CONCORD, N.H. –The New Hampshire state House legislative leadership announced Thursday they will focus on the state’s economic growth and education initiatives in the 2012 session, but are leaving social issues out of the agenda — including a repeal of the state’s same-sex marriage law.
House Majority Leader Rep. David Bettencourt (R-Salem), who formally introduced the House Republican agenda, told reporters that the House was focusing on changes to economic and education policy that would bring job creators to New Hampshire and put citizens back to work.
Bettencourt also said that lawmakers did not need to spend much time on same-sex marriage, which is the target of several bills aimed at repealing repeal it.
“If their minds aren’t already made up, it’s something they’re intimately familiar with,” said Bettencourt of his fellow Republicans.
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Other controversial social issues such as gun rights, immigration and labor laws were all also absent from the agenda.
Bettencourt said such bills distract from the Legislature’s real initiatives.
New Hampshire is one of six states — along with the District of Columbia — where same-sex marriage is legal. The others are New York, Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, and Vermont.
