entitled to military benefits, especially in the case of pregnancy. The bill also and removes language regarding age waivers for marriage registration records, since age waivers are no longer issued in New Hampshire. It’s really interesting that the age of 16 is legally OK for consensual sexual relations, but marriage is not legal in NH until age 18. There’s something really wrong with that picture. There’s something equally troubling that House Democrats believe minors of any age can take hormone blockers, get sex change operations, and fundamentally alter their bodies, but they can’t get married until age 18. Ummm… what?
Another parental rights bill passed with a roll called vote 209Y-164N. We learned that HB235 added parents to the educator code of conduct. Education is a shared venture of parents, teachers and students. HB235 brings parents into the fold. House Republicans will always stand up for parents, even when Democrats do not. We see by the vote tally that all Republicans in the chamber voted for this bill and only 2 Democrats joined them. That says a lot.
We learned that there were a few bills from Election law that were of interest having to do with the handling of absentee ballots. CACR15 was voted ITL with 201Y-169N. This bill would have provided that no excuse would be needed in order to obtain an absentee ballot. Voting should be done as a matter of necessity, not one of convenience. Opposition to be bill included reasons of election integrity. Absentee balloting is a deviation from showing up and voting in person at the polls, and it can be subject to fraud and tampering. Voters currently have many options for why they may vote with an absentee ballot: being ill, or on vacation, not being able to vote because of work obligations, or if they are caring for an ill relative, or if they are incarcerated or even for religious obligations. You should have a good reason for why you can’t drag yourself to the polls on election day to cast your votes and perform your civic duty. Rep. Connie Lane (D-Concord) said that 29 states already have no excuse absentee balloting. My question to her is: if 29 states want to jump off of a bridge, should NH also do the same?
We also learned that we ITL’d HB136 203Y-169N, which would have extended the time to deliver an absentee ballot to the polls from 5 PM to the close of the polls. The current law already supports timely absentee ballot delivery. Changing it may cause delays or confusion for poll workers and for voters since some polling locations have different closing times. But mostly, mail delivery would be quite done for the day by 5 PM and if you are hand delivering a ballot, then you might as well have come to vote in person. The bill is just a dumb proposal.
Then we learned that HB344 was ITL’d 204Y-168N. This bill enabled the processing of absentee ballots before election day. While pre-processing absentee ballots may seem like a convenience, it fundamentally alters the integrity and uniformity of our elections. Who knows what could happen to ballots in envelopes if opened a week, or some other period of time, prior to election day. Additionally, moving election processes away from election day opens an extended window for potential inconsistencies, raising unnecessary questions about election security, chain of custody issues, and public confidence in the results. We can’t be turning election day into “election week” or “election month”.
Then we learned that HB630 was ITL’d with a roll call vote of 201Y-169N. This bill would prevent the dissemination of “deepfake” materials of political candidates before an election. Opposition to this bill said that the current language in statute covers all types of technology by stating “other technology”, and we shouldn’t start listing a laundry list of ways disinformation can occur, because we’d be forever adding to it. House Democrats for the most part, supported this bill and will now claim that Republicans voted to allow misinformation and nefarious actions. To steal a phrase: Methinks the Democrats protesteth too much. Apologies to Shakespeare who I did not mean to infer said that.
We learned that Climate change became a topic on this first day of Spring. HB278 was ITL’d with a vote of 213Y-159N. The bill requires that the “proxy carbon pricing” of transportation and heating and cooling services purchased by the Department of Administrative Services (state procurement) should be considered when reviewing bids. For Example: assume gas will be much more expensive, then buy more expensive electric cars. It made no sense whatsoever. Common sense dictates that our Department of Administrative Services should be using the real cost (in dollars) of services, and not inject an environmental agenda into their purchasing decisions. To be honest, there would be less CO2 spewed about if House Democrats talked less about CO2.
