Page 15 - SEPT2025

September 2025 NEWFOUNDLAKELIFE.COM Page 15
By Donna rhoDes
Danbury Grad Gets a Bill Signed into Law Community
DANBURY—The year 2025 is one that 18-year-old Tess Sumner of Danbury will remem- ber for a very long time. She not only graduated from Newfound Regional High School as valedic- torian of her class but was also accepted into Harvard on a merit scholarship. What started out as her senior project ended up as a bill that Gov. Kelly Ayotte signed into law in July.
Sumner said she wanted to do her project on something to do with child welfare, so she turned to Alexandria Police Chief David Suckling, whom she has known for some time, for a few sugges- tions. He told her about a law passed in 2016 when metham- phetamine use was a big prob- lem. The law made it illegal to have the drug in the presence of children, but it did not name any other street drugs and had never been updated to include them. Sumner found what she was looking for and began to do her research.
Through that research, she learned that in 2023 alone, there were 485 people who died due to an overdose, and 85 percent of those (410) were due to fentanyl. After reading over the “Metham- phetamine Statute” as it came to be known, she wrote a 13-page paper on the topic of children and their access to harmful sub- stances. Sumner then presented it in December of 2024 to an au- dience of 100 in the high school auditorium, which included both Chief Suckling and other mem- bers of law enforcement.
Sumner was a member of the Governor’s Youth Advisory Council on Substance Misuse and Prevention this year as well as taking part in the Legislative Youth Advisory Council for three years. Networking with people she knew from those experiences, she turned to the leader of that council, Representative Jodi Nel- son from District 13 in Roches- ter, seeking advice on how to go about changing that 2016 law.
“When I talked to her about it, she thought it was a good bi-partisan bill and that everyone should care about drug prob- lems,” said Sumner.
With Nelson on board to assist, Sumner then introduced her to Chief Suckling, and the three met to discuss the issue. Since her project had been mainly fo- cused on the problems with fentanyl, Nelson and Suckling made a suggestion. They felt the bill should include all illicit drugs with the ex- ception of a few, such as prescription medications and marijuana, which can be legal to possess in some instances.
Once their bill pro-
posal was all written up,
it was time to take it to Concord. There it started out as a Legisla- tive Service Request in the N.H. House of Representatives where requests are looked over and a decision is made on whether or not they should move forward as a bill.
With that approval under her belt, Sumner was able to obtain 13 nonpartisan sponsors for her bill. Three of those 13 were from the Senate, and ten, including Bristol representative John Sell- ers, were from the House.
Next stop was the House Chil- dren and Family Law Commit- tee. For that step in the process, Sumner and her mentors Suck- ling and Nelson appeared before the committee to testify on the bill. Not only did the committee approve, it went on to pass the full House on simply a voice vote, Sumner said.
She wasn’t done testifying yet, however. The official bill, now known as HB473, was next sent to the Senate, where she and Nel- son again testified in person. Un- fortunately, Suckling wasn’t able to attend that hearing, but Beth Sargent-Hibbert of the N.H. Association of Chiefs of Police stepped in on his behalf.
“Beth did incredible work for us by reading the Chief’s testimony. Then the full Senate unanimously approved it, right there in front of me,” Sumner said.
On July 28, 2025, she made her final trip to the State Capi- tol. There she was recognized by Gov. Ayotte, whom she had met
Photo Courtesy
18-year-old Tess Sumner of Danbury posed for a photo
in Concord with her mentors, Alexandria Police Chief David Suckling and State Representative Jodi Nelson, after testifying before the House for a bill they wrote to increase protections for children from illicit drugs.
through the Governor’s Youth Advisory Coun- cil, who also congrat- ulated Sumner on her acceptance to Harvard as she signed HB473 into law and handed her the pen.
Sumner also re- ceived a copy of her bill, which, in summary, “criminalizes multiple forms of exposing chil- dren to controlled sub- stances and allows law enforcement to take a child into protective custody for screening and testing in an in- stance of suspected
or actual exposure to controlled substances.”
With her first true experience in government under her belt, she’s excited about the future,
“This is what I want to do when I’m a full-fledged adult,” said Sumner. “This was an in- credible opportunity. That’s
what’s so amazing about New Hampshire- being able to make a change at such a big level when you’re in high school! I don’t think people realize you can make a difference.”
Making a change was a con- cept she learned while growing up though. Her mother Jenn Kastick is a social worker who was always telling her she wished someone would do something when she came across laws that needed to be changed. As a result Sumner always felt she wanted to be that someone one day, the per- son who would work to change a law. Mission accomplished.
Now as she heads to Harvard she will be majoring in Govern- ment and Law and hopes to be changing laws and writing new ones in her future. She won’t be old enough to run for president until 2024, she said with a smile, but in the meantime keep an eye on your voting ballots where you just may see her name listed as a candidate someday.
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