House Republicans Leave Out Hardworking Granite Staters with Inaccessible, Last Minute Hearing

CONCORD, NH – Late Thursday night, House Republicans scheduled a single, last-minute budget hearing for next Wednesday, giving Granite Staters barely any time to participate. By scheduling the sole budget hearing open to the public in the middle of a workday with little notice, Republican leadership has effectively barred young professionals, working families, and students from having a voice in the process.

This is yet another deliberate attempt to avoid accountability and shut hardworking Granite Staters out of decisions that directly impact their future. The proposed budget is a direct attack on the liveability for young people in New Hampshire; driving up health care costs, making education more expensive, shifting more financial burdens onto local taxpayers – all while protecting corporate special interests and the ultra-wealthy. Rather than engaging in an open, transparent process, Republican House leadership is making it clear that they do not want to hear from the Granite Staters who will bear the brunt of their choices.

In response, 603 Forward Advocacy and Engagement Director, Matt Mooshian, released the following statement:

“Granite Staters deserve real public hearings, not a sham process designed to keep us quiet. At a bare minimum, lawmakers should schedule at least one additional hearing in the evening to allow working people the opportunity to be heard. If House Republicans refuse, they are proving what we already know: they don’t care about young people and professionals struggling to build a life, a family, or a business in New Hampshire.”

The message from young people is clear: we want representation and we won’t be ignored. 603 Forward urges lawmakers to open the process to the public and calls on all young Granite Staters to speak out, organize, and fight for the future of our state.

603 Forward envisions a thriving New Hampshire where people are free to live, work and raise a family. In our New Hampshire: democracy is protected above all else; young people have a voice in government at all levels; and policy changes to help build an inclusive, affordable and resilient state.

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