Jeanne Dietsch
Historical Details
Position on Issues
Against| Read My Position
Citizens Count Issue Survey, 2018
Should New Hampshire ban abortion after 20 weeks gestation, with exceptions for cases of rape/incest and health complications?
"I oppose a ban on abortion after 20 weeks gestation, even with exceptions for cases of rape/incest and health complications."
Against| Read My Position
Citizens Count Issue Survey, 2020
Should New Hampshire ban abortion after 24 weeks gestation, with exceptions for cases of rape/incest and health complications?
"Against"
Other| Read My Position
Citizens Count Issue Survey, 2018
Should NH pursue expanded commuter rail?
"I support expanding commuter rail if the system can be finished before automated vehicles take over. Once we have automated vehicles, semis and most trucking will happen at night, reducing traffic. Vehicles will be able to travel at higher speeds because they will become virtual trains, 'locking', through software, with the car in front of them until it's time to exit. If we do build commuter rail, I would tax it in order to help pay for it and allocate some of that tax to expand broadband in the areas of the state not served by commuter rail, so that they had the benefit of additional infrastructure as well."
Against| Read My Position
Citizens Count Issue Survey, 2020
Should NH limit terms for elected officials?
Sen. Dietsch sent Citizens Count this updated position in June 2020: "No. Without our longest serving members, we would lose invaluable experience and institutional memory. I have been so impressed with the dedication and generosity of our senior members in guiding this state through difficult times."
Other| Read My Position
Citizens Count Issue Survey, 2018
Should NH increase funding for heroin treatment programs?
"NH just received $23 mil per yr for each of 2 years. I believe we should focus on making sure that money is spent in the most effective way, increasing beds, but also increasing mental health staff."
Other| Read My Position
Citizens Count Issue Survey, 2020
Should NH add an income tax on earned income?
"We need to systematically review what we are doing with unconstitutionally unfair property taxing of property-poor towns and decide how we’re going to fix it. We need to consider whether taxing people at the same rate when they are unemployed as when they have a good-paying job and decide whether that is really the best system. This needs to be done as a whole, transparently, with various models showing the impact of different systems of taxation. Then the people should decide which model benefits the most. I will work to help the public come to a consensus about how to proceed."Other| Read My Position
Citizens Count Issue Survey, 2020
Should NH add a broad-based sales tax?
"We need to systematically review what we are doing with unconstitutionally unfair property taxing of property-poor towns and decide how we’re going to fix it. We need to consider whether taxing people at the same rate when they are unemployed as when they have a good-paying job and decide whether that is really the best system. This needs to be done as a whole, transparently, with various models showing the impact of different systems of taxation. Then the people should decide which model benefits the most. I will work to help the public come to a consensus about how to proceed."Against| Read My Position
Citizens Count Issue Survey, 2020
Should New Hampshire lower business taxes?
"New Hampshire has been lowering taxes for business while indirectly raising town property taxes for a decade. It is time to stop."
Other| Read My Position
Citizens Count Issue Survey, 2020
Should New Hampshire add a tax on capital gains?
"We need to systematically review what we are doing with unconstitutionally unfair property taxing of property-poor towns and decide how we’re going to fix it. We need to consider whether taxing people at the same rate when they are unemployed as when they have a good-paying job and decide whether that is really the best system. This needs to be done as a whole, transparently, with various models showing the impact of different systems of taxation. Then the people should decide which model benefits the most. I will work to help the public come to a consensus about how to proceed."For| Read My Position
Citizens Count Issue Survey, 2020
Should New Hampshire increase the tax on cigarettes?
"Smoking is the single most harmful behavior a person can adopt. If we can reduce smoking, or stop a young person from starting, that is a highly desirable move."
Other| Read My Position
Other, 2020
Sen. Dietsch sent Citizens Count this updated position in June 2020: "Adopting common core standards was made illegal in NH in 2017, Chaptered law 0252. I will not seek to change that."
