Thomas Cormen
Historical Details
Position on Issues
Against| Read My Position
Citizens Count Issue Survey, 2024
Do you support the “Education Freedom Account” program, which gives students access to the per-pupil share of state school funding to spend on private school or home school expenses?
"I am strongly against EFAs. Public money should go to only public schools, and especially not to religious schools. From Article 6 of the Bill of Rights in the New Hampshire State Constitution: 'But no person shall ever be compelled to pay towards the support of the schools of any sect or denomination.'"
For| Read My Position
Voting Record, 2024
Voted to allow medical aid in dying (sometimes called physician-assisted suicide) in 2024 (HB 1283).
Against| Read My Position
Citizens Count Issue Survey, 2024
Should New Hampshire ban abortions during the first trimester (e.g. after 6 weeks gestation)?
"Reproductive decisions should be made between a woman and her doctor. Period, end of story. The state should never be involved."
Against| Read My Position
Citizens Count Issue Survey, 2024
Should New Hampshire ban abortions during the second trimester (e.g. after 15 weeks gestation)?
"Reproductive decisions should be made between a woman and her doctor. Period, end of story. The state should never be involved."
Against| Read My Position
Citizens Count Issue Survey, 2022
Should New Hampshire ban discussions about sexual orientation and gender identity in grades K-3?
"Children in schools come from a variety of homes. Some will have two fathers or two mothers. Can this not be discussed?"
Against| Read My Position
Citizens Count Issue Survey, 2022
Do you support the state law that bans teaching certain concepts, such as the idea that people may be "inherently racist, sexist, or oppressive, whether consciously or unconsciously"?
"The fact is that people MAY BE inherently racist, sexist, or oppressive. This can be taught without imposing guilt on students."
Against| Read My Position
Citizens Count Issue Survey, 2024
Should NH add an income tax on earned income?
"An income tax could be designed as a progressive tax, but tax revenues would fall during difficult economic times, and it is not clear that other taxes would decrease if an income tax were enacted."
Against| Read My Position
Citizens Count Issue Survey, 2024
Should NH add a broad-based sales tax?
"A sales tax is regressive by nature. Our not having a sales tax provides an advantage to New Hampshire relative to our neighboring states."
For| Read My Position
Citizens Count Issue Survey, 2022
Should New Hampshire add a tax credit for businesses that contribute to student loan repayment for employees?
"A small tax credit to help offset student loan repayment would help those who took out student loans. With the upcoming possibility of the federal government providing relief, this issue may become moot at the state level."
Against| Read My Position
Citizens Count Issue Survey, 2024
Should New Hampshire lower business taxes?
"Let's leave business taxes where they are for now."
For| Read My Position
Citizens Count Issue Survey, 2024
Should New Hampshire add a tax on capital gains?
"We need to raise revenue from somewhere. I am not for taxing earnings from one's own labor. But capital gains are earnings gained passively, and I see nothing wrong with the state taking a share."
For| Read My Position
Citizens Count Issue Survey, 2024
Should New Hampshire government do more to address climate change?
"We all have to do our part. We can both increase our use of clean energy and make New Hampshire less dependent on energy sources from outside the state."
Against| Read My Position
Citizens Count Issue Survey, 2024
Do you support giving voters who register without ID on Election Day a ballot that only counts if they return identifying documents to the state before a deadline?
"This would compromise the voter's ability to submit a secret ballot."
For| Read My Position
Citizens Count Issue Survey, 2022
Should New Hampshire add a fee or mileage charge for electric vehicle owners to help pay for transportation and/or electric infrastructure?
"I hope to own an EV some day. EVs will cause wear on the roads, especially with their heavy battery packs. (Though research may produce lighter-weight batteries within a few years.) The cost of electric infrastructure can be handled at the point of charging, so that any surcharge for EVs should go only toward road maintenance."
For| Read My Position
Citizens Count Issue Survey, 2024
Should the state do more to encourage municipalities to remove zoning barriers to housing development?
"We need tens of thousands of new housing units. We need to see communities throughout the state do their part to alleviate the housing crunch."
For| Read My Position
Citizens Count Issue Survey, 2024
Do you support legislation to expand the net energy metering system capacity cap from 1 MW to 5 MW for all residential and commercial customers in New Hampshire?
