All posts by Tom Mannion

Representative-Elected for New Hampshire State Rep for Hillsborough District 1 (Pelham).
Bills

LSR 24-2123 – Relative to New Hampshire’s Enforcement of the Military Selective Service Act

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For those that don’t know me, I’m a Marine Corps infantry veteran with two combat deployments to Iraq. This experience has turned me into a vehement anti-war advocate as I don’t believe that United States’ foreign policy has made us safer, and all the death we’ve caused across the planet has, in fact, increased hatred towards our nation. Following from those wars, the United States fought on the same sides as Al-Qaida in various regime change operations in the middle east during the Arab Spring, trained individuals in Syria that eventually left to help form ISIS, and are assisting the Saudis in the genocide of the Houthis in Yemen. Not one of these actions has made us safer and will breed the next generation of terrorists across the globe.

The 2001 AUMF is still in effect, over a decade after bin Laden was killed, and is currently being used as justification for regime change in the African country of Niger. Senator Rand Paul tried to end or fix the AUMF in various ways twice this year, both times failing to get more than 11 votes. Waiting for the House and Senate to correct the massive mistake they made in 2001 by handing unlimited unilateral military power to the Executive Branch is a waste of time.

As such, I’ve devised as best a shield as possible to protect the next generation from being drafted and sent to these unconstitutional military conflicts, borrowing language from sanctuary state policies combined with the exception baked into Defend the Guard. This has culminated in what I like to refer to as Selective Service Sanctuary State legislation.

This simply states that New Hampshire law enforcement will not cooperate with Federal agencies in the locating, apprehension, or transportation of individuals failing to register or show for selective service call ups, unless Congress formally declares war or the homeland is invaded.

I have several Republicans co-sponsoring, and I’m reaching across the aisle to try and get this as an even R/D split. Pushing back against the ravenous military industrial complex, which is profiting off the deaths of our youth, is a nonpartisan issue.

24-2123.0-reviewedDownload
Bills

LSR 24-2043 – Relative to the return of weapons and ammunition upon expiration of protective orders.

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Within the legal system of the New Hampshire, there is a presumption of innocence, until otherwise proven in a court a law. New Hampshire also enacted civil asset forfeiture reform, so an innocent person does not have to fight the government out of pocket to get back their property which was seized before any conviction was made.

But, we still have another law on the books within the protective order statute that requires a defendant to petition the court, and then prove their innocence to have any firearms and ammunition return to them upon termination of the order. This is backwards from due process.

I filed a bill to invert the responsibility onto the plaintiff, that they must petition the court and argue their case why the defendant shouldn’t be permitted to have their property returned. I also took umbrage with two other sections of the law that allowed police to charge for a “storage fee” and then again be off the hook for damaged property. I was especially surprised hearing one anecdote where the “storage fee” was more than the weapon was worth!

I am looking for co-sponsors.

24-2043.1-reviewedDownload
Bills

LSR 24-2432 – Allowing private ownership of small tailed monkeys, racoons, foxes, otters, skunks, and kangaroos

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In the modern age, interacting with voters has never been easier. I consider myself one of the terminally online millennials that spends too much time on Twitter (or X, whichever you prefer). As such, a Granite Stater tagged me in a Twitter post that New Hampshire should legalize monkeys as pets. In the replies a list was compiled of animals that are not prohibited by other states for ownership.

With that, I volunteered to submit a bill on behalf of these folks, and the language back from OLS is the most Ron Swanson of versions imaginable, simply stating “no permit required.” I like the elegance of it a whole lot.

I have 10 days to sign off and am looking for co-sponsors, so share this to your Representatives, and we can take a step forward with liberty-via-Twitter activism!

24-2432.0 – ReviewedDownload
Committee

Defend the Guard Ties in My Committee

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It will leave with “no recommendation” but the first motion on the House floor will be Ought to Pass.

The entire working/executive session is available on YouTube.

As before, the amount of those speaking against was fewer than those speaking in support, and towards the end I ask the room to raise their hand if they supported the bill. The response was a sea of raised hands.

I had many, many questions for the SVAC representation, and had to call it quits before I managed to lose support from my own committee for going on too long.

This is exciting news for Defend the Guard, and I will be speaking in support from the well when it hits the floor. I want to thank all of you for your support, phone calls, emails, and coming out to testify, you moved the needle for sure.

Proposal

2024 Bills to be Filed

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Bill filing begins on September 11, and here is a list of bills I will be submitting this year.

