Chuck Morse Policy Center

Protect Our Second Amendment

As the only candidate in this race who has successfully protected your Second Amendment rights in New Hampshire, I have consistently fought to uphold our constitutional freedoms. As Senate President,I drafted and passed the legislation for constitutional carry, ensuring that Granite Staters can exercise their right to bear arms without unnecessary government interference. Isupported ‘Stand Your Ground’ legislation andstood firm against Democrat-led attempts to impose red flag laws that would infringe on our Second Amendment rights.

Addressing the root causes of violence, I recognize that this is primarily a mental health crisis. In New Hampshire, we've taken a common-sense approach and moved beyond mere discussion. We've taken decisive action. We acquired Hampstead Hospital to support children dealing with mental health issues and are developing additional facilities in Epping and Nashua to combat this crisis. Over the past few years, we havecommitted substantial resources to enhance access to mental health programs, including mobile crisis units.

Furthermore,we have invested nearly $40 million to harden our schools and ensure the safety of our children. We've also led efforts to provide law enforcement with the necessary resources to keep our streets safe.The issue isn't a lack of laws; it's the lack of execution and prosecution. We must enforce the laws already on the books, rather than allowing a revolving door of justice.

While Democrats push to defund our police and create chaos, we stand firm in our commitment to law and order, ensuring that our communities remain safe and our Second Amendment rights are protected.

Save Women's Spaces

Whether it’s the locker room or bathroom, women’s spaces must be protected. Ensuring the safety and protection of women’s spaces must be a priority because our daughters and granddaughters deserve better.

As the only Republican candidate for New Hampshire Governor to come out in support of this issue, join Team Morse in calling on Kelly Ayotte to commit to protecting women's spaces in the Granite State! Sign out petition:HERE

More Energy, Low Costs

When it comes to energy policy, we need a common-sense, all-of-the-above approach. As Governor, I will prioritize lowering energy costs for Granite State families and ensure that YOU get to choose the type of energy you use. As Senate President, I passed legislation to ensure Washington D.C. could not encroach on that right. New Hampshire’s law now says Washington D.C. cannot force you to use one energy source, like how New York banned gas stoves.

You don’t need to look further than our seacoast to see the downfalls of so-called top down ‘Green Energy’ policies. Right now, a wind farm is planned along our seacoast, threatening marine life and the entire fishing industry, all to the benefit of big businesses outside New Hampshire. With most of our seafood being outsourced from other countries, it’s disappointing we don’t focus on supporting local seafood from our local businesses. The first industrial-scale wind farm in the United States recently exposed the critical flaws of this energy source. A section of a 350-foot-long blade was damaged, with fiberglass chunks washing ashore, leading to the shutdown of both the wind farm and beaches on Nantucket. This is just one example of green energy gone wrong.

When it comes to lowering electric rates, we need to look beyond the Granite State. That’s one of the reasons why I endorsed Donald Trump for President. I know he will drill for oil and bring pipelines up to New Hampshire, increasing supply and lowering costs for every family.

A Granite Strong Education

Having grown up in a low-income single-parent household, I understand firsthand the importance of educational choices for New Hampshire families. As Governor, I am committed to ensuring every New Hampshire child has more educational opportunities than I had. I will pursue a comprehensive approach to strengthening our public education system while also making it easier for parents to access alternative options such as private and homeschooling. Additionally, I will advocate for parents to have an active role in their children’s education, providing them with the necessary tools to collaborate effectively with educators. Together, we can build a Granite Strong Education system in the 603.

• Universal School Choice

As Senate President, I drove the initial passage of Education Freedom Accounts because children deserve access to the best education opportunities that fit their needs. Not only are EFA’s beneficial for the child, they’re also a financial benefit to public schools. While this program is currently limited to low-income families, as Governor, I will ensure every child has the same opportunity. Expanding Trade School Opportunities We must focus on providing our next generation with a head start in their career path that doesn’t end in them being limited by heavy college debt. As Governor, I will work to improve and expand collaboration between our schools and trade opportunities that will lay the groundwork for successful careers in our Granite State.