"Very few residential customers would generate 1 MW or more, but businesses could. This would be a pro-business move that also helps the environment."
For| Read My Position
Citizens Count Issue Survey, 2022
Should New Hampshire extend the renewable portfolio standard past 2025, requiring public utilities to obtain more than 25% of electricity from renewable energy sources?
"I am strongly for renewable and sustainable energy. Prices from these sources will continue to decline. We owe a clean environment to future generations."
For| Read My Position
Citizens Count Issue Survey, 2024
Should New Hampshire guarantee the right to access abortion before 24 weeks?
"Reproductive decisions should be made between a woman and her doctor. Period, end of story. The state should never be involved."
For| Read My Position
Citizens Count Issue Survey, 2024
Should the state increase funding for child care providers?
"Not only is this an issue for the state's economy at large, but it's also a fairness issue. How is a single parent to cope with finances when a huge chunk of their income goes toward child care?"
For| Read My Position
Citizens Count Issue Survey, 2022
Do you support the option of mail-in ballots for all voters, not just absentees?
"For"
Against| Read My Position
Citizens Count Issue Survey, 2024
Do you support New Hampshire’s current system of public school funding, with about two-thirds of total funding coming from local property taxes?
"There are wide disparities in property tax rates throughout the state. Moreover, property taxes hit those on fixed incomes particularly hard, forcing them to move from the homes that they have lived in for decades. Even worse, because of the 'missing middle' of housing, many of these people have nowhere to go."
For| Read My Position
Citizens Count Issue Survey, 2024
Should New Hampshire legalize the recreational use of marijuana by allowing home-growing and private use without sales?
"I have softened my position on recreational cannabis in the last year. The fact is that the people of New Hampshire want legalized cannabis. I see no problem in allowing someone to produce their own. If we are going to have retail, I'd like to see that be private stores, rather than state-run."
For| Read My Position
Citizens Count Issue Survey, 2024
Should New Hampshire legalize the recreational use of marijuana by licensing growers and private retail locations?
"I have softened my position on recreational cannabis in the last year. The fact is that the people of New Hampshire want legalized cannabis. I see no problem in allowing someone to produce their own. If we are going to have retail, I'd like to see that be private stores, rather than state-run."
Against| Read My Position
Citizens Count Issue Survey, 2024
Should New Hampshire legalize the recreational use of marijuana by establishing state-run cannabis stores?
"I have softened my position on recreational cannabis in the last year. The fact is that the people of New Hampshire want legalized cannabis. I see no problem in allowing someone to produce their own. If we are going to have retail, I'd like to see that be private stores, rather than state-run."
For| Read My Position
Citizens Count Issue Survey, 2024
Should New Hampshire raise the minimum wage?
"The current minimum wage is nowhere near enough to live on. Experience in other countries has shown that raising the minimum wage has little effect on prices."
Undecided| Read My Position
Citizens Count Issue Survey, 2022
Should the state permanently increase how much tax revenue it shares with towns and cities every year, beyond public school funding?
"I would need to see the numbers on this question before I can provide an opinion."
Against| Read My Position
Citizens Count Issue Survey, 2022
Do you support the gradual phase-out of the Interests and Dividends tax?
"Removing interest and dividends taxes favors the wealthy while providing little benefit to lower-income residents."
For| Read My Position
Citizens Count Issue Survey, 2024
Should New Hampshire add legal protections for residents of other states who travel here for health care related to abortion or gender transition?
"What people do in New Hampshire is not the business of any other state."
For| Read My Position
Citizens Count Issue Survey, 2024
Should New Hampshire repeal the ban on abortion after 24 weeks gestation?
"Reproductive decisions should be made between a woman and her doctor. Period, end of story. The state should never be involved."
Against| Read My Position
Citizens Count Issue Survey, 2024
Should NH require local law enforcement to cooperate with federal immigration enforcement?
"Local law enforcement doesn't want this."
Against| Read My Position
Voting Record, 2024
Voted to against a right-to-work bill (HB 1377)
For| Read My Position
Citizens Count Issue Survey, 2024
Should NH pass stricter gun control laws?