We also learned that HB732, to enhance informed consent and accountability in psychotropic drug prescriptions for children under Medicaid, was OTP/A 206Y-165N. This legislation reinforces the fundamental right of parents and legal guardians to be fully informed about the potential risks and side effects of psychotropic medications prescribed to minors, ensuring they can make informed decisions about their child’s health and well being. Additionally, children on Medicaid should not be receiving medication without the approval of their parent or guardian. This was yet another of our parental rights bills and common sense legislation that House Democrats rejected.
We learned that HB148 made headlines. The bill passed with a roll called OTP 201Y-166N. This bill, permits classification of individuals based on biological sex under certain circumstances. It allows for distinction based on biological sex for bathrooms/locker rooms, athletics, and prisons and other facilities of involuntary commitment. This legislation permits schools, businesses, prison officials and others to develop common-sense rules to govern the use of bathrooms, locker rooms, and correctional facilities. Additionally, by upholding sex-based classifications in sports, HB148 also preserves the safety and integrity of women’s athletics by permitting schools to adopt policies that align with biological reality. The bill will also help safeguard federal funding for our public schools, colleges, and universities, especially with recent Executive Orders being made about this from the President of the US.
Women should have their own spaces and not be threatened with biological men exposing themselves to them in locker rooms. By now, you’ve seen the video of Rep. Jonah Wheeler (D-Peterborough) standing up to his caucus regarding the rights of biological women as he spoke in favor of the bill. The majority of his caucus got up and walked out of House chambers during his floor speech in support of this bill. His speech was spot on, and tackled the reality of the tone deafness of his party regarding the need for safe and private spaces for biological women.
"If there are women who feel unsafe, if there are women who feel their space has become not private, then we should listen to them." NH Rep Jonah Wheeler breaks ranks with Democrats to help pass HB148, restoring women's sports and private spaces. pic.twitter.com/nunwmeY7aK
— Sidewalk Steve (@Sidewalk_Steve) March 20, 2025
His bravery in standing up to his caucus cannot be understated. Members of his caucus called him a Nazi, and Rep. Heath Howard (D-Strafford) even attempted to “white-splain” Jim Crow era bathroom policies to this young black man. Rep. Howard asked Rep. Wheeler, “With White-passing African Americans being free from discrimination during Jim Crow-era laws, do you think that it is fair that we can compare this situation directly to the bathroom bans that African Americans were given, and told that they were dangerous to White people?”, to which Rep. Wheeler calmly replied, “Representative, race and what happened in the Jim Crow era is, yes, significantly different than sex and talking about women in their private spaces.” That was not an answer Rep. Howard wanted to hear.
Shortly after the House vote was taken, and when the bill passed, a couple of voices from the gallery rang out, “Shame on you!”. It was quite a scene. Republican members of the House expressed concern over Rep. Wheeler’s safety as he has been subject to both verbal and physical attacks from members of his own caucus in the past for his votes.
Earlier in the day, he supported the parental rights bill, and last year, he voted in favor of permanently banning life-altering and disfiguring transgender surgeries for minors. Democrat colleagues later took to social media to say all sorts of nasty things about Rep. Wheeler, which is a shame because he truly is a thoughtful, well-spoken, and congenial young man. Even though he does support many progressive policies and doesn’t agree with Republicans all of the time, his colleagues have treated him pretty badly. It’s also well known that his party tried to primary him out of the last election and failed, and they removed him from the committee he served on last year (Criminal Justice) and put him on another (which happens to be mine; Environment and Agriculture). It’s a good thing he doesn’t own a Tesla; they may have set that on fire, too.
