Liam Clark | Support HB1692

I am Liam Clark, and I served on the New Hampshire Legislative Youth Advisory Council during its 2023-2024 session. During that time, NHLYAC played a large role in my high school civic and leadership development, skills that are increasingly needed among our youth. Before my participation on NHLYAC, my knowledge of government and politics was mostly limited to classroom instruction. While that gave some decent background knowledge, I learned much more from first-had experience on NHLYAC than I did anywhere else. Experiences included conducting in-depth research and issuing statements on bills and laws pertaining to youth issues, helping to give members of the council a much better understanding of state and local political processes, as well as giving state politicians an opportunity to see what youth voices in the state were thinking. In addition, actions were taken to hold summits regarding key issues affecting youth in New Hampshire, such as addressing mental health challenges among our peers. These experiences were very positive, helping in part to inspire a younger generation of New Hampshire public servants by giving them a realistic view into what New Hampshire politics look like. Personally, I have been inspired to pursue a career in public service due to my positive experience in state government so far. I was honored to have the opportunity to serve on NHLYAC. It was certainly the most positive and productive extracurricular that I did during high school, giving me a chance to try to help and give back to the great state that I was raised in. HB 1080, passed in 2024, introduced several meaningful improvements to NHLYAC by refining its scope and strengthening its effectiveness in addressing youth-specific issues. HB 1692 will continue to strengthen the council by opening it up to even more students, giving them the same amazing opportunities that I was given, to better understand state governance and provide feedback from a youth perspective. Thank you for your time, Liam Clark