"We should disallow people who are mentally ill, or who have just been released from a mental health facility from owning guns. We should allow people to put themselves on a 'do not sell to me' registry. And there is no reason why a private citizen should own a weapon that can kill a lot of people very quickly."
Voting Record
HB 619 (2023)
Prohibits gender transition care for minors under age 18. This bill also prohibits teaching about gender identity in public schools (with an exception for high school psychology courses), requires schools to use the name and gender that students are enrolled as, prohibits students from participating on sports teams that do not correspond to their biological sex at birth, and requires students to use the bathroom that corresponds with their biological sex at birth.
HB 1205 (2024)
Prohibits anyone with the reproductive biology and genetics of a male at birth from participating on school sports teams designated for females. As introduced, this bill covered K-12 schools as well as the university and community college system. The House amended the bill so that it only applies to middle and high schools.
HB 1419 (2024)
Prohibits K-12 schools from making "any material that is harmful to minors" available to students. The bill defines this material to include various content related to sex. This bill also requires school boards to adopt complaint resolution policies to address complaints regarding harmful material by parents or guardians.
HB 1248 (2024)
Changes the state limit on abortion after 24 weeks gestation to 15 days gestation.
HB 1665 (2024)
Raises the annual household income limit to qualify for the Education Freedom Account (EFA) program, from 350% to 500% of the federal poverty level (from about $100,000 to about $150,000 for a family of four).
The Senate rewrote the bill. The Senate version of the bill raises eligibility to just 400% of the federal poverty level, and extends the timeline for phase-out grants for public schools when students leave to use EFA program funds, from 2026 to 2029. These changes are similar to SB 442, a bill killed in the House.
HB 1377 (2024)
Right-to-work bill that prohibits collective bargaining agreements that require employees to join or contribute to a labor union.
CACR 23 (2024)
Constitutional amendment creating a right to abortion, including a ban on any restrictions on abortion prior to 24 weeks.
HB 1656 (2024)
Greatly increases the per-pupil state education funding for each student receiving special education services. The House amended the bill to establish three weighted categories for special education differentiated aid, with more funding going to students who need more services.
HB 1283 (2024)
Establishes a procedure for an individual with terminal illness to receive medical assistance in dying through the self administration of medication (sometimes called physician-assisted suicide). The bill establishes criteria for the prescription of such medication and establishes reporting requirements and penalties for misuse or noncompliance.
HB 1145 (2024)
Prohibits new solid waste landfill permits in the state for facilities owned by any person other than the state of New Hampshire or a political subdivision thereof.
HB 1649 (2024)
Restricts the use of per and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in consumer products. For example, this bill bans the sale of cosmetics, food packing, carpets, and more products with added PFAS starting July 1, 2028. The House changed that date to January 1, 2027.
The Senate amended the bill to also state that settlement funds from PFAS lawsuits will be deposited in the drinking water and groundwater trust fund and used to fund public water systems impacted by PFAS.
HB 1322 (2024)
Gradually increases the minimum wage to $17 per hour by 2029. This bill then allows future increases best on the Northeast Consumer Price Index. This bill also increases the tipped minimum wage from 45% to 50% of the regular minimum wage.
HB 1291 (2024)
Increases the number of accessory dwelling units (ADUs) allowed by right from one to two. This bill also increases the maximum square footage from 750 square feet to 1,000 square feet (and 850 square feet for a second unit). The bill then sets other regulations municipalities can and cannot require for ADUs. For example, the bill states that municipalities may require a property to have at least one half acre to have more than one ADU.
HB 1633 (2024)
Legalizes and regulates recreational marijuana sales to adults over age twenty-one. As amended by the House, this bill would allow the state to license fifteen cannabis retail outlets. There would be a 10% tax on monthly total gross revenue derived from the sale of cannabis and cannabis products. Smoking in public and consuming marijuana while driving would be illegal. Towns could limit marijuana businesses.
HB 470 (2023)
Exempts some drug checking equipment from the definition of drug paraphernalia, and allows the use of drug checking equipment, such as fentanyl test strips, for harm reduction.
HB 1400 (2024)
Prohibits zoning and planning regulations that set maximum residential parking spaces above one parking space per unit.
