Bill mandating parental OK for child's medical trip clears Senate
Parents must give consent to an educator to bring their child to a medical appointment unless it's emergency transport by ambulance under a House-approved bill that cleared the state Senate Thursday.
Unlike other parental rights bills, the measure (HB 231) drew overwhelming bipartisan support with the Senate voting 21-3 to pass it.
That vote starts the final process for the legislation to eventually make its way to the desk of Gov. Kelly Ayotte.
The sponsor, Rep. Kristine Perez, R-Londonderry, included an exception in cases where the transport complies with an emergency policy adopted by the local school district.
Ayotte hasn't weighed in on the bill, but has expressed vocal support for other broader parental rights legislation, versions of which are pending in both House and Senate.
State Sen. Daryl Abbas, R-Salem, said there are also insurance implications with teachers driving a student to a doctor's appointment without permission should an accident occur.
'I feel this goes far beyond the role of educators in our public system,' Abbas said.
Sen. Debra Altschiller, D-Stratham, said the bill was poorly written and that not all school districts have an emergency policy that they can fall back on under these circumstances.
'I understand the importance of parental involvement. What we oppose is how this bill goes about it,' Altschiller said. 'School districts are already doing this.'
Perez, a retired nurse, testified that she didn't find many school districts that had policies for these situations.
Sen. Dan Innis, R-Webster, said he started out a skeptic but became a co-sponsor.
This is one of those bills where I thought this couldn't possibly be happening. Turns out it was,' Innis said.
'There are children being taken to (Dartmouth Hitchcock) and the parents don't know it.'
Ultimately, Senate Democratic Leader Rebecca Perkins Kwoka of Portsmouth and four other Democrats — Altschiller, Patrick Long of Manchester, Sue Prentiss of Lebanon and Tara Reardon of Concord — joined with all the Republicans in support of the legislation.
The lone opponents were Sens. Donovan Fenton, D-Keene, David Watters of Dover and Democratic Leader Cindy Rosenwald of Nashua.
+++
What's Next: The bill has passed the House and Senate in the same form, which means it now goes through the enrolling process before heading to Ayotte's desk.
Prospects: Very likely to be signed in the coming weeks.
klandrigan@unionleader.com
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