• Support our Educators

According to the Learning Policy Institute New Hampshire spends nearly $4,000 more per pupil than the national average, but our average starting teacher salary is nearly $4,000 less than the national average. In order to address the teacher shortage that is affecting schools across New Hampshire we must find a way to ensure that more of the money we spend on education goes to the classroom and the teachers. Another recent study showed that between 1994 and 2022 staffing in New Hampshire schools increased by 55% even though student enrollment declined by more than 11%. Even as enrollment has been declining New Hampshire has increased inflation-adjusted school spending by more than 40%. It is not a matter of state resources, it is a matter of focusing more of the dollars we do spend on classroom teachers who need and deserve our support.

• Expanding Trade School Opportunities

We must focus on providing our next generation with a head start in their career path that doesn’t end in them being limited by heavy college debt. As Governor, I will work to improve and expand collaboration between our schools and trade opportunities that will lay the groundwork for successful careers in our Granite State.

• Parental Bill of Rights

Throughout the pandemic, it became increasingly clear that parents were not always getting answers when it came to their children’s education. Parents wanted transparency about what was going on with their children in the classroom. For this reason, I drafted and passed a Parental Bill of Rights in my last term as Senate President. However, there is more that we can do to ensure that Parents have the information they need to help their children in the best way possible.

Fortifying Granite State Defenses

Because of Joe Biden’s policies, every state has become a de facto border state. It’s clear our federal government won’t take action to protect Granite State families.

Border Patrol agents have estimated that more than ten million illegal immigrants have crossed our southern border since Joe Biden took office - that is greater than the entire population of the state of New Hampshire! And even up here in New Hampshire we have felt the effects of the Mexican drug cartels exploiting America’s weak immigration laws to provide cover to their illicit operations. Fentanyl, smuggled across our southern border into the U.S. has become a major problem throughout New Hampshire. Over the past three years, the Granite State has averaged nearly 400 opioid related overdose deaths per year and during that time, 2/3rds of the overdose deaths involved Fentanyl or other synthetic drugs.

As your next Governor, I am committed to stepping up and delivering a resounding message—New Hampshire will not succumb to this crisis. I pledge to be the unwavering voice that our state needs to protect our families here in the Granite State.

• Crush The Caravan Surge

Democrat initiatives to offer amnesty, along with lavish perks and services to illegal immigrants only encourages the influx of caravans to exploit our weakened border. These initiatives should cease nationally, and as Governor I promise New Hampshire will not be a welcome mat for illegal immigrants, nor will we participate in offering them services here in the Granite State.

• Outlaw Sanctuary Cities in New Hampshire

Sanctuary cities act as a magnet for crime, drugs, and gang activity. Democrat-run states such as Massachusetts are emptying community centers, hotels, and telling citizens to house illegal immigrants in their homes to try to accommodate the thousands of unvetted individuals entering their state. And now the price tag is being pushed onto the taxpayer. As Governor, I will staunchly reject the establishment of sanctuary cities and will actively work to fortify our borders and uphold the rule of law.

• Allow the Enforcement of Trespassing Laws

Allow local police to arrest suspected illegal immigrants for trespassing on privately owned land and allow landowners to post no trespassing signs with exceptions for recreational use without jeopardizing their land use tax status.

• Recruit, Support and Bolster Local Law Enforcement

I’ve always stood as a staunch defender of New Hampshire’s law enforcement, but we need to do a better job as a state of recruiting law enforcement officers and making this opportunity a lifelong career endeavor. That starts by publicly backing law enforcement and fighting to make sure they have the protections they need to do their job. We must fix the pension system in a compromised approach that does not undermine taxpayers while also fairly compensating these individuals who put their lives on the line every day.