For| Read My Position
Citizens Count Issue Survey, 2020
Should New Hampshire add restrictions to the governor's powers during a state of emergency?
"Not only did he illegally wrest control of emergency spending from the legislature and the executive council, the governor has not publicly revealed his line-item spending of $1.25 bn in CARES money. He has set up a commission to determine how to restart the schools, with few members from the public school community responsible for educating the vast majority of the state's children. He has given COVID testing contracts to large campaign donors, instead of hospitals, forcing citizens to drive tens of miles instead of five minutes away. This is only a few of the ways the governor has abused and stepped beyond his constitutional powers."For| Read My Position
Other, 2020
Sen. Dietsch sent Citizens Count this updated position in June 2020: "Yes."
For| Read My Position
Citizens Count Issue Survey, 2020
Should New Hampshire extend the renewable portfolio standard past 2025, requiring public utilities to obtain more than 25% of electricity from renewable energy sources?
"For"
Other| Read My Position
Other, 2020
Sen. Dietsch sent Citizens Count this updated position in June 2020: "Increased penalties for large suppliers are appropriate. For those suffering from substance abuse, we need to supply treatment and support for their families."
For| Read My Position
Citizens Count Issue Survey, 2020
Should New Hampshire increase public access to reports of police misconduct?
"For"For| Read My Position
Citizens Count Issue Survey, 2020
Do you support the option of mail-in ballots for all voters, not just absentees?
"For"
Other| Read My Position
Citizens Count Issue Survey, 2020
Should NH legalize the recreational use of marijuana?
"I believe that cannabis should be a controlled substance, sold in liquor stores, like alcohol."For| Read My Position
Citizens Count Issue Survey, 2018
Was New Hampshire right to continue expanded Medicaid eligibility, using the traditional Medicaid system of managed care instead of private insurance?
"I support expanded Medicaid eligibility, using the traidiontal Medicaid system of managed care instead of private insurance."
For| Read My Position
"Medicaid expansion is only one way we can assure the future of our hospitals."
For| Read My Position
Citizens Count Issue Survey, 2020
Should New Hampshire raise the minimum wage?
"Yes. I voted to do so on Jun 16, 2020, though we expect the governor to veto. A $7.25 wage is unbelievably low, and the argument that raising the wages of low earners fuels inflation is specious. When consumption is low, as now, raising the lowest wages causes spending to flow. As long as the food and other necessities purchased through increased demand are from producers operating below capacity, prices need not increase. In fact, increased productivity will raise profits for producers without raising prices for consumers. Think of an auto manufacturer. If it is using its production facilities at less than capacity, its costs per vehicle rise. If it increases production, closer to capacity, it becomes more profitable, cost per vehicle falls. Only when demand rises so much that the company has to add production capacity does price inflation occur."Other| Read My Position
Citizens Count Issue Survey, 2018
Should NH do more to enforce federal immigration laws?
"I believe that the nation needs more legal immigrants. Our companies lack workers. Stopping immigration in order to raise wages has not worked. The way to raise wages is by increasing our companies competitiveness. With free trade, companies with exceptional products earn higher prices -- without tariffs -- and those prices derive from workers. Workers in such traded industries earn higher wages than average. This was true at MobileRobots Inc, where we paid assemblers well and with full benefits because we need our robots to work, out of the crate, when they arrived in Germany or China. Legal immigrants are part of America's secret sauce that makes our economy run. We should raise our quotas for legal immigrants instead of wasting money building useless walls."
For| Read My Position
Citizens Count Issue Survey, 2020
Should New Hampshire increase the size of solar panel installations that may participate in net energy metering?
"We voted for this; the governor vetoed it and the Senate overrode his veto 17-7. All we need is for the House to do the same!"Other| Read My Position
Citizens Count Issue Survey, 2020
Should New Hampshire increase subsidies and tax credits for business investment?
