New Hampshire: The Real Facts

Read Shawne K. Wickham's overview in the Union Leader of the hot topics for discussion in the 2008 state legislature:

Concord – The Legislature will revisit some old battlegrounds ---- parental notification, restaurant smoking ban, taxes and civil unions ---- and take on a host of new ones when the new session starts Wednesday.

There are bills to ban public urination, permit smoking in cigar stores, ban texting while driving and establish a criminal usury rate (anything over 36 percent). One measure would create a learner's permit for young drivers; another would increase the speed limit to 70 miles per hour on limited-access turnpikes and mandate drivers stay right except to pass on such roadways.

There are proposals to raise the age of a "child" for pornography-related offenses, from 16 to 18, and to amend the constitution to lower the age at which someone can serve in the State Senate, from 30 to 25.
Reworked bill

One measure would require parental consent for abortions unless a court waives it; another requires notification of a parent and allows a health exception that was left out of a 2003 parental notification law. The U.S. Supreme Court found the law was flawed and sent it to a lower court for more work. Rather than amend it, lawmakers repealed it last year.

For more, turn here.