• Zero Tolerance Policies For Fentanyl Dealers

We need to send a strong message as a state that dealing Fentanyl in New Hampshire is unacceptable. We need to treat Fentanyl with the seriousness it deserves by passing legislation to have the toughest sentences on the books. Anyone who deals Fentanyl in this state needs to be treated like the murderer they are.^[12]

TAX REFORM PLAN

Lower Taxes + Smart Budgeting = Economic Success

Here in New Hampshire, we know that lower taxes and smarterbudgeting leads to economic success. That’s why we have the lowesttax burden and strongest employment in the northeast. And that’s whywe are consistently named one of the top states to live in and raise afamily.

My record of cutting taxes and opposing any broad-based state salesor income tax stands second to none. In 2015, I led the fight againstthen Governor Maggie Hassan to pass the first cuts to our smallbusiness taxes in more than 20 years. These tax cuts catapulted NewHampshire’s economy to make it the envy of the northeast that it istoday. In 2020, I led to efforts to successfully stop the Democrats’statewide income tax. And over the past two years, I have led theRepublican Senate’s efforts to cut our property taxes – including morethan $300 million dollars in property tax relief last year and anadditional $100 million dollars in property tax relief this year.

Maggie Hassan, and the Democrats in Washington, have gone in theopposite direction, looking for every opportunity they can to take moremoney out of your pockets. In fact, President Biden’s proposed 2023budget includes 36 tax hikes totaling $2.5 trillion dollars.

Maggie Hassan has marched in lock-step with Biden’s tax-and-spendagenda every step of the way. Whether it’s President Biden’s new tax on“unrealized gains” which Americans oppose by a margin of 3-1, Biden’sGlobal Minimum Tax scheme that puts American companies at adisadvantage, or the expansion of the IRS to monitor your personalbank accounts.

Washington can certainly learn a thing or two from New Hampshirewhen it comes to a responsible, fiscally conservative tax policy. That’swhy I am proposing specific reforms that will lower the tax burden forevery working family and individual.

Reform the IRS

You shouldn’t need an advanced degree in accounting just to do your taxesevery April. Every year we all spend hundreds, if not thousands of dollars on taxpreparation. In fact, it has been estimated that the total cost for compliancewith our tax code was as much as $367 billion dollars in 2020. This is aninefficient use of our time and money and it doesn’t need to be this way. TheInternal Revenue Service needs a complete reform away from the currentmodel of harassment and intimidation to a more consumer-friendly model thatworks with the taxpayer to ensure compliance, not a model that simply looks topunish. This will require a complete and thorough review of the 6,000+ pages(and 64,000+ pages of additional explanations) of our current tax code. Wethen need to simplify this complex and often conflicting code, and turn it intosomething that the average American can understand.

Make the Trump tax cuts permanent

Extending and making permanent the Trump tax cuts needs to be our #1priority. The individual tax cuts in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (TCJA) ledus to one of the strongest economies in decades. Right up until the pandemic-caused slowdown, job growth was strong and our economy was expanding at arecord pace because of the TCJA. TCJA benefited working families andindividuals above any other group. Households earning between $50,000 and$100,000 per year saw their average tax liability drop by over 15 percent. Thatcomes out to middle class families receiving on average a $2,000 annual taxcut, and individuals receiving a $1,300 annual tax cut! If these tax cuts are left toexpire, it will be one of the largest tax hikes in our nation’s history and it will fallon the backs of those that need tax relief the most.

Eliminate the inflation tax

Inflation has become the number one problem in the lives of everydayAmericans and our tax burden is not immune from its reach. Uncontrolledinflation in itself is a tax on lower income taxpayers as we are paying more foreveryday items. We need to get inflation under control and we need to start bysupercharging our domestic energy production so that we can return to energyindependence. Controlling our own energy costs, rather than relying on unstableforeign sources, will lower production and transportation costs and help withprice increases for all Americans. Unfortunately, federal tax policy onlyexacerbates the problems inflation causes with its nonsensical policies. Forexample, federal capital gains taxation does not take inflation into account.Therefore, we are all paying tax on inflationary gains. We should reform this toaccount for inflation, much like we do for the Earned Income Tax Credit, amongothers. Additionally, businesses that purchase expensive pieces of equipmentduring periods of high inflation are at a disadvantage when claimingdepreciation over the course of many years using the original purchase price.We should allow expedited or immediate deductions of these investment costs.

