Legislative Update: HB1305 Email to Representatives - March 15, 2024 Windham Independent
Legislative Update: HB1305 Email to Representatives
The House of Representatives will finally vote on HB1305 this Thursday (by the time you read this paper, the vote results will be known). The email I sent to every Representative in regards to HB1305 is below - the resources offered to them should be available to any Windham resident who wants to better understand my beliefs on freedom of speech/association issues and the work that goes into advocating for a bill.
Dear House Colleagues,
I am reaching out to share information on HB1305 to help you make your decision on tomorrow’s vote.
If you only have one minute to spare, please use it to watch this comment during the 2024 Executive session: https://tinyurl.com/Exec1Minute
If you can find 8 more minutes, please watch this discussion during the public hearing:
You can call or text me anytime at 617 755 2590 - I would love to talk to anyone that has questions about this bill, or any other legislative matter.
I have been working on this bill since getting elected in 2022, and I immediately involved the representatives of UNH and CCSNH in the process. Legislation turns out best when every stakeholder has a meaningful opportunity to participate, and I have had many discussions with everyone affected by this bill.
Because of this, the bill already includes language requested by the University system (the language limiting the financial risks in the case of a court loss), and I have submitted a floor amendment requested by the University system that addresses more of their concerns.
Rather than write a long email, I took the advice of a respected colleague and broke the content into multiple files, shared in this Google Drive folder: https://tinyurl.com/24HB1305
There, you will find the documents addressing WhyIsHB1305Needed and WhatHB1305Does, plus:
- UNH_CCSNH_Floor_Amendment with the email thread showing that the floor amendment is requested and approved by the University system.
- SeanLockeEmailChain with the email thread showing that the committee amendment was requested by the Director of the Office of Civil Rights and that their review of HB1305 as amended by the committee finds no concerns.
- UNH_ranked_3rd_by_FIRE,
- DoesHB1305AllowIllegalDiscrimination, and
- FeedbackFromUniversitySystemIsIncluded, addressing the minority report
- AllComersPolicies explaining the reasons why we must prohibit any future use of all comers policies by the University system (the University system clearly stated they do not use, nor do they intend to use such policies), and the very important distinction between discrimination and illegal discrimination, which is critical in discussing freedom of association issues.
- RepugnantSpeech on why protecting our right to free speech demands that we protect the rights of all speakers, especially speakers whose ideas we disagree most with
- CampusSpeechCodes quoting a NYTimes op-ed in the document, since James Kirchik wrote better than I could.
- RelevantLinks with links to the committee hearings and executive sessions from both 2023 and 2024, together with other relevant links and quotes.
I truly appreciate the commitment to serving the public that you have demonstrated by serving as representatives, and I hope that this information helps earn your support for HB1305 - passing this critical bipartisan legislation would be a huge win for New Hampshire.
Thank you,
Daniel Popovici-Muller
Representative for Windham, Rockingham 17
Prime Sponsor of HB1305