"New Hampshire has terrific loan programs for business support through the Business Finance Authority; it has numerous tax credits available. What would help the state most is to move up from 50th out of 50 in attracting research grants. By providing the matching funds I have supported this year and last, we would increase the innovation that builds company growth and high-paying jobs."Against| Read My Position
Other, 2020
Sen. Dietsch sent Citizens Count this updated position in June 2020: "No."
For| Read My Position
Citizens Count Issue Survey, 2020
Should New Hampshire increase the base amount of per-pupil funding it provides to local school districts?
"I support funding an increase in school funding, but it must account for transportation, overhead, facilities and staged costs such as educators, not just marginal cost per pupil. Most importantly, it must shift this increase from towns to state, and require that state property taxes are collected by the state so that property-poor towns do not shoulder an excessive burden."Other| Read My Position
Citizens Count Issue Survey, 2018
Is police brutality an issue in NH?
"I do not have enough information yet to make an informed judgment on this issue."
Sen. Dietsch sent Citizens Count this update in June 2020: "Because of the leadership of our black member of the Senate, we are ahead of the curve on this issue and have just passed a ban on choke holds and a requirement that officers report misbehavior by colleagues. If re-elected, I will be one of those reviewing Use of Force laws and proposing changes. My very first bill will be to revoke the unconstitutional regulation allowing use of deadly force against persons fleeing custody."
Against| Read My Position
Citizens Count Issue Survey, 2020
Do you support Gov. Sununu's proposal to allow employers and employees to opt-in to a private, paid family and medical leave insurance plan, based on a pool of state employees, excluding coverage for personal illness?
"This program would help very few people and would not be financially sustainable."For| Read My Position
Citizens Count Issue Survey, 2020
Should New Hampshire continue to participate in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, which requires utilities to purchase allowances for every ton of carbon they emit?
"For"
For| Read My Position
Citizens Count Issue Survey, 2018
Should New Hampshire maintain the renewable portfolio standard, which requires public utilities in New Hampshire to obtain a certain percentage of electricity from renewable energy sources (25% by 2025)?
"I support the renewable portfolio standard in New Hampshire."
For| Read My Position
Citizens Count Issue Survey, 2020
Should New Hampshire create a road usage fee?
"A road usage fee based on vehicular-miles-times-a-weight-class-factor would be a good way to deal with the loss of revenues from gasoline tax."
For| Read My Position
Citizens Count Issue Survey, 2018
Should New Hampshire government do more to increase the supply of affordable housing?
"New Hampshire government should do more to increase the supply of affordable housing."
Other| Read My Position
Citizens Count Issue Survey, 2018
Should NH continue to administer statewide standards-based student assessments?
"I believe that statewide testing of students at two points in their school career is appropriate. Excessive testing harmed our school systems and hamstrung our teachers. I believe that schools are headed in the right direction with more hands-on learning and less teaching to the test."
Other| Read My Position
Citizens Count Issue Survey, 2020
Should New Hampshire create a statewide family and medical leave program, paid for with a percentage of employee wages, with no opt-out?
"I supported this only after I negotiated with this bill’s sponsor to reduce this requirement from all companies over 5 to all companies over 15 employees. The program in the 2020 bill required employers to reserve a job for every person after they return. For some small companies, this could be nearly impossible. For that reason, I negotiated to let companies apply for an exclusion from the requirement to retain a particularly crucial position."For| Read My Position
Citizens Count Issue Survey, 2020
Should NH pass stricter gun control laws?
"I voted for comprehensive background checks, no guns on playgrounds and ERPO."Other| Read My Position
Citizens Count Issue Survey, 2020
Should New Hampshire provide student loan debt repayment programs for workers in industries with labor shortages?
"We should provide college debt assistance, such as capping interest rates, and reducing payments during the COVID emergency. The state should also work with employers to ensure that repayment programs exist. If the industries have labor shortages, they typically will help students with debt repayment. Last session, we passed a bill in which BEA would help promote companies that offered such compensation as part of their employment package."Other| Read My Position
Citizens Count Issue Survey, 2020
Should New Hampshire add tax incentives for affordable housing development?