Reduce the corporate tax rate

Our current 21 percent federal corporate income tax rate puts the US at acompetitive disadvantage with the rest of the world. Currently, the averagecombined corporate tax rate is 25.8 percent, which is higher than theinternational standard average of 25.4 percent. By lowering our corporate taxrate, we will encourage businesses to invest here domestically and attract newinternational companies. When New Hampshire lowered our business taxes, oureconomy skyrocketed. We become the envy of the northeast. There is no reasonthat our nation should not enjoy the same success.

End the Death Tax

The Death Tax has been one of the most disliked taxes for decades. It isfundamentally unfair and punishes responsible saving and investing. It shouldbe eliminated entirely.

Expand Education Savings Accounts

In New Hampshire, we’re already seeing the benefits of the new EducationFreedom Account program. Likewise, we should expand the Federal 529Education Savings Account program to allow homeschooling and home learningexpenses. These accounts started as college savings plans, but have beenexpanded in recent years to include K-12 and special needs materials. We shouldexpand them even further to allow for the increase in home schooling and homelearning that we have seen recently, especially in reaction to school closure forthe pandemic. Since May of 2019, we’ve seen home schooling rates triple, withthe majority of the increase coming from Black, Latino and Asian households.

Expand Health Savings Accounts

There are currently 30 million Health Savings Accounts in the US, covering 63million people. These accounts allow for tax-free savings for medical costs, butthey are not available to all Americans. Currently, only those with high deductiblehealth plans are eligible for HSAs and they cannot be used by anyone onMedicare. We should open up this cost-saving program to everyone, especiallyour seniors on Medicare.

Repeal the 1099-K IRS Paperwork Requirement

President Biden’s “American Rescue Plan” introduced a new tax paperworkburden in the form of expanded 1099-K requirements and it is already causingfreelancers and independent contractors major headaches. ARPA lowered theminimum transaction fee to $600, meaning that if you sell a bicycle for $600 oneBay or Facebook Marketplace, you will be required to submit a 1099-K form nextApril 15th. We should repeal this overly burdensome provision immediately.

A fairer, flatter federal tax code that gives middle class, working families a break is possible, but we need to stop doing things the broken Washington way. The American taxpayer is not a never-ending piggy bank for politicians’ pet projects. It is time that we finally get our federal budget under control and let the taxpayers hang on to more of their own money. It’s time to do things the 603 way -- not the DC way.

MAKE OUR ECONOMY GREAT AGAIN

Inflation is at a 40-year high with no end in sight. Personalconsumption expenditure prices rose 5.2% in March, while ournational GDP contracted 1.4% in the first quarter of 2022. A gallonof gas is up 33% on average since last year. Grocery prices rose8.6% in March alone. Across the board, everything costs more.Retirement savings are suddenly worth less than they were a yearago. For Granite State families and families across the country, thishas become the number one biggest concern.

High inflation is essentially a tax on every American, and for lowerincome families who spend most of their income on basic needs,its effects are devastating.

Meanwhile, President Biden and Maggie Hassan continue to try tomake excuses for inflation. They’ve attempted to blame everythingfrom COVID-19 to Putin’s invasion of the Ukraine, but the truth isthat inflation is the result of unchecked government spending anda complete lack of fiscal discipline at the federal level.

And it isn’t just individuals that are hurt by inflation. Inflationaffects small businesses by shrinking the value of the money theyspend to make investments into their companies. Small businessowners now see inflation as the biggest issue to their success,even greater than the worker shortage.

We need real solutions that will both fight the long term causes ofinflation and help everyday Americans immediately, by relievingsome of the effects of the inflation problems that we already areexperiencing.

