John J. Valera
Historical Details
Position on Issues
For| 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 support a ban on abortion after 20 weeks gestation, with exceptions for cases of rape/incest and healthcomplications."
For| Read My Position
Citizens Count Issue Survey, 2018
Should New Hampshire ban abortion after 24 weeks gestation, with exceptions for cases of rape/incest and health complications?
When asked about banning abortion after 20 weeks gestation on our 2018 survey, Valera wrote, "I support a ban on abortion after 20 weeks gestation, with exceptions for cases of rape/incest and healthcomplications."Against| Read My Position
Citizens Count Issue Survey, 2018
Should NH pursue expanded commuter rail?
"I oppose expanded commuter rail."
For| Read My Position
Citizens Count Issue Survey, 2018
Should NH limit terms for elected officials?
"I support term limits for New Hampshire elected officials."
Against| Read My Position
Citizens Count Issue Survey, 2018
Should NH increase funding for heroin treatment programs?
"I oppose increased funding for heroin treatment programs."
Against| Read My Position
Citizens Count Issue Survey, 2018
Should NH add an income tax on earned income?
"I oppose New Hampshire adding an income tax on earned income."
Against| Read My Position
Citizens Count Issue Survey, 2018
Should NH add a broad-based sales tax?
"I oppose New Hampshire adding a broad-based sales tax."
Against| Read My Position
Citizens Count Issue Survey, 2016
Should NH authorize one or more casinos?
"I oppose casino gambling in New Hampshire."
Against| Read My Position
Citizens Count Issue Survey, 2016
Should NH continue to base statewide assessments on Common Core standards?
"I oppose basing statewide assessments on Common Core standards."
For| Read My Position
Voting Record, 2018
Voted to decriminalize possession of 3/4 ounce or less of marijuana (HB 640)
Against| Read My Position
Citizens Count Issue Survey, 2016
Should NH broaden campaign finance disclosure laws?
"I oppose broader campaign finance disclosure laws."
Against| Read My Position
Citizens Count Issue Survey, 2016
Should NH increase law enforcement policies and penalties for heroin-related offenses?
"I oppose increased law enforcement policies and penalties for heroin-related offenses."
For| Read My Position
Citizens Count Issue Survey, 2018
Should NH legalize the recreational use of marijuana?
"I support marijuana legalization."
Against| 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 oppose expanded Medicaid eligibility, using the traditional system of managed care instead of private insurance."
Against| Read My Position
Citizens Count Issue Survey, 2016
Was NH right to expand Medicaid eligibility, using private insurance wherever possible?
"I oppose NH's expanded Medicaid program."
Against| Read My Position
Voting Record, 2018
Voted against raising the minimum wage to $9.50 in 2018 and $12 in 2019, with annual cost of living adjustments starting in 2020 (HB 115)
For| Read My Position
Citizens Count Issue Survey, 2018
Should NH do more to enforce federal immigration laws?
"I support increased state enforcement of federal immigration laws."
Other| Read My Position
Citizens Count Issue Survey, 2018
Should New Hampshire increase subsidies and tax credits for business investment?
"No to subsidies, yes to tax credits"
For| Read My Position
Voting Record, 2018
Voted to keep the death penalty unchanged (SB 593)
Against| Read My Position
Citizens Count Issue Survey, 2016
Should NH allow the Northern Pass to proceed with some (not all) of the lines buried?
"I oppose the Northern Pass as currently proposed."
Against| Read My Position
For| Read My Position
Citizens Count Issue Survey, 2018
Is police brutality an issue in NH?
"State government should take action to reduce police brutality in New Hampshire, for example by requiring body cameras or limiting the ability of police to acquire military equipment."
Against| Read My Position
Citizens Count Issue Survey, 2018
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?
"I oppose New Hampshire's participation in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative."
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."
Against| Read My Position
Citizens Count Issue Survey, 2018
Should New Hampshire government do more to increase the supply of affordable housing?
"New Hampshire government does not need to do more to increase the supply of affordable housing."
Against| Read My Position
Citizens Count Issue Survey, 2016
What is your opinion on the state providing some funding for Planned Parenthood?
"I oppose the state providing some funding for Planned Parenthood."
Undecided| Read My Position
Citizens Count Issue Survey, 2018
Should NH continue to administer statewide standards-based student assessments?
"I am undecided on this issue. Student assessments don't go anywhere school boards are like terrorist organizations - extorting money from taxpayers and controlling things to their benefit"
Against| Read My Position
Citizens Count Issue Survey, 2018
Should NH pass stricter gun control laws?
"I oppose stricter gun control laws."
For| Read My Position
Citizens Count Issue Survey, 2018
Should New Hampshire allocate tax revenues for private and home schooling costs?
"I support allocating tax revenues for private and/or home schooling costs."
For| Read My Position
Citizens Count Issue Survey, 2016
Should parents be allowed to opt their children out of the NH immunization/vaccination registry?
"Parents should be allowed to opt their children out of the NH immunization/vaccination registry."
For| Read My Position
Citizens Count Issue Survey, 2018
Should NH impose strict residency requirements on registering to vote?
"New Hampshire should impose strict residency requirements on registering to vote. How about a constitutional test before voting!"
Against| Read My Position
Citizens Count Issue Survey, 2016
Should NH restrict further wind power development?
"I oppose restrictions on further wind power development."
Voting Record
HB 628 (2017)
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. The House amended the bill to increase the employee contribution to 0.67%, to allow employees to opt out, and to limit benefits to six weeks of paid leave.
HB 1264 (2018)
Redefines "resident" and "inhabitant" to remove the phrase "for the indefinite future." This bill would potentially require all voters domiciled in New Hampshire to follow residency laws, such as the requirement to register any car in New Hampshire.