"New Hampshire needs to increase affordable housing, but tax incentives are not necessarily the best way to achieve this. The best way to do so is to build out broadband to the 15% of homes that do not currently have access. This will do more to increase the stock of viable affordable housing than any other single action."Other| Read My Position
Citizens Count Issue Survey, 2020
Should New Hampshire allocate tax revenues for private and home schooling costs?
"We should allocate revenues so that every child has the opportunity for an adequate publicly funded education, regardless of zip code. Whether the child takes advantage of that opportunity or chooses another source of education is up to the parent. Non-public school parents whose children pass competency tests should receive some compensation, such as the small marginal per-student cost for that course if it had been taken in public school."Against| Read My Position
Citizens Count Issue Survey, 2018
Should New Hampshire allocate tax revenues for private and home schooling costs?
"I oppose allocating tax revenues for private and/or home schooling costs."
Against| Read My Position
Other, 2020
Sen. Dietsch sent Citizens Count this updated position in June 2020: "No."
Other| Read My Position
Citizens Count Issue Survey, 2018
Should NH impose strict residency requirements on registering to vote?
"'Strict residency requirements' is not the issue. The issue with the legislation that was passed was that it is designed to intimidate voters, threatening to send police to their door. I would revoke these laws."
These objective, nonpartisan measures are used to show this legislator's activities at the Statehouse from the 2018 election through the end of the legislative session in 2020. The measures are not intended to present a ranking or rating of any kind. Average is that of all state elected officials in this chamber. "Prime sponsored bills that became law" include bill texts that were incorporated into "omnibus" bills following the coronavirus emergency.
Session days attended
Party unity score/partisanship
Participated in official roll call votes
Bills sponsored (as prime sponsor)
Prime sponsored bills that became law
Voting Record
HB 1672 (2020)
Allows any voter to vote by absentee ballot, whether or not he or she will actually be absent on election day. The Senate amended the bill to become the "Coronavirus Election Protection Act of 2020." The amended bill allows any voter to vote by absentee ballot, allows town officials to start processing ballots before Election Day, and authorizes online voter registration.
HB 687 (2019)
Establishes "extreme risk protection orders," based on evidence that there is "a significant risk of causing bodily injury to himself or herself or others," which would require the subject of the order to surrender any firearms to law enforcement.
HB 1280 (2020)
Caps how much health insurers can charge consumers for insulin at $100 for a 30-day supply. The Senate amended the bill to instead cap the payment at $30 for a 30-day supply.
HB 1166 (2020)
Establishes a committee to study the demographics of the uninsured population in New Hampshire, the barriers to obtaining healthcare coverage, and possible solutions to extend health insurance coverage. The Senate completely amended the bill to add various requirements and protections for employers and employees related to the coronavirus. For example, the amended bill allows employees to collect unemployment if they cannot go to work because they or a family member is sick with COVID-19 - even if Gov. Sununu ends the state of emergency.
HB 1247 (2020)
Requires landlords to provide at least 90 days notice before a rent increase over 5%. The House amended the bill to require 60 days notice for an increase over 5% and 90 days notice for an increase over 8%. The Senate amended the bill to instead remove the requirement of an eviction notice before public welfare departments provide rental assistance. The amended bill also "creates a duty of good faith and fair dealing for mortgage lenders." Lastly, the amended bill requires landlords to offer tenants a 6-month repayment plan for rent missed during the coronavirus emergency.
HB 1645 (2020)
Extends the waiting period to annul a misdemeanor domestic violence offense, from 3 to 10 years. The Senate amended the bill to incorporate several other pieces of legislation.
HB 1454 (2020)
Gives local school boards the power to determine whether to grant academic credit for alternative extended learning and work-based programs. At the time of this bill's submission, that power lies with the state board of education. The Senate amended the bill to still require the state board of education to vet and approve alternative extended learning and work-based programs, which local school boards "may" accept for credit (similar to a different bill, SB 514).