Return Fiscal Responsibility to Washington

Inflation, at its most basic, is the result of government debtincreasing beyond the perception of the ability to repay. Themassive debt we’ve incurred over the past couple of years is fuelingthe current round of inflation and the Biden Administration justkeeps adding fuel to the inflation fire by proposing more and morenew spending. In fact, President Biden’s proposed FY2023 budgetincreases spending from $5.8 trillion dollars to nearly $9 trilliondollars!

The first thing that we need to do to combat inflation is to get ourfiscal house in order. The cycle of borrowing and spending at thefederal level needs to end. Our national debt is now over $30.4trillion dollars. That works out to $91,000 per citizen and $242,500per tax payer. To make it worse, much of this debt is held byforeign countries, including $1.1 trillion dollars held by China. Thespending needs to end. The borrowing needs to end.

In New Hampshire, we do fiscal discipline better than any otherstate in our nation. We have balanced budgets and spendtaxpayers’ money frugally while helping those who need it most.We need to encourage solid, sustainable economic growth and along-term predictable governmental policy of balanced budgets –just like we do in New Hampshire.

Restore Energy Independence

When President Trump was in office, the US was back on the pathto energy independence. Unfortunately, the Biden Administration,with the help of Maggie Hassan, has returned us to days of relyingon unstable foreign governments, like Russia and the MiddleEastern nations, for our energy. This has caused major problems inall facets of our economy.

In New Hampshire, gas prices are $2.00 more today than they werein September of 2021. Home heating oil prices skyrocketed thiswinter as well. We cannot afford another winter of theBiden/Hassan energy experiment.

We need to super-charge our energy production and reverse themost destructive of Biden’s policies like the ban on new oil and gasleases on federal lands. We need to restart construction on theKeystone XL pipeline immediately. We need to cut the red tapeslowing federal approval processes for oil exploration and drilling,such as required environmental analysis done under NEPA(National Environmental Policy Act) which take years to complete.The Department of Energy and FERC should approve and fast trackany pending liquid natural gas terminal permits. And finally, wemust prevent the frivolous litigation being filed by extremistenvironmental groups that simply want to make new oilexploration too cost prohibitive to continue.

Cut regulations that artificially keep prices high and that harm American production

Unnecessary federal regulations are far too often the cause ofartificially high prices for everyday commodities. For example,federal laws related to ethanol and other biofuels incentivizefarmers to grow crops that are artificially more profitable. 40% ofall corn grown in the United States is used to produce ethanol. Thislowers the crop output for food products, and in turn, food pricesrise. We should undertake a thorough review of federal regulationsto cut the unnecessary red tape and waste.

Recently, there has been a push by President Biden to use theDefense Production Act to authorize the domestic mining of metalsand minerals, such as those for the production of electric vehiclebatteries. Biden has blamed the supply chain for our inability toimport these minerals from Russia and China, but in reality, it is theoverly burdensome federal regulations that have halted domesticproduction.

Resolve Supply Chain Issues

We’ve all seen the videos of cargo ships lined up miles out to sea,waiting to unload. We’ve also all seen the barren aisles at thegrocery store. The failure of our supply chain has left us with highdemand and low supply on everyday items and has caused majorstrain on all of our wallets and a rise in inflation.

The broken supply chain is the result of years of bad policy making,government interference and the never-ending regulations thatslow down business. One of the main culprits has been the unionchokehold on many of our nation’s ports, especially on the westcoast. Unions have fought to halt technological innovation andautomation to protect outdated, high salary positions. Additionally,the recent dock worker strike at the Long Beach, California portcould not have come at a worse time. When combined withonerous and ever-changing COVID-19 restrictions,“green”initiatives and other arbitrary rules, the supply chain was bound tobreak at the smallest bump in the road.

We need major reform on the way that our supply chain isregulated and we need to get the unions and environmentalistsout of the way so that they will stop holding up progress so that wecan get our economy back on track.

Reverse policies that make American companies less competitive internationally.

