New Hampshire GOP lawmakers join attacks on DEI, target state departments, governor's office

Yahoo

06-02-2025

The bill targets the Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Health Equity and the Department of Environmental Services' civil rights and environmental justice programs. (Photo by Dana Wormald/New Hampshire Bulletin)
As President Donald Trump and Republicans in Washington, D.C., seek to eradicate diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts throughout the federal government, their state-level allies in New Hampshire are working to do the same in the Granite State.
House Bill 392, sponsored by Wakefield Republican Rep. Mike Belcher, seeks to eliminate, and forbid New Hampshire from ever recreating, the Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Health Equity, the Department of Environmental Services' civil rights and environmental justice programs, and the Governor's Advisory Council on Diversity and Inclusion.
Belcher, in introducing the bill to fellow lawmakers during a hearing Thursday in Concord, said DEI programs 'ought to be considered unlawful and unconstitutional.' He said they were created by 'Marxists' and are 'evil' because they discriminated against people based on 'immutable characteristics.'
Belcher argued they were used to unfairly deny scarce medical resources during the COVID-19 pandemic and have endangered the stability of electrical grids by shuttering energy facilities that might have a disproportionate environmental impact on lower-income people.
While department officials don't take an official position on bills, Ann Landry, associate commissioner of DHHS who oversees the Office of Health Equity, said Wednesday the department has 'very serious concerns' about the bill.
She spoke about the department's ability to assist people who do not, or struggle to, speak English; the services it provides to people with disabilities to help them access health care; and programs to help recently resettled refugees – who have legal status – integrate into the U.S. health care system.
Landry explained that the office is responsible for ensuring people who are deaf, hard of hearing, or unable to speak English have access to the department's services.
'These are services they are legally eligible for and deserve,' she said.
Landry said the office is also responsible for ensuring DHHS is compliant with the 1965 Civil Rights Act, the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act, the 1973 Rehabilitation Act, and state law. She said not having personnel to ensure compliance with these laws 'would put the state at risk for countless lawsuits and financial penalties.'
The office also oversees the federally funded and federally mandated refugee resettlement program, which helps newly arrived refugees, who have legal status, integrate into their new homes, she said.
'The leadership and staff at OHE receive outreach daily from constituents with complex health needs, both clients and their providers, from across the state who are struggling to navigate our health care system,' she said. 'The team helps with the immediate need of that individual, or the provider advocating on behalf of the individual, but then also addresses the larger barrier to care.'
Rep. Jessica LaMontagne, a Dover Democrat, asked if she knew of any instances where people were denied services based on their skin color. Landry said she did not.
Rep. Jess Edwards, an Auburn Republican, echoed Belcher's assessment on equity efforts, but said his interactions with the office alleviate his concerns.
'The word 'health equity' has jumped out at me as well,' Edwards said. 'I think we've got a situation where whoever came up with the name of that department really regrets it, because they couldn't forecast how the name would basically become synonymous with actual discrimination.'
He said he's repeatedly questioned the department about this office, and has concluded 'they are not trying to have any individual demographic get superior care; it's just a search to remove barriers to make sure we all have an equal access to care.'
'Unless they've been lying to me in testimony for the last five years, I would say this is a program that, by and large, most of us can agree to,' he said. 'Each time I've gone into it with my cynicism fully activated, I've been comfortable that the DHHS Office of Health Equity is probably doing good work.'
Adam Crepeau, assistant commissioner of DES, also spoke about his department's concerns.
He said the bill would put 'some significant federal funds in jeopardy' and potentially lead to the department being referred to the national Department of Justice by shuttering projects that work to ensure it is in compliance with the 1965 Civil Rights Act and the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act. Those federal funds could total up to $80 million to $90 million, though he acknowledged losing the entirety is unlikely.
While the Governor's Advisory Council on Diversity and Inclusion has already been disbanded, the bill seeks to forbid the governor from ever recreating it. Gov. Kelly Ayotte told the Bulletin she hasn't considered doing so. On the bill more broadly, she said she hasn't looked at it yet.
At the hearing Wednesday Rep. Trinidad Tellez, a Hooksett Democrat, asked Belcher for evidence of DEI-driven discrimination in New Hampshire.
Belcher said that during the COVID-19 vaccine rollout in the middle of the pandemic, 10% of vaccine doses were withheld to be distributed 'specifically on the basis of skin color.' (The Bulletin reported in 2021 that New Hampshire did indeed set aside 10% of vaccines to be allocated to regions where large minority populations live.)
Tellez countered by pointing out that courts threw out two lawsuits that alleged this was discriminatory, finding they were without merit.
'I would not look to judicial precedent to determine whether something is discriminatory or not,' Belcher responded. 'I would look to common sense.'
He added that he believes the Legislature can 'adjust judicial precedent' by passing this bill.
Regarding New Hampshire potentially losing federal funding by not abiding by federal DEI rules, Belcher argued Trump's recent executive orders and policies suggest the state would not lose funds.
'On the contrary, we are far more likely to lose funding if we do not,' he said.
Rep. Jay Markell, an Atkinson Republican, contested Belcher's claim that these DEI programs are unconstitutional. He asked if his previous statements were based on a legal strict scrutiny analysis – to which Belcher said no – and argued that because it's a health care regulation, legally, it simply needs to be related to a legitimate government objective to be constitutional.
'I'm arguing it probably is constitutional,' Markell said. 'You may have different arguments.'
The bill was opposed by Building Community in New Hampshire, the New Hampshire Council of Churches, New Hampshire Council on Developmental Disabilities, and other community organizations Wednesday.