Reagan, Carson oppose million dollars fix to non-existent problem

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Concord, NH – Today, the New Hampshire Senate passed SB 7, a bill establishing an automatic voter registration system through the Division of Motor Vehicles. Senator John Reagan (R-Deerfield) and Senator Sharon Carson (R-Londonderry) issued the following statements:

“This is a bill where the benefits do not outweigh the costs. While this bill is touted as a way to increase voter participation, experts in the field say that passage will do little to boost rates. Instead the only impact will be higher property taxes and longer lines at the DMV while costing millions of dollars per year,” said Senator John Reagan (R-Deerfield). “New Hampshire consistently has one of the highest voter participation rates in the country and this legislation will do more harm than good. We do not need to spend millions of dollars per year to fix a problem that does not exist.”

“During debate it was clear that this legislation was rushed through committee without taking the time to determine how much it will cost,” said Senator Sharon Carson (R-Londonderry). “Without any alternative data, Senate Democrats suggested that the financial numbers presented by the DMV and Secretary of State were inaccurate and that the cost would be significantly less. This is not how the Senate should operate. In order to seek further financial information, I offered a motion to re-refer the bill to committee, but unfortunately that motion was voted down by my democratic colleagues.”

“Hopefully the House of Representatives is more deliberative when examining this legislation than the Senate was today,” Carson added.

Carson applauds bill to strengthen oversight, child advocacy at DCYF

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Senator Sharon Carson (R-Londonderry) issued the following statement on the passage of HB 400:

“The Senate’s passage of HB 400 is a significant step towards improving our mental heath care services as well as providing important restructuring to New Hampshire’s Division of Youth and Families.”

“Serving as a member of the Commission on Child Abuse Fatalities, it is evident that DCYF is in need of structural changes to ensure our state’s children at risk of abuse and neglect are the central focus. This bill, HB 400, included a plan I worked on to restructure the Division within the Department of Health and Human Services to provide increased oversight and the state’s ability to ensure the safety of our children remains our top priority in neglect and abuse cases.”

“This legislation establishes a new position of the Associate Commissioner of Health and Human Services who is appointed by the Governor and will be responsible for overseeing DCYF specifically. In addition, this bill provides the framework for the Office of the Child Advocate which will have independent oversight within DCYF and will ensure the division is following appropriate practices while providing an additional layer of protection for children.”

“We will continue to build on these changes to strengthen DCYF and the protections this state can provide for our kids.”

Carson praises stronger penalties to eliminate child trafficking

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Today, the Senate passed a bill, HB 94, which would prevent those involved in human trafficking with minors to use the defense that they were unaware of the person’s age.

Senator Sharon Carson (R-Londonderry), chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, issued the following statement.

“It is our goal to eliminate human trafficking in the state of New Hampshire. This legislation achieves that by reducing demand for human trafficking and specifically, child trafficking.”

“This legislation eliminates the defense buyers would have claiming ignorance of the individual’s age if he/she is a minor, helping those engaging in the practice to face real penalties.”

“I am pleased that the Senate supported this measure to continue strengthening our laws against human trafficking in New Hampshire.”

Carson, Feltes pleased by passage of bill restoring rights to Granite Staters

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Senator Dan Feltes (D-Concord) and Senator Sharon Carson (R-Londonderry), co-sponsors of SB 200, a bill to protect the constitutional right of Granite Staters to avoid imprisonment for failure to pay a debt issued the following statement:

“We are pleased with the Senate’s passage of SB 200 which makes reforms addressing our debtors prison problem, providing important safeguards and also counsel which ensures that no Granite Stater is thrown in jail simply for an inability to pay a debt.”

Carson seeks independence for DCYF

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Senator Sharon Carson (R-Londonderry) issued the following statement after introducing a bill she sponsored that would make separate the Division for Children, Youth and Families from the Department of Health and Human Services making it an independent state agency.

“We have seen a number of tragic events, reports of unresolved cases and unnecessary delays affecting children and families that had been involved with DCYF. Any event which leads to further harm to a child is completely unacceptable, and despite the work done by numerous committees, legislation and internal leaders, we need to make dramatic changes to ensure that our at-risk children are being protected.”

“New Hampshire can’t afford another tragedy affecting our children and therefore I believe it would be prudent to make changes that strengthen DCYF in order to improve our ability to do our best work in responding to each case.”

“Removing DCYF from the Department of Health and Human Services, making it an independent agency, would allow for more focused leadership and action that strengthens the support it can offer to families and children in our state. I encourage my legislative colleagues to support this measure to protect our children.”