Greater capacity for domestic manufacturing will work to relievesome of the strain that has been caused by our broken supplychain. Currently, our 21% corporate tax rate puts us at competitivedisadvantage with foreign nations. Our average combinedcorporate tax rate is 25.8 percent, which is higher than theinternational standard average of 25.4 percent. By lowering ourtaxes on our businesses, we will encourage more investment andincentivize manufacturing here at home.

There is no quick, easy fix for the inflation problems we are facing.However, it is crucial that we stop the disastrous policies of MaggieHassan and President Biden that have only fanned the flames ofhigh inflation before it’s too late. We need balanced spending, notoverregulation. We need to do things the 603 way - not the DCway.

MORSE'S BORDER SECURITY PLAN

This past year, we saw the greatest number of illegal border crossings inmore than 20 years. Border Patrol agents have estimated that at least twomillion illegal immigrants have crossed our southern border since Joe Bidentook office. That is greater than the entire population of New Hampshire. Infact, the amount of people illegally entering our country each and everymonth is roughly equal to the population of Nashua or Manchester!

When Joe Biden was elected, he promised his liberal base that we would havewide open national borders and, unfortunately, he kept that promise.

The border crisis is not just a crisis for border states – it affects all states,including New Hampshire. Mexican drug cartels are exploiting America’s weakimmigration laws and porous borders to provide cover to their illicitoperations and are flooding our country with their deadly product.

Fentanyl, smuggled across our southern border into the U.S. has become amajor problem throughout our state and much of the Northeast. Over thepast three years, New Hampshire has averaged 407 opioid related overdosedeaths per year and we have seen a 31% increase in non-fatal opioidoverdoses in past twelve months. During that time, 2/3rds of the overdosedeaths involved Fentanyl or other synthetic drugs. This year alone, we’ve seena 6% increase in Fentanyl related deaths. It is a real problem that affects allGranite Staters and it is a direct result of the Biden-Hassan open borderpolicies.

I recently travelled to the southern border by invite from Gov. Greg Abbott ofTexas to see the extent of the problem myself. I can tell you that the footageshown on the 5 o’clock news does not do justice the massive challenge weare facing. What we saw and been briefed on is beyond one’s imagination.This a lawless humanitarian crisis that is unparalleled in our nation’s history.

We need real solutions to our border crisis and we need them now!

• Finish the wall
• End "catch and release" policies
• Provide proper resources to our border patrol agents
• Increase prosecution rates

Finish the Wall

One of the first measures that we need to take to get control of theborder crisis is to finish the border wall that President Trumpstarted. We’ve seen how successful the wall has been in areaswhere it has been completed. For example, in San Diego, wherewealthy, politically connected residents were able to get the wallconstructed, illegal border crossings are much less frequent andthe Mexican Cartels do no operate there. By contrast, in isolatedareas, such as Big Bend, illegal immigrants walk across the borderin remote areas, spreading out agents and giving the Cartels coverto run illegal drugs across our border.

The Biden Administration, under pressure from the left, endedconstruction of the wall shortly after his election. We need a newpolicy - we need to complete the border wall.

The state of Texas recently announced that they were deployingstate resources to complete the wall at the border. It is an absolutetravesty that we, as a nation, are relying on a single state to do thework of the Federal government.

End “Catch and Release” Policies

The biggest takeaway that I received from the brave men and womenpatrolling our border is that the problems at our border are caused bypoor policy decisions made thousands of miles away in WashingtonDC.

When the Biden Administration took office, they returned to a failedpolicy of “Catch and Release.” This policy allows for illegal immigrantswho are seeking asylum protection in the U.S. to be released into thecommunities while awaiting a court hearing. This is a multi-step judicialprocess that can take up to two years. Meanwhile, these illegalimmigrants are granted work permits and other benefits. Once it istime for their final appearance in front of a judge, they simplydisappear into the country.

Unfortunately, the Mexican drug cartels are extremely well-versed onthe loopholes in our asylum laws and coach migrants on how to takeadvantage of them. We need to end “Catch and Release” and ensurethat these people are kept in custody once they are first detained.

