This story was originally produced by The Keene Sentinel. NHPR is republishing it in partnership with the Granite State News Collaborative.
Former state Rep. Joe Schapiro of Keene discussed a local family Wednesday to explain his opposition to a bill that would close the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Health Equity.
Rep. Mike Belcher’s House Bill 392 bill also seeks to end civil rights and environmental justice functions in the N.H. Department of Environmental Services.
Belcher, R-Wakefield, says he wants to eliminate programs that advantage one group over another and that his legislation is in line with the Trump administration’s executive action against diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.
Schapiro testified against HB 392 during a public hearing Wednesday of the House Health, Human Services and Elderly Affairs Committee.
He noted that the Office of Health Equity houses a program that helps refugees become economically self-sufficient and aids in their social adjustment, including a couple and their son who were evacuated from Afghanistan in 2022 and now live in his neighborhood.
“They were brought first to Italy, then to this country, then to Concord and finally to Keene to be resettled by the American military and the American government,” Schapiro, a retired social worker, told the panel.
“Both adults had been shot by the Taliban and have wounds that have not completely healed. The father of the family worked in security for the American military.”
Schapiro said the man now works at Cheshire Medical Center.
“He works the night shift because he can make a pay differential so he can send home money to his family in Afghanistan,” Schapiro said. “He takes every bit of overtime hours he can take so he can send more money back to Afghanistan.
“For the first two years, before he got his driver’s license and before he was able to buy a car, he rode his bike at 10 o’clock at night to the hospital two miles away and back at 6 in the morning.”
Schapiro urged the committee to consider people like his neighbors.
“These are the kind of families that when they first come, get help through the refugee program at the Office of Health Equity and I hope you will take the actual people this affects into consideration when you take your vote on this bill,” he said.
Testifying to the committee, Belcher described programs meant to promote social justice, diversity, equity and inclusion as “discriminatory, punitive and divisive.”
“I’m happy to report that the position I staked out in this bill is now reflected in federal policy of the executive,” he said. ”Now, contrary to any suggestions that we might lose federal funding if we were to move forward with eliminating these offices, on the contrary, we’re far more liable to lose federal funding if we do not.”
Trump signed an executive order on Jan. 22, which states that it “expands individual opportunity by terminating radical DEI preferencing in federal contracting.”
A fiscal note included in HB 392 says it could lead to $100,000 in savings per year through the elimination of the salary of the N.H. Health and Human Services director of health equity.
However, Adam Crepeau, assistant commissioner of the N.H. Department of Environmental Services, told the committee the bill could potentially jeopardize up to $90 million in federal money that goes to the department contingent on it complying with the Civil Rights Act of 1964 in its contracts.
That act prohibits discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.
Crepeau said the department is also required to comply with the Americans With Disabilities Act, which prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities.
The N.H. Department of Environmental Services states on its website that it will work to further environmental justice principles, defined as “the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race, color, national origin, or income, with respect to the development, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations and policies.”
The Office of Health Equity has a mission of assuring “equitable access to effective, quality DHHS programs and services across all populations, with specialized focus on racial, ethnic, language, gender and sexual minorities, and individuals with disabilities.”
HB 392 also calls for the elimination of the Governor’s Advisory Council on Diversity and Inclusion, which was created in an executive order by Gov. Chris Sununu to review state laws, regulations, policies and procedures and recommends changes, if needed, to combat discrimination.
However, this was one of dozens of executive orders Sununu rescinded in December before he left office, effectively eliminating the council.
The N.H. House Health, Human Services and Elderly Affairs Committee will eventually schedule a vote on HB 392 before forwarding the bill to the full House for further consideration.
