In the second week of full-blown bill hearings, several big-ticket items have already come before the Legislature.

Here’s a look at what’s happening this week in the State House and how it might impact your life.

In education, lawmakers are weighing taking a larger portion from two of the state’s business taxes to increase education funding. Hopkinton Rep. David Luneau, in a bill that follows Judge David Ruoff’s order in the Contoocook Valley School District lawsuit, hopes to nearly double what the state pays local schools in base adequacy aid. That’s the standard amount that goes to every student, no matter what. This legislation would raise that funding from $4,100 per student, per year to $7,356. More education funding bills are still on the way.

Abortion might not be at the top of party platforms this session, but by no means is it absent from the Legislature. Republican Sen. Kevin Avard introduced a bill to track abortion data in New Hampshire. If it’s passed, it would compel medical providers and facilities to report certain information about abortions they perform to the state Department of Health and Human Services. Avard said the state won’t collect any personally identifying information about patients, but Democratic Sen. Sue Prentiss isn’t convinced that’d hold up in small towns, where it could be easier to identify people. Earlier this month, House Republicans also introduced a 15-week abortion ban.

Last but not least: cell phones in schools. Lawmakers appear keen on passing a bill that would require local school districts to ban cell phone use during class time, with a few exceptions. The rest would be up to school boards, though several teachers and administrators testified that they’d like to see the bill go further and restrict students from using their phones throughout the school day. The effort is spearheaded by Republicans, and while Democrats asked a few questions during the bill’s hearing, they haven’t vehemently opposed it.

Now, here are some public hearings and bills of interest this week.

On Monday, Jan. 27, there will be a public hearing at 9:30 a.m. on House Bill 476, the 15-week abortion ban.

On Tuesday, Jan. 28, lawmakers will hear testimony at 10 a.m. on House Bill 651, which deals with base and differential aid costs in education.

On Wednesday, Jan. 29, there’s a 1 p.m. hearing on House Bill 254, a revived effort to legalize medical aid in dying.

On Thursday, Jan. 30, the Education Funding Committee will spend all day on bills related to special education funding and the statewide education property tax.

For a more detailed unpacking of weekly news from the State House, subscribe to my newsletter, Capital Beat. If you have questions or ideas about anything going on in the Legislature, please contact me.

 

Charlotte Matherly is the statehouse reporter for the Concord Monitor and Monadnock Ledger-Transcript in partnership with Report for America. Follow her on X at @charmatherly or send her an email at cmatherly@cmonitor.com.