Opinion

Letter to the Editor: Reflecting on this past year

As we approach the beginning of the 2020 legislative session, I think about the challenges and successes we encountered over the last year, as well as the work that lies ahead.

In June, after six months of working tirelessly to make New Hampshire a family-friendly, more accessible place to live, work and be educated, we passed historic bills in both bodies, including a remarkable budget.

House and Senate Democrats worked tirelessly to build a budget that increases education funding, provides much needed municipal aid and allocates additional funds for lead poisoning prevention. Our budget also allocates $3.2 million in additional family planning funds to serve as a backstop to the care provided to thousands of Granite Staters that was threatened by the Trump Administration’s Title X gag rule.

Despite a record breaking 57 vetoes from Gov. Sununu, we were able to pass legislation that will move New Hampshire forward.

I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to work with high school senior Caroline Dillon to shepherd SB 142 through the legislative process that ensures access to free menstrual hygiene products in New Hampshire’s public middle and high schools. Additionally, I sponsored SB 279 to ensure insurance coverage for infertility coverage, bringing our state in line with Rhode Island and Massachusetts in recognizing that infertility is a disease. Both bills were passed by the House and Senate and signed into law by the governor.

This fall, the New Hampshire Legislature filed our bills for 2020. Of course, we will work as hard as ever to bring about the needed changes in our state, while understanding that barriers will be presented at every turn. We will not be easily deterred – I promise.

My legislative priorities in the New Year include efforts to implement a sexual assault survivor bill of rights on our college campuses and strengthen campaign finance reform in New Hampshire.

As always, please feel free to reach out to me with questions or concerns. You give me hope and courage, and I promise to continue to do my best for District 5 and New Hampshire.

Sen. Martha Hennessey

District 5

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