And we learned, as if that drama wasn’t enough for one afternoon, we moved onto HB254 relative to options for end-of-life care. This bill would allow for medical aid in dying, in those with less than 6 months to live. We received tons of emails on the topic. We’ve also heard so many horror stories of the Canadian policy allowing for this – that otherwise healthy people who are depressed or disabled are being pushed towards suicide and that it is a means to ration healthcare. There’s just so much wrong with this whole concept of medical aid in dying (MAID). This came out of committee with a majority recommendation of OTP (11-7), however, the minority stated that this bill for medically assisted suicide was flawed and opens New Hampshire to far reaching effects by messaging to individuals of all ages that ending one’s life by assisted suicide for terminal illness is acceptable. We already have an overwhelming problem with increasing suicide among young individuals (the second cause of death among ages 14 to 34), the LGBTQ community, those suffering from depression, and our veterans. By sanctioning the ending of one’s life at the state level, are we saying to these individuals that this is an acceptable choice for them as well? It poses an honest question and sends a pretty miserable message. There were 4 people on each side who spoke in the debate. We could have died just waiting for the vote. But seriously, we learned this bill was Tabled with a roll called vote of 183Y-182N. Before the final vote tally was announced, Rep. Lucius Parshall (D- Marlborough) ran up to House Clerk, Paul Smith, to request to change his vote. His final vote is registered as a No vote. The bill is tabled… and we may see a future attempt to take it off the table.
We also learned there was another parental rights bill, HB273, that passed on a roll call vote of 196Y-162N. This bill was about parents accessing their minor child’s library records. They pay the fines, so why not? This ensures transparency between libraries and parents. Every parent is responsible for protecting their child, and it is perfectly reasonable that they should know what their child is reading and what they are being exposed to. In the end, it is the parents’ decision whether or not the information they access is appropriate for their child. House Democrats disagree. Perhaps they know that what they want your children exposed to most likely would not be acceptable to you.
We learned that energy bills were also on our agenda for the day. We passed HB672, 215Y-132N, which allows for the construction of off-grid power production facilities. Facilities would be exempt from all utility regulation except siting regulation. All normal business-related health, safety, and employment regulations would still apply. Such facilities would likely serve a single energy-intensive business entity like an AI data center. This groundbreaking piece of legislation removes regulatory barriers and allows for innovative, independent energy generation at no cost to taxpayers or ratepayers. It’s a free market win and cuts through red tape, empowering innovation, reducing costs, and proving that our state will not let bureaucratic interference stifle progress.
We also learned that HB710 passed OTP/A 259Y-85N. This allows utilities to enter long-term contracts for clean, dependable nuclear power. This pro-market, pro-energy legislation marks a significant step toward securing New Hampshire’s energy future with reliable, low-carbon energy sources. These are not the power plants we know of from the 1960’s and 70’s – these are power plants that have incredible technology and safeguards. This legislation makes clear that New Hampshire is open for business when it comes to clean, reliable nuclear energy. The passage of HCR2 followed with 258Y-83N and was a resolution declaring the development of advanced nuclear energy technology to be in the best interest of the state of New Hampshire and the United States.
We further learned that HCR4 passed on a roll call vote of 195Y-149N. This House Concurrent Resolution asserts that NH stands opposed to offshore wind in the Gulf of Maine (or Gulf of New Hampshire, if you like) until all questions regarding the environmental and economic impacts of such development are fully understood. There have been so many reports of the environmental damage that offshore wind has produced that people are very opposed to these projects. The water gets polluted with chemicals, and it disturbs the temperature of surrounding waters, it also causes massive disturbances with noise, vibration, and laying of cables in the seabed and surrounding fish habitats. There’s also the chemicals in the components of these wind turbines which leach into the seawater, or even worse, if the components shatter and land in the ocean they can cause all sorts of problems. These offshore wind projects should get blown away.
So kids… that was our day in the NH House. This coming week will be a double header as we stare down the March 27 House bill deadline. We’ll be convening both Wednesday and Thursday to vote on over 100 House bills. I’m sure that we’ll be subjected to more drama from the House Democrats as we deliver on Republican campaign promises and pass legislation that that strengthen our economy, protect individual liberties, uphold family values, further our commitment to low taxes, limited government, and personal freedom. With each vote, we reaffirm why the people of New Hampshire sent us to Concord and put their trust in us—to safeguard their way of life. Just remember, House Democrats think this is something that we should be ashamed of and they call us all Nazis for pursuing. They obviously despise all we stand for and that is proven every House session by how their caucus votes. Stay tuned – there’s more next week and then come the Senate bills!
