News
New Hampshire Senate passes bill that would void ballots if domicile isn’t proven
A Republican-backed bill the Senate passed on Thursday would void ballots of voters who don’t prove domicile. If it becomes law, Senate Bill 418 would create a new kind of ballot called an “affidavit ballot,” requiring voters to mail in a copy of the missing documentation within 10 days of an election in order for […]
Biden pleads with Congress for more COVID aid, gets his own second booster
WASHINGTON – President Joe Biden announced a new COVID-19 government website Wednesday while urging Congress to approve billions in funding to keep the pandemic at bay. Speaking from the White House, Biden said that without a bipartisan agreement on new funding, the federal government will need to roll back or end programs meant to curb […]
State and hospitals don’t see eye to eye on counting COVID hospitalizations
It looked like exceptionally good news Wednesday when the state reported just seven COVID-19 hospitalizations, far fewer than the 20 to 25 reported over the prior week. It was good news – just not the whole picture. That drop reflected the state’s new way of defining COVID-19 patients, not the number of COVID-19 patients hospitals […]
House poised to deny driver’s licenses for asylum seekers, undocumented residents in state
The House is set to vote on three bills Thursday that home in on who gets to have a driver’s license in New Hampshire. The answer the Republican majority is pushing for would exclude people who are seeking asylum or are undocumented. They say granting a driver’s license in these instances would open the door […]
House Republicans plan to add controversial items to bipartisan education bill
Republican members of the House are planning to tack a number of hot-button bills onto a bipartisan bill relating to education freedom accounts Thursday, as the State House comes up against a key legislative deadline. In a series of amendments to House Bill 1627 proposed for Thursday’s session and published on the state’s General Court […]
Ketanji Brown Jackson wins bipartisan support for U.S. Supreme Court with Collins backing
U.S. Sen. Susan Collins will vote to confirm Ketanji Brown Jackson to a seat on the Supreme Court, she said Wednesday, becoming the first Republican to pledge her support for President Joe Biden’s pick to replace retiring Associate Justice Stephen Breyer. Collins, of Maine, said in a statement Jackson had “sterling” academic and professional credentials. […]
Biden signs law named for Emmett Till that makes lynching a federal hate crime
WASHINGTON – Nearly 70 years after 14-year-old Emmett Till was kidnapped and murdered in Mississippi by two white men, President Joe Biden signed into law on Tuesday a bill to make lynching a federal hate crime. “Lynching was pure terror to enforce the lie that not everyone belongs in America,” Biden said at the Rose […]
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas pressed to recuse himself from Jan. 6 cases
Two dozen congressional Democrats are calling for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas to recuse himself from cases involving the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, following revelations his wife communicated with the Trump White House about overturning the election. In addition, it appears likely that the U.S. House committee probing the attack will […]
House officials push for a new parking garage for lawmakers – with a $35 million price tag
The version of House Bill 1661 that will come before the House Thursday is a far cry from where it began. The academic issues it initially addressed are now secondary to the inclusion of $35 million for a new lawmaker parking garage. It would be paid for in cash, with state surplus money, bypassing the […]
Defending ‘divisive concepts’ statute, state argues law is not vague
New Hampshire’s new “freedom from discrimination” law barring certain teachings around race and class in public schools is legally sound and not overly vague, the Department of Justice argued in a federal court filing Friday. In a rebuttal to a pair of lawsuits filed in U.S. District Court of New Hampshire in Concord against Commissioner […]
Lawmakers see risk of losing $160 million in federal funding over vaccine mandate exemption
House members voted earlier this month to require public and private employers to excuse workers with moral objections from complying with a vaccine mandate. But when it comes to state and county medical facilities, a House committee is recommending against that measure over concerns of losing $160 million a year in federal funding. The House […]
Second COVID booster authorized by FDA for those 50 and older
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday authorized another round of COVID-19 booster shots for people 50 and older, as well as those who are immunocompromised. The decision to amend an earlier emergency use authorization for a second booster dose of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine is meant to increase protection against […]