Transparency in Military Recruiting

I will require schools and the DMV to provide casualty and suicide rate statistics of servicemembers, veterans, and civilians caused by US conflicts of the 21st century whenever military recruiters are hosted, anytime the ASVAB is administered, or when driver’s license applications include the Selective Service registration checkbox.

It’s important that young people are given all the information before making life-changing decisions, and military recruiters are not very forthcoming with information that will hurt their quotas. With escalating global tensions, I believe transparency is critically important.

Repeal Select Service Registration Awareness and Compliance Act (RSA 187-A:38-41)

The act prohibits students from enrolling in public colleges if they have not registered for Selective Service (the draft). This is not the responsibility of the state to enforce and I believe it should be repealed.

Selective Service Sanctuary State

I will combine language from Defend the Guard and sanctuary state laws from other states to read that New Hampshire will not provide resources to aid the Federal government in apprehension of draft dodgers, unless Congress formally declares war.

As part of this, I’ll add an option to the Selective Service registration checkbox on license applications to denote conscientious objector status out of the gate.

Campus Due Process

I will submit the FIRE Campus Due Process bill. It provides an accused student with due process (presumption of innocence, access to evidence, right to acquire counsel) in any suspension/expulsion hearing.

Due Process in Temporary Relief Protective Order

It came as a surprise to me to learn that NH has a de facto Red Flag Law within the protective order RSA (173-B:4). There’s pieces of this that require more due process that I am looking to improve.

In addition, the method of returning property to its rightful owner upon expiration of the order involves the accused getting a court order. Instead, the police should have to return the items upon expiration, unless a court order exists to the contrary.

Right to Die

This one is a bit rough, but a pure libertarian stance. You have the right to do with your body and life as you choose, to include ending it. Many folks are suffering with terminal illness with no hope for cures, often in extreme pain, putting their family in emotional and financial strain. I’ll ensure the legislation has enough safeguards in place to prevent abuse, to avoid any situations similar to the anecdotal instances of bad MAID prescriptions occurring by state-run medicine in Canada.

Co-sponsorships and the Future

There are other bills being conceived that I’ve offered to co-sponsor, that I won’t spoil too much on until I’m sure they are being filed. They include topics like augmenting sheriffs to a more constitutional role, transparency from the college system, loosening up car inspections, suppressor legalization, police vehicle visibility, and others.

It’s important to remember the House is basically 50/50 split, so anything too partisan is unlikely to pass. That being said, Overton window shifting is important, and bringing issues to light via legislative testimony can get a foot in the door to expanding liberty in future sessions.

Hearing Alert

Hearing Alert: HB229 – Defend the Guard (Second Public Hearing)

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I am a co-sponsor on House Bill 229, also known as the “Defend the Guard Act.” This bill will come before the State-Federal Relations and Veterans Affairs committee for a public hearing October 11th.

WHATHB229 Hearing
WHENWednesday, October 11, 10:00AM
WHERELegislative Office Building
Concord, NH
Room 206-208
COMMITTEEState-Federal Relations and Veteran’s Affairs

The purpose of this bill is to require Congress to formally declare war before New Hampshire will send its National Guardsmen to a conflict zone. It is simultaneously a life-saving measure, a state’s rights assertion, and a call on our representatives in DC to properly follow the Constitution and use the powers granted to them. More information on the many states filing this type of legislation, and FAQ’s can be found here: https://defendtheguard.us/

This is a rare second chance at a public hearing. We need to flood the zone with supporters, so spread this far and wide. If you, or anyone you know, wishes to testify on behalf of this bill, please come out to the hearing, it is open to the public. Online testimony can also be submitted here, using the table above to populate the form. If you need help, reach out to me: tom@mannion4nh.com

House Ws

2023 Session Wins

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With the tied house, it was difficult to make a lot of progress forward, but we did manage to get several wins under our belts, to include stopping some terrible Democrat gun control bills, a minimum wage bill, and a seatbelt law.