SB 263 (2023)
Permanently reauthorizes the New Hampshire Granite Advantage Health Care Program, commonly known as expanded Medicaid. Previous law ended the program on December 31, 2023. This bill also reestablishes and revises the commission to evaluate the New Hampshire Granite Advantage Health Care Program, commonly known as expanded Medicaid.
HB 1711 (2024)
Establishes a system to report to the firearm background check system if a person is found not guilty by reason of insanity, not competent to stand trial, or involuntarily committed to a mental health facility. This bill also allows the court to order a person to surrender their firearms in these circumstances. This bill also establishes a process for a person to have their record removed from the background check system after six months, if they are no longer a danger to themselves or others.
HB 10 (2023)
Establishes a parental bill of rights. Some of the parental rights in this bill include:
"The right to direct the education and care of his or her minor child"
"The right to be physically present at any health care facility ... at which their minor child is receiving hospital care"
"The right to consent in writing before a biometric scan of his or her minor child is made, shared, or stored"
HB 367 (2023)
Increases the maximum household income limit for participation in the Education Freedom Account program, from 300% to 500% of the federal poverty guidelines. The Education Freedom Account program allows families to spend the state's per-pupil share of education funding on private or home school expenses.
The House amended the bill to only increase the income limit to 350% of the federal poverty guidelines.
HB 639 (2023)
Legalizes marijuana for adults over age twenty-one. The bill allows limited home-growing of marijuana. A new Cannabis Commission would oversee licensing and regulations related to the manufacture, testing, and sale of legal marijuana. Cannabis sales would be taxed under the Meals and Rooms tax system. Alternative Treatment Centers, which currently serve the state's medical marijuana patients, would be allowed to apply for a "dual use certificate" that allows them to participate in recreational marijuana business. Towns could limit marijuana businesses.
SB 272 (2023)
Establishes a parental bill of rights in education. Some of the parental rights in this bill include:
"The right to access and review all medical records of a child maintained by a school or school personnel"
"The right to inquire of the school or school personnel and to be truthfully and completely informed if the child is being identified or referred to by school district staff, as being of a gender other than that of which the child was identified or referred when enrolled"
HB 2 (2023)
State budget bill (part 2). The governor presented his proposal for the next state budget February 14. The House and Senate both made changes to that proposal. Click here to read a summary of the 2023 budget process.
HB 208 (2023)
Establishes greenhouse gas emission reduction goals for the state, to net zero by 2050. This bill also requires the Department of Environmental Services to develop a climate action plan by July 1, 2024, that includes evaluation of best available information, considers inclusion of strategies, programs and compliance mechanisms with measurable goals and targets, considers opportunities to encourage investment in low/moderate income, rural and minority communities, makes recommendations on retraining and apprenticeship opportunities, and coordinates with other state agencies.
HB 106 (2023)
Establishes a procedure for issuing "extreme risk protection orders" to protect against persons who pose an immediate risk of harm to themselves or others. An extreme risk protection order would restrict a person's access to firearms, and is also known as a "red flag law."
HB 59 (2023)
Requires commercial sales and transfers of firearms to take place through licensed dealers. Those dealers are required to perform background checks.
HB 557 (2023)
Removes the authority of the Department of Health and Human Services to require vaccinations beyond those in state law. This bill specifically notes that the requirements for chickenpox, Hepatitis B, and Hib vaccinations will expire in 2026.
HB 523 (2023)
Increases the maximum electric generating capacity to participate in net energy metering, from one to five megawatts. This bill also modifies the transition of tariffs applicable to some customer-generators.
HB 57 (2023)
Gradually raises the minimum wage to $15 per hour over the next three years, with future adjustments based on the consumer price index. This bill also raises the tipped minimum wage from 45% to 50% of the regular minimum wage. Lastly, this bill allows a minimum wage of $8 per hour for youth under age 18 for the first six months of employment.
HB 224 (2023)
Repeals the civil and criminal penalties for health care providers who violate the state's ban on abortion after 24 weeks.
HB 624 (2023)
Requires state and local law enforcement to notify the public before an immigration checkpoint.
HB 567 (2023)
Requires at least 30 days written notice for a rent increase. Large, multi-unit rental owners must provide at least 60 days notice. If the rent increase is over 15%, large multi-unit landlords must provide at least 6 months notice.
