Gannon: We’re Prioritizing Granite State Families

Press release from Sen. Gannon:

Granite State families have remained at the forefront of our legislative priorities for 2023, from clean water initiatives to community safety. Senate Republicans have brought forward, and successfully passed, legislation that soon heads to the house, and I’d like to highlight a few of my own bills.

One bill I was particularly proud to bring forward delivers assistance for our elderly Granite Staters. Senate Bill 36 FN establishes a Medicaid Long-Term Care eligibility pilot to promote timely access to home and community-based services by improving the determination process for financial and clinical eligibility. It also establishes a person-centered counseling program in each contracted aging and disability resource center, providing support and assistance to persons living at home or in short or long-term institutional settings to help them transition into community-based settings. Senate Bill 36 also saves money, costing 90% less for seniors to reside at home over an assisted living facility.

Another bill of which I was proud to be the prime sponsor, is Senate Bill 132. We’ve seen the harmful impact of disastrous border policies along our southern border, and the uncontrolled flood of illegal immigrants makes it difficult to track down criminals exploiting this situation to smuggle drugs, and guns, in addition to crimes regarding sex trafficking and national security. SB 132 does not mandate that towns participate in federal immigration enforcement, rather it prevents them from refusing to cooperate with federal agents enforcing the law, such as executing an immigration detainer. Thousands of criminals are apprehended at the border each year, and we need to make sure New Hampshire is not seen as a sanctuary to those individuals who mean to come to our state and cause harm to Granite Staters.

I also am familiar with the importance of our second amendment here in New Hampshire. Despite some attempts from across the aisle, Senate Republicans have protected your right to bear arms. We killed SB 247, which is not only conflictive with federal law but harmful to our state's overall economy. This bill would have allowed firearm manufacturers to be sued for harm solely caused by the consumer’s criminal or unlawful misuse of firearm products. As the law currently stands, firearms manufacturers are already held liable via defect lawsuits when the products are found to be at fault. The new legislation only expands manufacturers' liability to include consumer actions, even if the manufacturer was not at fault themselves. The bill attacked a Granite State industry representing almost 10,000 people and responsible for $2.72 billion in total activity over the last year alone. When someone is fatally injured in a car accident at the fault of the driver, we do not blame the vehicle, which is why this bill was defeated.

We’ve also worked to strengthen parents’ rights in New Hampshire. With SB 272, Parents’ Bill of Rights in Education, we clarified parents’ ability to ask questions about their children in school, and teachers’ requirement to provide honest responses to their inquiries. Parents became concerned about what was happening in their children’s schools during the pandemic, but that concern grew as some schools voted to allow teachers to shield information from them. This bill does not impact teachers’ ability to retain information when there is clear evidence the child may be at risk.

I appreciate the support and feedback I’ve received from constituents so far during this session, and I look forward to continuing working for you in the months ahead!

This press release was produced by Sen. Gannon. The views expressed here are the author's own.