Senate Passes Bill to Protect Minors in New Hampshire

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CONCORD, NH – Senate Majority Leader Sharon Carson (R-Londonderry), Senator Bill Gannon (R-Sandown), and Senator Daryl Abbas (R-Salem) released the following joint statement on the introduction of HB 619-FN, requiring a person to attain the age of majority for genital gender reassignment surgery:

“Gender reassignment surgery is a life altering decision. This bill prohibits this surgery from being applied to minors. If minors cannot purchase alcohol, cigarettes, or a lottery ticket due to their youth, this surgery should be off the table for them too,” said Senate Majority Leader Sharon Carson.

“Many important decisions cannot be made until an adolescent reaches the age of 18. We should not let minors, who are not even old enough to vote yet, be making permanent alterations to their bodies,” added Senator Bill Gannon.

“Countries like England and Sweden that have advanced, radical gender interventions for minors have realized their mistake and are now reversing course. There is no evidence that these surgeries are safe and effective for children,” concluded Senator Daryl Abbas.

Background: HB 619-FN bans genital gender reassignment surgery for minors.

The Biden Administration is making it harder for NH seniors to go to college

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By. Sens. Sharon Carson and Ruth Ward

Ronald Reagan used to say, “The nine most terrifying words in the English language are ‘I’m from the government and I’m here to help.’”

The Biden Administration is proving the Gipper right again by bungling a program that was supposed to streamline the college financial aid process for students and their families. Instead, the federal Department of Education has so botched the redesign of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) that graduating seniors across New Hampshire and the nation have been left in limbo with no idea how much aid is available for their college plans.

FAFSA was meant to be a one-stop application for college students to apply for all forms of need-based financial aid, giving their families a complete picture of their eligibility for the various scholarships and grants that are available. Knowing the amount of aid they had, and what the family would be expected to contribute, would allow families to make informed decisions when deciding where to go to college.

In 2020, Congress passed the FAFSA Simplification Act, which reduced the number of questions from 100 to about 40, while expanding the eligibility criteria. That gave the Biden Administration three years to get the new form online, with a deadline at the end of 2023. But making FAFSA work wasn’t a priority for the Biden bureaucracy.

The system didn’t work when they tried on December 30 to turn it on. It’s still giving families problems. The form won’t accept some submissions. It requires Social Security numbers from both the student’s parents and won’t accept an application if one parent doesn’t have a Social Security number. An estimated 30% of submitted applications produce inaccurate results. Former Obama Department of Education official Ted Mitchell calls the FAFSA situation “a rolling catastrophe.”

President Biden and Education Secretary Miguel Cardona simply haven’t been giving the unfolding FAFSA fiasco their full attention. They have been preoccupied with their unconstitutional quest to pay off student loans for their political supporters. Trying to work around the Supreme Court apparently takes a lot of attention.

By forcing students into a single federal financial aid application, the Biden Administration has created what engineers call a single point of failure. And this colossal failure has led to massive backlogs. With no reliable information on their financial aid package, students across the country have no idea what college options they can afford.

The FAFSA Simplification Act was meant to expand use of the system to more students considering higher education, Instead, completed FAFSA applications are down more than 26% in New Hampshire and down 36% nationally. The problem is not limiting to this year’s graduating seniors. Returning college students who relied on financial aid are left wondering if that same help will be available for the fall semester. They are understandably reluctant to return to campus without knowing the potential cost.

While the Biden Administration scrambles to clean up its own mess, others are stepping up to help students left in the lurch. Universities have pushed back their admissions deadlines. The New Hampshire House and Senate have each passed legislation removing the FAFSA application from the state’s graduation requirements, meaning no graduating senior will be denied the diploma they’ve earned because they weren’t able to complete some federal paperwork.

But there’s only so much we can do until the Biden Administration gets the FAFSA application online and working. The Biden Administration official behind the rollout abruptly resigned last week as Congress was beginning an investigation into the debacle. We need answers on what went wrong. But New Hampshire college students need answers on how much financial aid they can count on as they make decisions about their future this spring.

Sen. Sharon Carson (R-Londonderry) represents District 14 and is Senate Majority Leader. Sen. Ruth Ward (R-Stoddard) represents District 8 and is Chair of the Senate Education Committee.

Statement by Senate Majority Leader Sharon Carson on Senate Democrats False Claims About Abortion in New Hampshire

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CONCORD, NH – Senator Sharon Carson (R-Londonderry), issued the following statement today regarding SB 461:

“The bill does not require an ultrasound to establish gestational age any more than it requires a birth certificate to establish the woman’s age.

Like much medical information, gestational age is easily obtained by talking to the patient and asking them questions.

This is just another attempt by Democrats to whip up a frenzy around the abortion issue where one is not warranted. In the past, they have falsely claimed that abortion is restricted in New Hampshire. Now they are doing it with this absurd claim that an ultrasound would be required or that patient privacy is at risk. None of these things are true and they should stop misleading Granite Staters.”

Senate Pass Bill to Improve Policy and Privacy Protections for Auto Insurance

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CONCORD, NH –Senate Majority Leader Sharon Carson (R-Londonderry) issued the following statement today on the Senate passing SB 423, relative to mandatory disclosure of insurance policy limits:

“If someone gets into an automobile accident in New Hampshire, it should not be difficult to find out who is covered by what insurance policy. This bill simply requires that when a person causes damages in an automobile accident the insurance company must disclose what the policy limits are upon request. Currently, if you are involved in an accident, the only way to discover the other person’s auto policy is to hire a lawyer and sue for it. This bill allows individuals to automatically find out a person’s auto policy without needing to hire a lawyer. Additionally, to preserve privacy, the claimant or claimant’s attorney receiving the liability coverage information can utilize the liability coverage limits but only in connection with the claim or lawsuit that pertains to the insured.”

Senate Votes for More Transparency for Local Taxpayers

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CONCORD, NH –Senate Majority Leader Sharon Carson (R-Londonderry) issued the following statement today on the Senate passing SB 532-FN, requiring all municipalities and school governing bodies to post on their official town or school website within 30 days the amount of funds received by the state either by allocation or grant:

“Granite Staters should know where the money funding local government is coming from so they can make informed decisions on local budgets. This information is often buried deep inside an annual report. Local officials should inform taxpayers when state funds are supporting city, town, and school district expenses. This bill helps improve transparency in local government by requiring municipalities to post online, within 30 days, any funds received from the state. Having local officials post these payments online gives local taxpayers a better understanding of how their community is funded. Currently, cities, towns, and school districts have widely varying ways of sharing this information. Posting state grants and allocations for towns will improve accountability and transparency for local and state elected officials.”