Rep. Erica Layon

Maddy summaryHB 1292 expands New Hampshire's Right to Try Act to allow patients with "qualifying severe illness" access to unapproved treatments. The bill adds new rules for regenerative stem cell therapies, requiring patient consent, facility accreditation, and clear advertising disclosures. It specifically prohibits the use of stem cells derived from fetal or embryonic sources after an abortion. This policy change directly affects New Hampshire residents with severe illnesses who seek experimental treatments not yet approved by the FDA.

Maddy summaryHB 1244 adds a new exception to New Hampshire's criminal threatening law, protecting individuals who display a firearm or other self-defense means to warn away someone committing criminal trespass (violating RSA 635:2) if the trespasser's actions reasonably threaten property damage, serious bodily injury, or death. It directly affects property owners or occupants responding to trespassers who pose an immediate threat. The key provision clarifies that such defensive actions - intended to deter the trespasser - will not constitute criminal threatening under RSA 631:4. The bill takes effect January 1, 2027, with no estimated state or local fiscal impact.

Maddy summaryHB 1804 consolidates school administrative units (merging smaller school districts) and makes the position of chief school administrator an elected role rather than an appointed one. It defines specific education roles for school administrators and requires school boards to develop and evaluate curricula. The bill amends several state laws to update compensation structures, reporting requirements, and duties for county-level school officials. These changes directly affect school districts, county school conventions, and chief administrators across New Hampshire. The policy focuses on restructuring school governance and increasing local community input through elections.

Maddy summaryHB 1474 changes how New Hampshire distributes revenue from its meals and rooms tax to local governments. It creates a new "meals and rooms municipal revenue fund" and establishes a formula that prioritizes towns, cities, and unincorporated areas with an average property value per adjusted resident of $500,000 or less. The formula adjusts population by excluding residents in exempt housing (like colleges, prisons, and nursing homes), then calculates distributions based on how far each community’s property value per person falls below $500,000. This replaces the previous distribution method without changing the total tax revenue amount. The new system takes effect July 1, 2026.

Maddy summaryHB 1663 updates New Hampshire's medical privacy laws to align with the state constitution's strong protection of personal information, asserting that these state rules are stricter than federal regulations. The bill declares that all medical records belong to the patient and establishes specific limits on copying fees, while also defining key terms like "business associate" and "marketing" to clarify how health data can be shared. It further grants patients rights to receive timely information about their conditions and treatment options, and requires healthcare providers to maintain audit trails for electronic record access. Currently, the bill has been referred for an interim study by the legislature, meaning it has not yet been enacted into law.

Maddy summaryThis bill allows parents to request that their children be removed from the English Language Learner program if the students are performing at grade level in reading and writing or have not received ELL services. It also mandates that students who have not received these services in the previous two years be automatically taken out of the program. If a school district disagrees with a removal, it must appeal the decision to the state board of education. The law is designed to give families more control over their children's educational placement within the ELL system.

Maddy summaryThis bill updates New Hampshire laws to standardize how hospitals and institutions collect and record information for birth worksheets. It requires facilities to gather specific details about the child, parents, and the birth event, including names, dates, addresses, and consent for sharing data with the Social Security Administration or immunization registry. The legislation also clarifies who must sign the documents, such as physicians or nurse midwives, and establishes rules for handling situations where parents refuse to provide certain information or when births occur in moving vehicles. Additionally, it mandates that a separate form be used to report health and statistical data about the mother, father, and baby to state divisions.