Keith Ammon

Keith Ammon
Ammon in 2016
Member of the New Hampshire House of Representatives from the Hillsborough 40th district
Incumbent
Assumed office December 2, 2020
Preceded by	Kat McGhee
In office December 3, 2014 – December 5, 2018
Preceded by	Gary Daniels
Succeeded by	Kat McGhee
Personal details
Born	Philadelphia suburbs [1]
Political party	Republican
Spouse	Susan
Residence	New Boston, New Hampshire
Profession	Politician

Keith Ammon is an American politician. He is a member of the New Hampshire House of Representatives, representing the Hillsborough 40th District from 2014 to 2018 and re-elected in 2020.[2][3]

Political career

Ammon served on the New Boston School Board from 2012 to 2015.[2]

In 2014, he won the District 40 seat in the State House over Democrat Henry Mullaney.[3] Ammon was re-elected in 2016 against Democrat Kat McGhee.[3] In 2018, he lost the seat to Kat McGhee.[3][4] In 2020, Ammon beat Democrat Ben Ming to again serve District 40.[3]

In the New Hampshire House of Representatives Ammon serves as the clerk for the Commerce and Consumer Affairs committee.[2] He is currently the Assistant Majority Whip.[1]

Ammon is a member of the NH House Freedom Caucus.[5] He also serves as director of the New Boston Republican Committee and the New Boston Taxpayers' Association.[1]

Political activity

Technology bills

Blockchain

In January 2016, he cosponsored a bill that would have allowed the state government to accept payment of taxes and fees in bitcoin.[6] It was defeated in committee.[7]

In 2023, Ammon sponsored bill HB645 establishing regulations and the legal framework and operational guidelines for decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs).[8] Explaining the bill's motivation, Ammon and co-sponsor Bill Ardinger wrote,"Blockchain technology, with its unique attributes of flexibility, transparency, auditability and security, can be deployed to empower widely diverse groups of humans with shared values to accomplish common goals at the worldwide scale of the internet." [9]

Privacy

In March 2016, he introduced a bill allowing public libraries to run privacy software.[10] The bill was written with input from the Library Freedom Project.[11]

Flying cars

In 2020, while out of office, Ammon provided Representative Steven D. Smith with the technical requirements for a bill to create a legal framework for "flying cars" to drive on New Hampshire's roadways.[12] When Governor Chris Sununu signed HB1182 into law on 24 July 2020, New Hampshire became the first state in the nation to enact a "Jetsons Law".[13]

Nuclear power

In 2022, Ammon sponsored bill HB543, signed into law, establishing a commission to study nuclear power and nuclear reactor technology in New Hampshire.[14] The NH Nuclear Study Commission, which Ammon chaired, published interim reports and a final report in 2023. Among the report's conclusions were that "The demand for computation, particularly for large and growing computing projects like AI modeling and Bitcoin mining, is rising," and "Advanced nuclear technology is essential if the goal of zero net carbon emissions is to be pursued."[15]

In 2024, Ammon sponsored bill HB1465, to promote investigation of nuclear power. As signed into law, the final bill required coordination with studies on wind energy, renaming the Office of Offshore Wind Industry Development to the Office of Offshore Wind Industry Development and Energy Innovation. [16] [17]

Other bills

Abortion

In 2022, Ammon voted against HB 1609 which added an exception for a fatal fetal diagnosis to New Hampshire's 24 week ban on abortion services.[18]

Education

In 2021, the Washington Post reported that Ammon was spearheading an effort to ban critical race theory in New Hampshire.[19] Ammon's bill, as explained by The Atlantic, forbids schools from teaching “race or sex scapegoating,” questioning the value of meritocracy and suggesting that New Hampshire or the USA is “fundamentally racist.”[20] House Bill 544 was signed into law by Governor Chris Sununu in July 2021.[21]

Other information

Keith Ammon was the New Hampshire distributor for PAL-V, maker of roadable flying cars.

Keith Ammon runs Ammon Technology Services, a software company specializing in pharmaceutical sales.[22][23]

Ammon moved to New Hampshire from Pennsylvania in 2009 as part of the Free State Project.[24][25]

In 2016, Ammon was named to GOPAC's Class of Emerging Leaders.[26]

Ammon contributed to the Bretton Woods Summit of Consumer's Research in 2017 and 2018 as a local subject matter expert on regulation in cryptocurrency.[27] In 2018, Ammon participated in a panel "Blockchain, Bitcoin, and Public Policy" at the Harvard Club of Boston, in connection with his sponsorship of bill HB436, exempting persons using cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin from registering as money transmitters.[28] Ammon is the founder and chairman of the New Hampshire Blockchain Council.[29]

In 2019–2020, while out of office, Ammon represented Dutch-owned flying-car maker PAL-V in New Hampshire.[30]

References

1. "Keith Ammon 4NH".
2. "Representative Keith Ammon". NH House of Representatives. Retrieved 2022-07-07.
3. "Keith Ammon". Ballotpedia. Retrieved 2022-07-07.
4. "Hollis Republican State House candidates debate issues". Nashua Telegraph. Retrieved 2019-03-26.
5. "NH Freedom Caucus members discuss budget impasse" WMUR-TV. Retrieved 2019-03-27.
6. "Tiny Towns, Small States Bet on Bitcoin Even as Some Shun Its Miners" The PEW Charitable Trusts. Retrieved 2019-03-26.
7. "HB552". TrackBill. Retrieved 2022-07-07.
8. "NH HB645: Relative to the establishment of decentralized autonomous organizations as legal entities within the state.". Retrieved 2024-12-18.
9. Ammon, Keith; Ardinger, Bill (2024-06-14). "New Hampshire Has a Better Approach to DAOs". Coindesk. Retrieved 2024-12-18.
10. "House Bill 1508: An Act allowing public libraries to run certain privacy software". New Hampshire State Government. 10 March 2016. Retrieved 4 June 2016.
11. O'Neill, Patrick Howell (2019-03-27). "New Hampshire bill allows for libraries' usage of encryption and privacy software". The Daily Dot. Retrieved 10 March 2016.
12. Tegler, Eric (2022-07-31). "Registering Your Flying Car In New Hampshire Is Easy Thanks To The 'Jetson Bill'". Forbes. Retrieved 2024-12-18.
13. "New Hampshire passes Jetsons law". General Aviation News. 2020-08-22. Retrieved 2024-12-18.
14. Waller, Tommy (2022-12-05). "New Hampshire can blaze the trail to plentiful carbon-free energy". Secure the Grid. Retrieved 2024-12-18.
15. "NH Nuclear Study Commission Reports". Retrieved 2024-12-18.
16. "HB 1465 (2024) Require Dept. of Energy to coordinate studies on nuclear, wind energy". Retrieved 2024-12-18.
17. Barndollar, Hadley (2024-01-08). "2024 means renewed energy, environment debates for NH lawmakers". