By PAULA TRACY, InDepthNH.org

CONCORD – Despite passage of two House bills to legalize cannabis for adult use, Gov. Kelly Ayotte is maintaining she continues to be opposed to it and says the people of the state know where she stands.

She also laid out her criteria for a new Education Commissioner and said the feds have just said they are clawing back $80 million expected for HHS programs.

There are 15 bills related to cannabis and expanding the therapeutic state program either making their way through the legislative process or being retained or killed.

On Wednesday the Republican controlled House voted 208-125 to support House Bill 198 while the Senate held a hearing this week on another bill House Bill 75 on a voice vote.

And in spite of arguments that the public is in favor of legalizing marijuana, and that the state is surrounded by other states that have legalized it and are making profits from it, Ayotte is saying, “No.”

“I do not support the legalization of cannabis,” she told reporters Wednesday in her office. “I don’t think it is the right direction for the state for a lot of reasons. I believe, if you think about our quality of life, if you think about some of the concerns that can flow from that. I know…we talked about safety on our roadways. I think that there are a number of issues that states who have legalized cannabis have experienced in those regards that I just don’t think can be addressed at the moment with the existing technology.

“I ran on this issue and the people of New Hampshire know where I stand on it. I don’t support it,” she said.

She noted she has never heard someone in recovery from drug addiction say that legalizing weed is a good idea.

“I’ve been very clear on this,” she said. “I am also mindful of the message we send to younger people when we legalize something versus it being illegal.”

She said she will look at every bill that comes to her desk, including allowing the personal cultivation of marijuana for therapeutic purposes.

NEW HIGHWAY SAFETY TASK FORCE

Ayotte said she is creating a Highway Safety Task Force to look at concerns on roadways including wrong-way drivers, speeding, and distracted driving with the hope that some things can be found to curb some of the dangerous behavior.

“It’s critical that we ensure drivers are safe on our highways and stop these accidents before they happen. Every fatal crash is more than just a statistic—it’s a life lost, a family shattered, and a community forever changed,” said Ayotte. “As a mom, this is especially important to me, which is why I am proud to announce today a new Highway Safety Task Force. I look forward to reviewing the Task Force’s recommendations to address issues like speeding, distracted driving, and wrong-way driving incidents to make our roads safer for Granite Staters.”

In 2024 alone, 135 lives were lost in motor vehicle accidents—many involving alcohol or drugs—a figure that makes clear the scale of New Hampshire’s highway safety crisis. The state also faces a growing trend of accidents involving wrong-way drivers and incidents of these drivers being stopped by law enforcement before they can cause a deadly accident.  

The Governor’s Highway Safety Task Force will be led by Department of Safety Commissioner Robert Quinn and Attorney General John Formella, in coordination with the Office of the Governor and Executive Councilor John Stephen. 

The Task Force is charged with conducting a comprehensive review of accident data, identifying patterns and risk factors, evaluating current laws and enforcement practices, and developing a set of actionable recommendations to improve highway safety. The Task Force will also collaborate with local officials, law enforcement, traffic engineers, and community advocates to ensure a broad range of perspectives are represented in its findings. 

Members also include Department of Safety Assistant Commissioner Eddie Edwards, Colonel Mark Hall, New Hampshire State Police, Transportation Commissioner William Cass, John Marasco, director of the Division of Motor Vehicles, Senators Regina Birdsell, Howard Pearl, Mark McConkey, Donovan Fenton, Tim McGough and Bill Gannon and Representatives Jennifer Rhodes, Ross Berry, Ted Gorski, Terry Roy, Thomas Walsh, Nancy Murphy, and others in county and local government, Dan Goodman of AAA Northern New England; Bob Kelley, Amethyst Foundation; Beth Shaw and David Croke, Parent Road Safety Advocates and Jacob Evangelista, Youth Representative.

CRITERIA FOR A NEW EDUCATION COMMISSIONER

The governor said she is looking for a new Education Commissioner after Frank Edelblut has decided to move on. She said she appreciated his work over the past eight years especially in innovation.

“My hope is that I can find someone who has the leadership skills to lead the department along with experience in education and background,” she said. “Obviously, whoever serves in that position needs to share my philosophy when it comes to making sure that every child is able to reach their full potential and that we are at a position where we are continuing to strive to improve our education system.”

She said she is very appreciative of the work teachers do and she wants to make sure “at the core of it we have someone who is really focused on teachers as well.”

Ayotte noted she is a product of the public education system in this state and her husband is a teacher in a private school.

Education experience and leadership are the two criteria she is looking for.

NEW $80M HOLE IN DHHS BUDGET FROM FEDERAL GOVERNMENT

This week, Ayotte said she was informed that temporary, post-pandemic funding in DHHS that was expected to be available through 2026 is not coming from the federal government, according to the Centers for Disease Control.

And she said while the state has had some success in thwarting clawbacks from the Trump Administration, this one does not look so hopeful.

She said it funds some of the positions in Health and Human Services.

Ayotte noted that in her inaugural address she noted that a sustainability problem goes forward when the state takes on federal funds which require future state funding.

What is important, she said, is direct services to individuals and if the state has to shift services.

In her budget she said she did continue this funding to get through the biennium.

She said she will be working with DHHS to evaluate the impact and changes that will be required related to public health.

“We are looking at this carefully. We just got notified ourselves. We are working with the commissioner on this and we are doing all we can to make sure that the people who are served directly, that we find other ways to fund it,” she said.

The funding was anticipated but not in house.

She disagrees with the decision by the federal government. Ayotte said it is one thing to eliminate future allocations but not what was expected.

“When you put a bunch of federal money into things for a temporary period and then you build positions and other things around it, when that money goes away…you are going to have to fill that gap…These were not one-time issues,” the governor said.