We also need to update our asylum laws to allow for applications to bemade prior to entering the country. Many nations allow for the asylumapplication process to begin when the asylum seeker reaches a “safe”country. However, current U.S. law only allows application for asylumwhen on American soil. And once that application process has started,the asylum seeker can no longer be removed from the country. Byallowing asylum application outside of American borders, we canprevent the issues related to “Catch and Release” by stopping theasylum seeker from entering into the country in the first place.

Provide proper resources to our agents

I was recently briefed about a Border Patrol agent thatencountered an illegal immigrant that was injured jumping aborder wall. The agent responded and brought him in for medicalcare. Unfortunately, the illegal immigrant attacked the agentresulting in an injured agent and a deceased illegal immigrant. Iwas told that with proper resources, it would have been possible toavoid this horrible result.

Ensuring proper resources for our Border Patrol agents is not onlyfor our security - it is critical for the safety of our agents and thoseattempting to enter our country illegally.

We are currently seeing multiple states, such as Florida andTennessee, sending their own state resources to aid in securingthe southern border. This responsibility should not fall on thestates. While I applaud these states for doing this, it is the job ofthe Federal government, not the states to provide these resources.The states need these resources back home and the federalgovernment needs to step up and do its job.

Increase Prosecution Rate

A major challenge that has long burdened our immigration systemis the low rate of prosecution for those who are apprehended atour border. A Border Patrol agent shared with me that while hehad apprehended hundreds of illegal border crossers during hisyears on the job, only two of them were ever prosecuted. This issimply unacceptable.

The failure of prosecution is a product of our big federalbureaucracy getting in the way. There are simply too many federalagencies that are dependent on other federal agencies to do theirjob. The Border Patrol apprehends illegal border crossers, but theyare dependent on the Federal Department of Justice to prosecute.When the DOJ does not have the resources to prosecute, theysimply decline, and those that have violated our laws gounpunished. If there are no consequences to violating our federalimmigration laws, outside of spending one day under arrest, thesecrimes will continue to happen.

We need to ensure that the Department of Justice has theresources it needs to pursue these prosecutions and we need toensure that these prosecutions are taking place as a deterrent toother would-be border crossers.

603 WAY PARENTAL RIGHTS PLAN

It shouldn’t be a controversial statement to say that a parent should be the most important person in their child’s life. Unfortunately, as we’ve seen over the past few years, liberal organizations across the country, especially those connected to public education, have sought to reduce the rights of parents and silence their voices.

We’ve seen concerned parents ignored or refused the opportunity to speak at school board meetings. We’ve had school administrators deny parents access to view the lesson plans and teaching materials that are being used in the public school classrooms. We watched as they’ve pushed controversial, offensive teachings like Critical Race Theory on our children and then called parents “domestic terrorists” when they questioned it.

A parents’ right to raise their child doesn’t end the moment that their child enters the classroom.

In New Hampshire, we’ve done much to give parents their voice back when it comes to their children. We were one of the first states in the nation to take Critical Race Theory head on by prohibiting the teaching that one race is inferior or superior to another in New Hampshire classrooms. We created Education Freedom Accounts so that low-income families have the same opportunities that higher income families have to send their children to schools that best fit their needs. We passed legislation that guarantees a public comment period at local school board meetings. And this spring, the Senate passed a Parents Bill of Rights, to make sure parents would always know what was going on in their children’s schools including what is being taught to their children in the classrooms.

Once again, the 603 way is succeeding, while the DC way is failing.

Opponents of these measures have argued that not all parents can be trusted to make to best decisions for their children. While it is true that a very small percentage of parents are unfit, we simply cannot make public policy under the assumption that all parents may be unfit. Safeguards exist to protect children who need it. The vast majority of parents do what they believe is best for their children, and we must demand that parents are treated as the primary caregiver in their children’s lives, not the government.