HB 1264 (2020)
Extends the Commission on the Seacoast Cancer Investigation from 2020 to 2022. The Senate amended the legislation to incorporate several bills related to PFAS. In particular, the amended bill establishes maximum contaminant levels for perflourinated compounds (PFCs), as originally written in SB 287.
HB 712 (2019)
Establishes a social insurance program that would be operated by New Hampshire Employment Security to provide for paid family and medical leave insurance. Employers would pay 0.5% of wages per employee as premium payments. Employees could take up to twelve weeks of leave and receive 60% of their pay after paying into the program for at least six months. As introduced, this bill does not include an opt-out option.
HB 731 (2019)
Gradually raises the state minimum wage, starting at $12 per hour in 2020 and ending at $15 per hour in 2024. The bill also raises the tipped minimum wage, although in 2024 it would still be 45% of the regular minimum wage. The bill requires cost of living adjustments every year. This bill also allows cities and towns to set a higher minimum wage. Lastly, this bill establishes a "training wage," no lower than $8.50, for employees under age eighteen for the first three months of employment.
HB 685 (2019)
Prohibits balance billing for ambulance services. The bill also limits reimbursement for ambulance services to a "commercially reasonable value." The Senate amended the bill to instead require insurance plans which cover maternity benefits to provide coverage for emergency or elective abortion services (similar to SB 486).
HB 514 (2019)
Establishes a seven day waiting period for the delivery of a firearm. There are some exceptions for rifle or shotgun purchases by hunters, law enforcement officers, and members of the armed forces. The Senate amended the bill, shortening the waiting period to three days.
SB 1 (2019)
Establishes a paid family and medical leave insurance program, which would be run by the state department of employment security. Employers would pay 0.5% of wages per employee as premium payments. Employees could take up to twelve weeks of leave and receive 60% of their pay after paying into the program for at least six months. The bill does not allow anyone to opt-out of the program.
HB 2 (2019)
2020-2021 state budget bill (part 2).
HB 1 (2019)
2020-2021 state budget bill.
HB 364 (2019)
Permits qualifying patients and registered caregivers to grow medicinal marijuana at home.
HB 564 (2019)
Makes it a misdemeanor to carry a firearm in a safe school zone. ˙There are some exceptions, for example if a person gets permission from the school board. The House amended the bill so that parents do not need to remove or unload firearms in their cars when picking up students. The amendment also specifically bans firearms on "school property" rather than in "school zones." School property includes buildings, grounds, school buses, and vans.
SB 290 (2019)
Modifies the work and community engagement requirements for the Granite Advantage Health Care Program, commonly known as expanded Medicaid. For example, this bill extends the work requirement exemption for parents so that parents of children under age 13 are eligible for the exemption. This bill also gives the Department of Health and Human Services the authority to waive the work requirement until July 2021 if there is an inability to communicate with program participants.
HB 109 (2019)
Requires commercial sales and transfers of firearms to take place through licensed dealers. Those dealers are required to perform background checks. Also requires private sales or transfers to go through a licensed firearm dealer, if it’s not absolutely clear that both the owner and the recipient are allowed to own guns.
SB 10 (2019)
Increases the minimum wage to $10 per hour in 2020, then to $11 in 2022, except starting that year, employers would have to pay at least $12 per hour if they do not offer at least 10 paid sick days to employees. The House and Senate amended the bill to raise the minimum wage to $10 per hour in 2020 and $12 per hour in 2022, regardless of sick time.
HB 455 (2019)
Changes the penalty for any offense eligible for the death penalty to life imprisonment without parole.
HB 105 (2019)
Generally repeals the voter registration changes passed in SB 3. For example, this bill removes the stricter requirements for voters who register within 30 days of an election. This bill also removes much of the new language on voter registration forms about domicile. This bill also removes the authority of the secretary of state to conduct post-election voter registration investigations, leaving that to the attorney general.
