Leonard Witt: New Hampshire has more important issues to worry about

To The Daily Sun,

We are in the middle of a pandemic, opioids in 2019 killed 412 New Hampshirites, schools are stressed, our local hospital went bankrupt, our property taxes are likely to go up and Glenn Cordelli, GOP state representative for Moultonborough, Sandwich, and Tuftonboro, throws an ideological monkey wrench into the legislative works.

He is a co-sponsor of HB 544, which “defines and prohibits the dissemination of certain divisive concepts related to sex and race in state contracts, grants, and training programs.”

The Legislature voted overwhelming to lay it on the table, which means it can be brought up again, but if not, it dies. Then it was snuck into the budget, which means it will deflect from dealing with the crucial issues like those mentioned above.

The bill is so bad that Gov. Chris Sununu, also a Republican, has threated to veto it if passed by the House and Senate. In an NHPR interview on March 9, Sununu said:

“Look, that bill… really limits free speech. We might not like…certain things that may be said in a public setting or school ... But that's the beauty of local control… you don't control that by having a big government law that says you can't say certain things. I'm shocked. I hate that concept. So, yeah, my guess is if it didn't change, I'd probably very likely veto it."

The governor is right. This is big government legislation written by ideologues in Washington, and rewritten and supported by state legislators like Cordelli.

If its language remains attached to the budget and is passed, it will be one more ill-conceived law that ties up the courts.

Attorney Anthony Sculimbrene told the New Hampshire Bar News that the bill’s wording is so vague that enforcing it in the courts would be impossible, saying it “provides great talking points for political talk radio,” but doesn’t have “sufficiently precise language needed to withstand a court challenge.”

Rep. Cordelli should request that the bill’s wording be pulled from the budget. The budget debate needs to focus on our health, safety, financial and educational wellbeing and not be bogged down by political cultural wars inspired by D.C. ideologues, which have no place in New Hampshire.

Leonard Witt

Sandwich