When Rep. Melissa Litchfield prepared to record votes on Senate Bill 234 Tuesday, she warned her fellow House Education Committee members she might struggle.
“I’m shaking,” said Litchfield, a Brentwood Republican. “I’m going to have trouble calling it without crying.”
The bill would require schools to put the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline on all student ID cards. In a last-minute move, the entire committee sponsored an amendment renaming the bill the Jason Dickey Suicide Prevention Act, in memory of Dickey, who died by suicide in 2017. Dickey’s parents were there for the vote.
The committee voted unanimously to recommend the full House pass the bill as amended.
“We’d just like to say thank you to all of you for considering this, and we’re humbled and honored,” Martha Dickey told the committee. “And if Jason could hear it, he would absolutely feel the same way. I’m sure. He was very … politically oriented, and he would be so humbled by something like this.”
The bill passed the Senate in February and is almost certain to clear the House. Gov. Chris Sununu has said he will sign it.
The hotline can be reached by calling or texting 1-800-273-8255. In July, the number will change to 988.