Bills Signed into Law

HB2 (Budget Trailer bill):

  • Expedited phase-out of the Interest and Dividends tax, now set to expire by 2025. This tax disproportionately affects the elderly, and its removal makes New Hampshire truly income-tax free.
  • State of Emergency Reform. This was originally HB127, but was incorporated in the budget after the Senate killed the bill. I was a co-sponsor on HB127, and fought against Senate Finance to ensure the bill’s text would be included in the budget and thus forced the Governor to sign it into law. It is now impossible for the Governor to declare an indefinite State of Emergency, anything beyond 3 months will require the Legislature to convene to extend it.
  • Northern Border Alliance funding. This money is designed to help train our State Police to cooperate with Federal agencies in securing the northern border for illegal immigration. This is a win for conservatives concerned about immigration.
  • Federal Checkpoint Alerts. This now requires NH law enforcement to publicly post about Federal checkpoints operating within the state. These have historically caused traffic nightmares for residents and tourists alike, and the Federal Government’s definition of “national border” gives them jurisdiction over almost the entire state. So this provision gives the same courtesy to citizens as we do for DUI checkpoints. This is a win against Federal overreach within the state

HB367 Expands Educational Freedom Account program to include families with combined income of up to 350% of the Federal poverty level. This is a win for education choice.

HB594 Implements universal occupational licensing reciprocity for people looking to work in New Hampshire from neighboring states or new movers joining us. If you have a license from a state that has similar training/requirements to ours, you can just apply to the Office of Professional Licensure with that information and they’ll grant you a New Hampshire license, no additional classes required.

Awaiting Governor’s Signature

HB119 Removes arbitrary annual income cap on uninspected foods for homestead food producers and allows small scale deer farmers to sell on-farm processed meat. This is an expansion of previous Pelham Rep Hershel Nunez’s homesteading food bill from the previous session which raised the income cap! This is a massive win for the farmer’s market!

HB281 Gives greater transparency to electric rate payers as to what percentage of their bill goes towards renewable energy projects. These are green energy subsidies that each of us pay for, and we deserve to know the details. The bill also allows for faster and more efficient site evaluation for new power plants to drive down energy costs. The Democrats kept trying to shove green bills down our throat, and while HB281 does allow for expansion of wind or solar sites, any additional costs rate-payers are subjected to will be transparent. However, speeding along the process for building new energy plants will help with rising costs of power.

Retained In Committee

These bills are held in committee, and can still have meaningful participation from the community to try and pass them.

HB646 Elimination of State inspections for non-commercial vehicles. I am a co-sponsor of this. It is retained by the House Transportation Committee. This issue is frequently complained about, especially by those struggling to make ends meet. Used car markets are also negatively affected by this requirement, as the cost to bring cars up to emissions standards is frequently not worth the purchase of a vehicle. Supply chain shortages also exacerbated this by driving up costs for repairs. Several states do not require inspections, yet the cars are allowed on New Hampshire roads, there’s no reason to continue this, and an inspection sticker is not a year-long shield preventing a car from becoming a hazard, so the fears are unfounded.
HB229 Defend the Guard. I am a co-sponsor, and it is retained by the House State-Federal Relations and Veterans Affairs committee. The bill will prevent the NH National Guard units from being deployed to overseas combat missions until US Congress formally declares war, pursuant to Art I, Section 8, Clause 11 of the United States Constitution. Congress has abandoned its responsibility, handing the reins over to the President, and this has left us vulnerable here at home. This bill will be receiving another public hearing in September that any person can come and testify, but the date is still in flux. Information will be published by on this site as it approaches. Veterans, or their families, would be great to provide testimony on this.
HB512 Exempting Firearms Manufactured in NH from federal firearm laws. This bill is retained by Jeff Tenczar’s committee House Criminal Justice and Public Safety. This bill would allow manufacturers to stamp firearms and accessories with “Made in New Hampshire” markings, and permit sale/transfer within the state without ATF tax stamps. This challenges interpretations of the Interstate Commerce Clause, and with the current makeup of the Supreme Court, is a good challenge that should be raised.
HB587 This bill allows organ donors to specify they wish their organs to be donated to New Hampshire residents first, before adding them to the regional organ donor availability list. A change in Federal law when Biden took office expanded the radius for regional organ donations, and if you are listed as a donor, your organs will likely be sent to New York City instead of to another Granite Stater. This bill would allow donors to specify they wish to reverse this. The bill is currently retained by House Health and Human Services.

Killed Democrat Bills

HB32 Gun-Free School Zones
HB59 Expanded background checks
HB76 Mandatory Firearm Purchase Waiting Periods
HB78 Repeal of 2nd Amendment Sanctuary State law (Senator Daryl Abbas’s bill from last term)
HB106 Red Flag Laws
HB351 Mandatory Locking Mechanisms
HB444 Firearm prohibition at polling locations
HB57 Minimum Wage
HB222 Seatbelt Law
CACR4 Legislative Pay Increase

I testified against all of these, spending all day before Jeff Tenczar’s Criminal Justice committee to protect your 2nd Amendment rights. Clips and text of the testimony is available here. 

