Politics

U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand presents herself as a fighter – and a winner, seemingly unfazed by low poll numbers.  Speaking on The Exchange, the New York Senator said she believes she can win over red, blue, and purple parts of the country, touting her popularity in conservative parts of her home state.

"I've never backed down from a fight. I take on the fights that other people won't, and I actually win. And that's been my story," she said. 

Democrats in the state Senate passed three bills Thursday they contend will reduce gun violence in New Hampshire.

New Hampshire is one of five states featured in a new report from the Bipartisan Policy Center, a Washington, D.C. think tank that is documenting spending on the opioid crisis.

The report is a comprehensive accounting of federal dollars being allocated toward the epidemic, including where and how the money is being spent.

It urges policy makers to provide stable funding in the coming years, and to allow states flexibility in how that money is used.

New Hampshire lawmakers will consider a number of restrictions on single-use plastics this session.

Rep. Judith Spang, Democrat of Durham, says she's introducing bills to ban plastic bags and plastic straws statewide.

A newly formed political action committee says it's trying to "encourage" former Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe, a Democrat, to run for president.

The group called "Tenaciously Moving for American Change in 2020" announced its formation Tuesday. The group's name is a play on McAuliffe's "TMac" nickname.

Co-founder Shannon Kane said the group is looking to raise McAuliffe's profile in early voting states like Iowa and New Hampshire.

Sean Graber and Keal Harter love to talk politics together. The recent Dartmouth graduates recall many late nights at the Tuck School of Business debating the political dramas of the day - often to the chagrin of their classmates.

It wasn’t that they always agreed, or that they enjoyed disagreeing with each other. They liked knowing that the person on the other side of the table came to the debate with an open mind and a fact-based perspective, something Graver feels the country seems to be losing.

The New Hampshire House of Representatives dealt a blow Thursday to one of Governor Chris Sununu’s key priorities on the opioid front, the Recovery Friendly Workplace initiative.

The effort aims to link the private sector to the drug crisis by helping businesses better attract and retain people in recovery.

Governor Chris Sununu has vetoed a bill relating to prison sentences for those struggling with substance abuse.

In New Hampshire, if a prisoner is out on parole but has that parole revoked, he or she must be recommitted for at least 90 days. The parole board has some flexibility in handing down those sentences, though.

President Trump's speech at Manchester Community College today about the national opioid epidemic included plenty of New Hampshire references.

Trump took time to thank Governor Chris Sununu and Manchester Fire Chief Daniel Goonan for attending.

The speech ranged widely on topics including sanctuary cities, DACA and the border wall with Mexico, but the President did not make any specific announcement of new funding measures to fight the opioid epidemic.

Trump did make it clear that he wants to see tougher penalties for those convicted of drug trafficking.

Plenty of local officials grumbled about the state’s orders not to reschedule town elections because of last week’s snowstorm. But only one — the town of Washington — defied those instructions and decided to delay its votes anyway.

State officials are working on a deal to secure funding for drug recovery services in Sullivan County. That’s after the major provider in the region, Hope for New Hampshire Recovery, announced it was rolling back its offerings last month.

Voters in more than 75 towns across the state will decide on Keno at town meetings this spring.

State lawmakers legalized the lottery game last year as a way to help fund all-day kindergarten statewide.

But it still has to be approved on a city-by-city or town-by-town basis.

In Enfield, where it’ll be up for a vote at the Town Meeting next month, selectman Meredith Smith says she hopes voters reject Keno and send a message to Concord. “Gambling is not a way to fix the funding of the schools,” she said.

Governor Chris Sununu signed into law Thursday morning new protections against childhood lead exposure.

At a signing ceremony in Claremont, the Governor championed the public health impact of the new law.

"We will, without a doubt, prevent a lot of children from getting lead poisoning,” he said. “That's a really good thing"

The legislation mandates lead screenings for all one and two year olds. It also lowers the blood-lead level that triggers state intervention.

Have you ever gone to an ER that you thought was in-network, but ended up getting stuck with a surprise bill because the doctor you saw there was out-of-network? That’s known as “balance billing,” and New Hampshire is one of a growing number of states looking at ways to protect patients from these unexpected — and often large — invoices.

Gov. Chris Sununu says he supports a bill that would increase the state's minimum age for marriage to 16 years old.

In a letter to lawmakers Wednesday, Sununu described the marriage of a 13-year-old girl as "unconscionable." That's the minimum age for girls to marry in the state; for boys, it's 14, though both require parental consent and approval of a judge.

The Republican-led House rejected a bill last year that would have raised the minimum age to 18. Lawmakers are now considering a bill to raise the minimum age to 16 for both genders. 

New Hampshire's demographics are changing, and some lawmakers want to make sure policy makers keep that in mind.

The House Executive Departments and Administration Committee is holding a public hearing Wednesday on a bill that would create a new position of state demographer. The bill also would create a commission to develop long-term migration goals and would require lawmakers to consider how proposed legislation would affect the state's population trends.

Women across the country will participate in marches this weekend, including at several events in New Hampshire.

Last year’s Women’s March came on the day after President Donald Trump’s inauguration. For many progressives, it was the start of a resistance movement. Organizers of this year’s local events, including Anne DiCicco from Hollis, say their political efforts have matured.

Both New Hampshire’s U.S. senators said Monday they will not hold up a budget deal as leverage for immigration reform.

President Donald Trump ended the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program - or DACA - last year.  The program protected tens of thousands of kids who were brought to the U.S. illegally as children. Trump gave Congress until March to find a fix, but so far, it hasn’t been resolved.