$100 Plus Mileage

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S3 E10: Should NH require rear-facing car seats for children under 2 years old? Jun 02, 2023

Show notes

New Hampshire state law doesn’t require adults to wear seat belts, but the law is not so laissez-faire when it comes to infants. Passengers under age seven must be fastened by a child restraint system (e.g. a car seat) with specific rules spelled out by the federal government. Now, the Legislature is set to vote on SB 118, a bill that would require rear-facing car seats for children less than two years old

Listen as hosts Anna Brown and Mike Dunbar, of Citizens Count break it down in $100 Plus Mileage. This podcast is produced in partnership with Citizens Count, Granite State News Collaborative and The Marlin Fitzwater Center for Communications at Franklin Pierce University

S3 E9: Should NH mandate solid playground paths for wheelchairs? May 22, 2023

Show notes

According to some Granite Staters, new playgrounds are failing to provide access for children with disabilities. Now the state legislature is considering a bill that would require solid, rubber-like materials for playground pathways.

S3 E8: Should New Hampshire lessen the penalty for driving without a driver’s license? May 05, 2023

Show notes

There are a variety of reasons someone might break the law by driving without a valid driver’s license—they let it expire, or their family couldn’t afford drivers’ education courses, for example. If someone drives without a license because they can’t pass a safety test, however, it puts everyone on the road at risk. A 2015 law introduced stricter penalties for those who drive without a license. Now New Hampshire is considering HB 201, a bill to roll back some of those changes.

S3 E7: Should NH remove the requirement for schools to offer free period products in bathrooms? Apr 20, 2023

Show notes

This year there has been a lot of attention on school policies related to sex and gender, but not every bill has received the same scrutiny. One bill, HB 129, would ease the state requirements for schools to provide free pads and tampons in bathrooms. The bill received almost no attention in the House of Representatives but may hit some roadblocks in the Senate.

S3 E6: Should NH make it a misdemeanor to intentionally make false reports of child abuse and neglect? Apr 10, 2023

Show notes

Sometimes, reporting instances of child abuse can mean the difference between life and death for children in troubled homes. But what about when someone makes a report of child abuse in bad faith? For example, what if a relative falsely reports that a family member is abusing or neglecting their children, simply to humiliate them? A bill before the New Hampshire Legislature would seek to punish such bad faith reports.

S3 E5: Should electric vehicle owners pay an annual fee to offset lost gas tax revenue? Mar 24, 2023

Show notes

Over the past two years President Biden has championed transportation upgrades, from bridge repairs to electric vehicle tax credits. While federal funds for these initiatives will have a big impact on New Hampshire, they don’t address an underlying problem: New Hampshire relies on the gas tax to fund its transportation infrastructure, and those dollars are slowly dwindling. To help bridge the gap, the New Hampshire Legislature is considering a new fee structure for electric cars.

S3 E4: Should NH allow students to test out of the requirement to attend high school? Mar 14, 2023

Show notes

As tuition costs continue to rise, many have questioned whether college is worth the time and money it takes to get a degree. Many students who might otherwise have pursued a bachelor’s degree are finding it more attractive to begin working and building their careers right out of high school. A somewhat similar debate that has gotten far less buzz—whether high school is really necessary—is now taking place in New Hampshire thanks to HB 399.

S3 E3: Does NH need to license massage establishments? Feb 27, 2023

Show notes

For several years the New Hampshire Legislature has considered bills to license massage establishments, similar to how the state licenses nail salons and barbershops. At first glance this seems like many other licensing debates, with tension between public health and government overreach. A deeper look uncovers an ongoing discussion over how to fight human trafficking in the Granite State.

S3 E2: Should NH exempt domestic abuse victims from wiretapping law? Feb 27, 2023

Show notes

Part of what makes the study of public policy so fascinating is how even the most admirable proposals can warrant deeper scrutiny. A great example of this is found in HB 143, a bill before the NH House of Representatives that would allow domestic violence victims to secretly record their abusers without running afoul of the state’s wiretapping law.

S3 E1: Legislators call “Mulligan!” on bills from last year Jan 27, 2023

Show notes

New Hampshire legislators are sponsoring roughly 850 bills this year, but dozens of those are repeats from previous years. Sometimes legislators refine a bill based on feedback, but sometimes the bill text is identical. Here are three hot debates that will get a do-over in 2023.

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