New Hampshire Governor Kelly Ayotte vetoed a Republican-backed bill Tuesday that would have expanded parental power to challenge and remove books and other materials deemed inappropriate in the state’s public schools and libraries. Her decision breaks with the GOP-controlled Legislature that passed the measure earlier this year.
The bill would have allowed parents and residents to file formal complaints to remove content considered harmful to minors, including depictions of nudity, sexual conduct, and other graphic content lacking educational value. It proposed financial penalties for schools and districts that failed to comply, raising concerns among critics about enforcement based on subjective judgments.
Ayotte said existing laws already allow parents to opt their children out of content they find objectionable through their local school boards. While acknowledging parental concerns, she warned the bill’s vague language and penalty provisions could trigger costly lawsuits, particularly from out-of-state activist groups. “We should not engage in the role of addressing questions of literary value and appropriateness at the state level,” Ayotte wrote in her veto message.
The state’s largest teachers union praised the veto. Megan Tuttle, president of the New Hampshire chapter of the National Education Association, said Ayotte was “standing up for the freedom to read.” Her group and others argued that students benefit from exposure to diverse perspectives, including in literature that covers race, sexuality, and identity.
The veto comes amid a national surge in book challenges from parents and conservative organizations, many of whom say public schools are promoting radical left-wing ideologies through explicit or ideologically charged content. These groups argue parents need more authority to protect their children’s moral development in taxpayer-funded institutions.
Ayotte has offered to work with lawmakers to revise existing statutes if current protections are deemed inadequate but maintained that the proposed bill went too far.