Bill Passed, House Ws, Session

HB2 (Budget) Passed – State of Emergency Reform Included

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I’ll start with a bit of history on State of Emergency (SoE) Reform this session.

HB127 was the bill I was co-sponsored on that included last term’s SoE language. It left Executive Departments committee with an 11-7 vote to pass. From there, a roll call vote of 193-185 passed it out of the House. The Senate then ran defense for the Governor, with their committee recommending to kill the bill, stating “it does nothing” and unceremoniously allowing it to die on the Senate floor by a cowardly voice vote.

There’s some debate on the excuses, some claiming they believed the text didn’t change current law, and then others claiming they knew the text was included in HB2 so they killed the standalone bill since the Governor would veto. This is a running theme with the Senate – instead of forcing the corner office to bear the shame of vetoing bills that would make him look bad, they find excuses to do his bidding and act as his representation in the Legislature, instead of their constituents’.

Meanwhile, the House stuffed the text of HB127 into the budget trailer bill (HB2) as a safeguard, assuming the standalone bill will once again get vetoed. The budget was a battle in an of itself, but ultimately passed out of the house with a voice vote after the Freedom Caucus attempted, but failed, to correct the massive overspending.

When HB2 arrived in the Senate, the language of HB127 was the first to be struck. This, again, was likely due to the request of the Governor. Thankfully Melissa Blasek at RebuildNH spotted this in the hard-to-follow daily reports on the GenCourt website and notified myself and several other Reps. We immediately took to the phones and contacted Senators Gray and Carson, explaining we would not vote for this budget if SoE was not included.

I also took to Twitter.

There was an angry return phone call from Gray where he once again tried to claim the language “does nothing” but as soon as I explained what it changed, he stated the Governor would likely veto the budget if the language was included, meaning Gray knew the language did *something* but assumed I would back off, or was quizzing my knowledge of my own co-sponsorship – not sure which. He said my attitude was brinksmanship, which is true, but some priorities are too important to compromise over.

I also confirmed my position again.

After about a week, the sheer amount of principled liberty Reps must’ve concerned the Senate enough that they had to put SoE Reform back into HB2.

Much to the Governor’s chagrin, I assume.

This brings us to yesterday, June 8th. The Concur motion on the Senate-amended HB2. They did a lot of dancing around with numbers, moving some spending from 2024 into this year by consuming a budget surplus and claiming they cut down the budget by ~$750M by doing so. But the real choice now had to be made: Pass the bloated budget, and take whatever wins from it that we can, or send it to a committee of conference.

If the bill went to committee of conference due to Republicans not getting on board, the Senate would absolutely strip SoE as the first order of business as a “well, we gave you what you wanted, but it wasn’t enough, so now you get nothing” retribution. They’d also add in a bunch of junk to win over the solid voting block of the Dems, meaning the bad budget would only get worse. My choice was to pass the budget and get a few wins in HB2, to include SoE Reform, faster Interest and Dividends tax phase out, minor occupational licensing reform, and an alert system to Federal checkpoints.

The budget ultimately passed with a resounding super majority of 326-52. Coupled with the unanimous 24-0 vote from the Senate, any veto from the Governor will be overturned. I campaigned on SoE reform, and the path was rocky, but we’re going to get there.

Bill Passed

BILL PASSED – HB127 State of Emergency Reform

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In a 193-185 Roll Call vote, State of Emergency Reform passed the house on 3/22/2023. I am a cosponsor on this, alongside many liberty heavy-hitters, with Tony Lekas as prime sponsor.

This was one of the key components of my campaign to run for office. I moved from Massachusetts to escape lockdowns in 2020. I saw what an unrestrained executive branch could do, and was very disappointed when last term’s version of this bill was vetoed despite the governor’s promise of a signature.

The bill now has two paths forward: either down the same route as last term, with a likely veto, or incorporated as part of HB2 in the budget trailer bill. I made it clear in a whipping question that I would like to see HB127 incorporated as part of the budget to ensure the governor’s signature. As a freshman representative, it’s likely my threat to vote “no” on the budget over this would not hold a lot of weight, but I’m certain I am not alone on this issue.