Revision: Oct. 16, 2023, 8:56 a.m.
2024 SESSION
24-2354.0
11/08
HOUSE BILL [bill number]
AN ACT relative to the legislative youth advisory council.
SPONSORS: [sponsors]
COMMITTEE: [committee]
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ANALYSIS
This bill further defines the composition and duties of the legislative youth advisory council.
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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.
Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]
Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
24-2354.0
11/08
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Twenty Four
AN ACT relative to the legislative youth advisory council.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 Legislative Youth Council; Membership. Amend RSA 19-K:2 to read as follows:
19-K:2 Membership.
The council shall consist of 21 members, one of whom shall be a member of the house of representatives and one of whom shall be a member of the senate. The remaining 19 members shall be between the ages of [15] 14 and 22, and either secondary students or postsecondary youth. Secondary students may attend a public, charter, or private school, be home schooled, or be enrolled in a program that leads to a high school equivalency certificate. Postsecondary youth may attend a 2 or 4-year New Hampshire college, university, private post secondary career school, or other New Hampshire training or education program, or be a member of the New Hampshire workforce.
I. The president of the senate shall appoint the following 7 members:
(a) Four secondary students.
(b) Two postsecondary youth.
(c) One member of the senate.
I-a. Prospective youth members of the council must submit an application to be considered for appointment. Current members seeking reappointment must also submit a new application at the end of their term. This application may be physical or digital. If primarily digital, a physical copy shall be made available upon request. The application must include:
(a) The student’s legal first name and surname;
(b) The student’s home address, including county of residence;
(c) Email address;
(d) Phone number;
(e) Education status;
(f) Extracurricular and volunteer activities;
(g) A brief essay explaining why the applicant wants to join or be reappointed to the council. The exact length allowed shall be at the discretion of the co-chairs, but shall not exceed 1,000 words;
(h) Any additional criteria the council deems necessary.
I-b. The application period to fill vacancies left from the end of a council year shall be from June 30 to September 1. Applications shall be collected by the co-chairs and submitted to the appointing authorities by September 5 and the appointing authorities must have appointments confirmed 30 days following their receipt of the applications. The offices of the appointing authorities shall coordinate to avoid duplicate appointments. The council may choose whether or not to allow the application to remain open throughout the council year to fill any potential vacancies that open or to allow any such vacancies to be filled from the existing pool. If the application period is allowed to remain open, new applications shall be shared by the co-chairs with the appointing authorities as they are received. The offices of the authorities shall keep and maintain all applications until the end of the council year. The department of education shall make all public and public charter secondary schools, as well as all public post-secondary institutions, aware of the council. Guidance counselors, administrators, and social studies teachers shall ensure students are able to learn about the council and other civic education and engagement opportunities.
II. The speaker of the house of representatives shall appoint the following 8 members:
(a) Four secondary students.
(b) Three postsecondary youth.
(c) One member of the house of representatives.
III. The governor shall appoint the following 3 members:
(a) Two secondary students.
(b) One postsecondary youth.
IV. The secretary of state shall appoint the following 3 members:
(a) Two secondary students.
(b) One postsecondary youth.
IV-a. If there are not enough applicants to fill either the secondary or postsecondary positions under paragraph III or IV, the appropriate appointing authority shall fill those positions with other applicants, regardless of their secondary or post-secondary status.
V. The appointing authorities shall make appointments that foster geographic and socioeconomic, and ideological diversity among council members. The legislative members of the council shall serve a term coterminous with their term in office. Nonlegislative members shall serve 2-year terms and may be reappointed. Except for legislative members, no member shall serve on the council for more than 4 years. The council year shall begin on August 1 and end o July 31 of the following year.
VI. If a member misses 3 consecutive meetings, without cause, the council may request that the appointing authority appoint a replacement member. Upon appointment of the replacement, the prior appointment shall terminate and the replacement shall serve for the remainder of the prior member's term. Members may be allowed to join an in-person meeting remotely at the discretion of the co-chairs. A member shall not attend two consecutive in-person meetings remotely without cause or the second shall be considered a missed meeting. If a meeting is on a school day, the legislative co-chair shall write letters to school administrators excusing the students’ absences.
2 Duties. Amend RSA 19-K:3, IV-V to read as follows:
IV. Meet no fewer than 4 times per year on issues of importance to youth as the council deems necessary. Two of these meetings shall be in person. All other meetings may be remote. To qualify toward the 4-meeting threshold, the meeting must have a quorum of youth members present. At the discretion of the co-chairs, regional subcommittees may be established.
V. Communicate with other councils and committees, including, but not limited to, house and senate committees, the state board of education, the governor’s youth advisory council on substance misuse and prevention, and other states’ youth advisory councils. The legislative youth advisory council may invite a member of the governor’s youth advisory council, selected by that council, to join as a non-voting advisory member to serve as a liaison between the two councils.
3 Council Administration. Amend RSA 19-K:4 to read as follows:
19-K:4 Council Administration.
I. The council member from the house of representatives shall serve as the co-chair of the council and shall call the first meeting of the council. At the first meeting after the annual seminar, the members shall elect council officers, including one youth member who shall serve as co-chair of the council for a term of one year. The legislative members shall not hold a vote, except for the member from the house of representatives, who shall, as legislative co-chair, decide any votes that are evenly divided. Prior to leaving office, council officers shall submit transactional documents to their successor through the legislative co-chair.
I-a. The council shall organize itself into subcommittees that shall research and explore policy topics and bills of importance to youth and make recommendations to the council at large to vote upon. The topics of the subcommittees shall decided on by the membership. An education subcommittee is mandatory. The size of a subcommittee shall not meet or exceed quorum. Each subcommittee shall be administered by a chair who shall report directly to the council co-chairs or their designee. Subcommittee chairs must be in good standing with council attendance to
serve.
II. The council shall set priorities, determine the function of any subcommittees, and adopt procedures and rules governing the council's meetings and activities.
III. The council may provide testimony on legislation pending before the legislature.
IV. Members of the council shall not be compensated, except that legislative members of the council shall receive mileage at the legislative rate when attending to the duties of the council.
V. Meetings of the council shall be open to the public, and all records of the council shall be public records. A complete archive of the council's records shall be kept in the house clerk's office.
V-a. The council shall have 2 delegates as non-voting student members on the New Hampshire state board of education. One of these members shall be the chair of the education subcommittee and the other shall be elected by the membership. Members elected to the board positions must be in good standing with council attendance to serve. These members shall be responsible for coordinating education policy between the two bodies and serve as representatives and advocates of New Hampshire’s students at the state level. If a member misses 2 consecutive board meetings, without cause, the co-chairs may remove the member from the position and hold a new election among the membership.
VI. The office of the speaker of the house of representatives and the office of the senate president [may] shall provide reasonable staff assistance to the council as requested by the co-chairs. Such assistance may include, but is not limited to:
(a) Scheduling meetings and putting them in the house and senate calendars;
(b) Reserving rooms in the legislative office building for meetings;
(c) Setting up video conferencing for remote or hybrid meetings;
(d) Creating a website or page on the general court website for the council;
(e) Coordinating contact between the council or individual members and legislators on policy proposals or pieces of legislation.
4 Effective Date. This act shall take effect 60 days after its passage.