The resignation of a Republican from the divided New Hampshire House of Representatives could mean a potential defeat for a parental bill of rights that has drawn national attention.
State Rep. Benjamin Bartlett (R) stepped down on April 26, citing health issues.
Democrat Stacie-Marie Laughton resigned in December due to a conviction for stalking, and Democrat Joshua Adjutant resigned due to a work-related injury. There was a fourth open seat, but a special election was held in February, resulting in the election of Democrat Chuck Grassie.
That leaves the 400-seat chamber with 200 Republicans and 196 Democrats.
However, there are at least three Republicans known to be opposed to the parental bill of rights proposal, which is aimed at protecting parental involvement in transgender activities in public schools.
On April 26, Rep. Dave Testerman, a Republican whose wife, Karen Testerman, has made two unsuccessful bids for governor, told The Epoch Times that he’s “on the fence” about voting in favor of the bill.
“I’m undecided on how I’m going to vote,” he said.
Under the proposal, SB 272, parents would have the right to be notified about any gender-changing activities involving their children and to halt the activities.
The bill includes provisions for the prosecution of any school officials who violate the notification requirements.
On April 25, the House Education Committee voted 10–10 on the bill, advancing it to a vote on the House floor. The bill passed the state Senate in March.
Republican Rep. Mike Belcher, who was in favor of passing the bill, wrote on Twitter that he almost didn’t make it to the hearing in time because, the night before, someone had loosened the lug nuts on the wheels of his car.
He posted video footage that appears to show a car pulling up to his home during the previous night. The lighting is poor, however, and trees are obscuring the car.
Belcher claimed on Twitter that he knows of at least two other Republicans who have recently experienced similar vandalism.
“If I were to be absent for whatever reason, a 10–9 vote would result in a recommendation of ‘inexpedient to legislate,’ and likely kill the bill on the floor,” Belcher wrote, adding that the “coincidences” are stacking up.
Testerman, recognizing that he could potentially serve as the swing vote on the bill, told The Epoch Times he agrees that the schools and the teachers’ unions are too interested in teaching social issues and not fundamental academics. But he doesn’t believe the answer is “government intervention.”
He said he would rather see more support for homeschooling and increased funding to the New Hampshire Education Fund, which provides funds private school tuition
The Testermans recently came under fire from the conservative think tank, Cornerstone Action, that Karen Testerman founded, for rallying against the bill that supporters say promotes recognizing biological sex and calls for mandates against gender transition ideology.
Karen Testerman is no longer involved with the organization. Dave Testerman voted against all the parental rights introduct last year, except for HB 10, a bill similar to Senate Bill 272. HB 10 was narrowly defeated by 190 to 194 vote.
Four other Republican House members did not vote for HB 10. One of them, Travis O'Hara, told The Epoch Times on April 27 that he will definitely be voting in favor of SB 272 and that the only reason he voted against HB 10 is because it called for criminal prosecution of school officials who violated the bill instead of imposing civil fines first, as outlined in SB 272.
“I didn’t want to be throwing teachers in jail,” O'Hara said. “I want to start off with civil action.”
Dan Wolf, who also voted against HB 10, told The Epoch Times he had made up his mind about which way he would vote on SB 272, but wouldn’t say what that decision was.
The other two lawmakers, Mark Proulx and Mike Bordes, did not respond to inquiries from The Epoch Times.
A fifth Republican, Joe Guthrie, was absent from the vote. He also did not respond to inquiries from The Epoch Times.
A recent hearing on SB 272 drew more than 200 supporters including Chloe Cole, an 18-year-old who has gained national fame for talking about her regrets of undergoing gender reassignment surgeries in an attempt to make her female body appear more like that of a male.
While many LGBTQ groups have expressed strong opposition to the New Hampshire bill, others such as “Gays Against Groomers” have called upon a need for a parental rights bills to stop what they called “secret grooming” by schools.
Recently, Republican state Sen. Dan Innis, who is gay, told The Epoch Times that he fully supports the bill, calling it a “pro-family, pro-children bill” and not “anti-trans” as opponents have claimed.
Teachers unions across the country have aggressively rallied against similar parental rights bills. In New Hampshire, the American Federation of Teachers called the bill “dangerous.”
“This bill has very little to do with actually helping students or parents. Instead, it would force schools to divert their limited resources from teaching and supporting kids, into spying, reporting on, and in some cases, actually endangering children who are just trying to be themselves and live their lives in peace,” said union President Debrah Howes at a recent hearing on the bill.
Howes called the bill a result of “performance politics” and expressed fear that parental rights bills will drive away good teachers and staff from public schools.
“For the sake of their well-being, and perhaps their very survival, we also need for students to know that they can turn to their teachers or school staff to be a trusted adult—especially if they don’t have one in their home,” Howes said.
Melissa Blasek, director of Rebuild NH, a group that has endorsed the bill and publicly called out Republican lawmakers who haven’t supported parental rights legislation, told The Epoch Times that she still remains optimistic the state’s parental rights bill will pass, especially because it has drawn overwhelming bipartisan support.
“I was really impressed by the turnout at the rally,” she said, noting that a lot of supporters of the bill are liberals. “They’re not hardline conservatives by any stretch of the imagination, but they are parents who [have] had it with the government takeover of their kids.”
Last year, a similar parental rights bill to SB 272 failed after 14 Republicans voted against it.
“The people who voted to defend groomers in the bill that failed, who are intentionally corrupting the innocent minds of our children, have betrayed every family in the state and defied their oath of office to defend the Constitution, under God,” said Andrew Manuse, chairman of Rebuild NH, in a statement.
The group, Rebuilt NH, called the vote against the parental rights bill by Republicans “a shocking nod to the left.”