HB 1319 (2018)
Prohibits discrimination based on gender identity.
HB 587 (2017)
Prohibits conversion therapy for anyone under age eighteen. Conversion therapy attempts to change a person's sexual orientation.
HB 592 (2017)
Repeals the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI). The House amended the bill to instead end energy efficiency grants, and send all the proceeds from RGGI to commercial and residential ratepayer rebates.
HB 656 (2017)
Legalizes and taxes marijuana for adults over age twenty-one. The bill outlines various regulations, from the ability of municipalities to control the location of marijuana establishments, to labels disclosing the THC in each serving of a marijuana product. The bill also legalizes hemp. The House amended the bill to instead legalize possession and homegrowing of marijuana without allowing sales.
CACR 22 (2018)
Constitutional amendment establishing various rights for crime victims.
SB 313 (2018)
Continues New Hampshire's expanded Medicaid program. This bill makes several significant changes to the program. First, it moves participants off private insurance and into managed care, similar to traditional Medicaid enrollees. Second, it adds a work requirement for participants. Third, it removes funding from voluntary contributions by health care providers, which the federal government said is illegal.
HB 1680 (2018)
Prohibits abortion after viability, unless the mother's life is in danger, "in cases of Twin to Twin Transfusion Syndrome, or to remove a fetus with severe anomalies incompatible with life."
SB 193 (2017)
Establishes the "education freedom savings account program." This allows a parent to contract with a scholarship organization so that state education funding is transferred to the student's scholarship account rather than to the municipality in which the student resides. The House amended the bill to limit the scholarships to certain students, particularly low income students, students in underperforming schools, and special education students. The amended version also requires any student receiving a scholarship to complete an annual assessment to ensure academic progress.
SB 593 (2018)
Changes the penalty for any offense eligible for the death penalty to life imprisonment without parole.
SB 500 (2018)
Removes the prohibition of carrying a loaded rifle or shotgun in or on a stationary motor vehicle, OHRV, snowmobile, or aircraft. This bill also changes some legal references to firearms, and allows licensed bow hunters to carry firearms. Lastly, this bill removes the ability to deny or revoke a hunting license if a person "is not a suitable person to carry firearms." The Senate amended the bill to also allow carrying a loaded firearm on a moving vehicle if the person is protecting livestock or crops. The Senate amendment also allows hunting with an air rifle.
SB 10 (2017)
Creates a program to repay licensed milk producers from losses during the 2016 drought. The bill appropriates $2 million to the Milk Producers Emergency Relief Fund.
SB 3 (2017)
Changes the definition of domicile for voting purposes to make it more restrictive. This bill explicitly excludes anyone who comes to the state "for temporary purposes," such as volunteering or working on political campaigns. Out-of-state college students are still allowed to claim a domicile in New Hampshire. However, if someone moves to a new New Hampshire address within 30 days of voting, he or she must present proof of intent to stay in New Hampshire. This proof could include a lease, driver's license, a child's enrollment at a public school, etc.
SB 8 (2017)
Allows a school district to assign a child to a non-sectarian private school if there is no public school for the child's grade in the child's resident district. The bill was amended to also require the non-sectarian private school to administer an annual assessment.
HB 115 (2017)
Raises the minimum wage to $9.50 in 2018 and $12 in 2019, with annual cost of living adjustments starting in 2020. The bill also establishes a training wage that is one dollar less than the minimum wage for the first three months of employment for someone sixteen or seventeen years-old.
SB 131 (2017)
Appropriates $1,155,000 to hire five state troopers assigned to drug enforcement on the state border. This bill also appropriates $3,340,000 for state and local law enforcement and the state lab for overtime related to drug enforcement.
SB 242 (2017)
Authorizes one smaller and one larger casino with video lottery and table gaming. The smaller casino would pay an initial ten-year license fee of $40 million, and the larger casino would pay an initial ten-year license fee of $80 million. The casinos would pay a tax of 35% on gross slot machine revenue and 18% on gross table game revenue. The Legislature would choose how to distribute this revenue, provided that some of the revenue goes to towns hosting or neighboring the casino, and some of the revenue goes to treat problem gambling.
SB 191 (2017)
Increases state funding for full-day kindergarten programs, with adjustments based on the number of English language learners and free and reduced lunch students in each district. The House amended the bill to simply provide full funding for full-day kindergarten programs, and half funding for half-day kindergarten programs. The House also added keno legalization to the bill to create the revenue for kindergarten funding.
HB 478 (2017)
Prohibits discrimination based on gender identity.
HB 144 (2017)
Changes the annual county budget procedures for Rockingham County to match those used in Hillsborough County. Since the House failed to pass the 2018-2019 budget bill HB 1, the Senate amended this bill into a new budget bill.
SB 66 (2017)
Includes fetuses as potential victims under murder statutes. The Senate amended the bill to include only fetuses twenty weeks and older, not just "viable" fetuses.
HB 103 (2017)
Requires school districts to provide advance notice to parents and legal guardians of course material involving discussion of human sexuality or human sexual education.
HB 157 (2017)
Adds chronic pain to the qualifying medical conditions for medical marijuana.
SB 11 (2017)
Right-to-Work bill that prohibits collective bargaining agreements that require employees to join or contribute to a labor union.
HB 640 (2017)
Decriminalizes possession of 3/4 ounce or less of marijuana, with additional penalties for violators under age twenty-one.
SB 12 (2017)
Increases the length of time for which a license to carry a concealed firearm is valid, and repeals the requirement to obtain a license to carry a concealed firearm.
