Legislative Update: HB1419 - February 23, 2024 Windham Independent
Legislative Update: HB1419
Last week, the House of Representatives killed HB1419 (prohibiting obscene or harmful sexual materials in schools) by voting to indefinitely postpone it. Since I already received multiple questions about this, I want to share my reasoning and votes with everyone.
I support HB1419’s intent of keeping harmful materials from school children, but even after spending a lot of time preparing for this bill, I still had significant concerns about the bill language. Therefore, I wanted HB1419 tabled (neither passed, nor killed) to give the bill sponsors time to address my concerns, which is why I voted Yes to Table, No to take it off the table, No to Ought To Pass and No to Indefinitely Postpone.
There have been 6 votes on the bill (my vote is first, then the motion, then the results):
Yes - Shall Member Continue (201-173)
Yes - Table (192-181)
Yes - Print Remarks (291-84)
No - Take Bill off the Table (not a roll call, passed by a wide margin)
No - Ought To Pass (162-187)
No - Indefinitely Postpone (187-162)
The Shall Member Continue motion happened because the Democratic leadership attempted to silence a Republican who was quoting passages from school library books in their floor speech. I voted Yes - regardless of how inappropriate those remarks may be in a different context, they were relevant. If the book language is OK for minors to read, it is appropriate for the adults in charge to hear, publicly or privately.
The Print Remarks vote happened because the Democratic leadership tried to suppress the remarks from the permanent record. I always support Print Remarks motions - anything that was said during a House debate is public record. Censorship is NOT Acceptable for a legislature, period.
Here are some of my concerns about the bill language:
We already have a law on the books (RSA 571-B) criminalizing giving harmful materials to minors. That law requires that the offender knowingly provides harmful materials to a minor - HB1419 would not have such a requirement.
There is no definition of what “Inappropriate to the age of the Minor” means. Laws that do not define such important terms can be very hard to comply with, and very hard to enforce. Courts are VERY creative in interpreting such undefined terms in surprising ways, so clear definitions are essential. There is more vague language in the bill, but one example should suffice to explain my concerns.
The definition for harmful materials in HB1419 is so much broader than the 571-B definition that it would cover books that are not clearly obscene, but merely contain material that some of us may find unacceptable, while others may be comfortable with their kids seeing in school.
Which brings me to the core issue with the bill: It allows one parent that is unhappy about a particular book to remove it (if they prevail) for ALL kids going to that school. I have always supported the right of parents to guide the education of their children, but I cannot support allowing one parent to single handedly control the education of everyone else’s children.
If it is too hard for parents to keep track of what books are available to their kids in public schools, or to ensure books they find objectionable are not provided to their kids, I will be happy to work on making that easier. But at the end of the day, my support for parents rights requires that I support the rights of parents to make different choices for their kids than I would make for mine.
Had HB1419 been tabled, it may have passed later this spring. Unfortunately, it may only be discussed again in 2025. I would be happy to work with any of the bill sponsors to improve the next bill’s language.
When I ran for State Representative, I shared the values and principles that will drive my votes with you all, and I stand by my record, including the HB1419 votes. It is never easy to find oneself on the other side than most of one’s colleagues, but I have to vote my conscience. I had too many concerns about HB1419 to vote for it - a very tough decision, but just part and parcel of being a state representative.
I am always happy to engage with Windham residents - you can call or text me at 603-267-4142, or email me at dpm@leg.state.nh.us.
Daniel Popovici-Muller
Windham Representative
Clerk, Division II
House Finance Committee