This is why I am proposing common sense reforms that must be made in Washington if we want to restore the rights of parents to raise their children:

Promote Transparency and Better Communication in Education
Prohibit CRT in Schools
Return Education to the States
Encourage More School Choice

Promote Transparency and Better Communication in Education

Children spend 6 hours a day, 5 days a week at school. That is a significant portion of the time that they are awake each day. We put a lot of trust into our schools to sculpt our children’s futures without stomping on the values that we seek to teach them at home. Unfortunately, that trust is often misplaced.

Watching the classrooms online during the school shutdowns of the pandemic was an eye-opening experience for many parents. They finally saw what is being taught and said in the classrooms. Many were not pleased or felt misled. This led to the scenes we saw play out last fall of parents at school board meetings demanding change and being shut out of the decision-making process.

We need more transparency in our educational system and need to ensure federal protections of the rights of parents. Parents should have the right to view lessons and materials being taught in our schools, and discuss the objectionable materials with teachers and administrators.

Additionally, we need to ensure that parents are notified of any negative changes in a child’s behavior or school work that school officials may have noticed. Parents deserve to know about any potential issues and should not be kept in the dark.

Transparency and communication should not be a partisan issue, but Maggie Hassan and the Biden administration have done everything that they can to appease their liberal base by berating and criticizing parents that just want to fight for a better educational system. This is wrong and we need a fresh approach that encourages, not discourages, more participation from parents and promotes a two-way discussion about what is being taught in our schools.

Prohibit CRT in Schools

A rising concern that many parents have voiced over the past year is the increased introduction of Critical Race Theory into our classrooms. This offensive ideology seeks to divide our society by race, and the indoctrination of it early on in our schools is dangerous.

In New Hampshire, we prohibited the teaching that one race is superior or inferior to another. To most, this legislation is a common-sense proclamation that our state does not discriminate based on race. However, opponents of the legislation actually fought tooth and nail to protect their right to discriminate. It’s time for common sense to return to our educational system. We need to return to teaching the A-B-Cs -- not the C-R-Ts.

At the federal level, we should follow New Hampshire’s lead. We should prohibit federal funding from being used in any schools K-12 or in colleges or universities to promote Critical Race Theory, hire individuals to promote Critical Race Theory in schools or otherwise force Critical Race Theory on students.

Additionally, we should codify President Trump’s Executive Order on Preventing Race and Sex Stereotyping. This order prohibited the federal government and federal contractors using trainings that advocate Critical Race Theory.

Return Education to the States

As is usually the case with government, when it comes to education, local is better.

We need to move funding away from the Federal Department of Education, and the entrenched bureaucrats that work there, and return it the classrooms where it belongs. The Federal Department of Education has become far too bloated and has taken far too much control away from the local governments that traditionally have run local public education.

It is especially important that we finally fully fund special education. Special education costs, especially in small towns, can be devasting for municipal budgets – and the local property tax payers that foot the bill. There has been an ongoing debate in Washington for years about funding, and unsurprisingly, the Washington politicians have failed to keep their promise to the states. Federal law says that we are required to fully fund special education, and until we do, we should stop funding of other special interest education projects.

The more local the control of our education, the stronger the voice of the parents. It is much easier to speak to your neighbor or local elected official than some nameless, faceless bureaucrat in Washington. We should return the focus away from Washington and back to our cities and towns, where it belongs.

Encourage More School Choice

The Federal Department of Education received $113.5 billion dollars in funding in FY2022. This included personnel salaries of $274.6 million dollars and personnel support costs of $159 million dollars. And what have we received for all of this funding? Low test scores and failed proficiency levels in everything from math to reading. We need to rethink how these funds are used.

New Hampshire’s successful Education Freedom Account program has shown that parents want more choice in their children’s education. Lower income families suddenly have new options that have been traditionally reserved for only those families with greater means. The EFA program should be viewed as a model for what can be done and how it can improve the education of students across the country. We should look at moving some of the excessive Department of Education funding into a new, choice-based model, such as increasing the yearly grant support for Charter Schools.^[12]

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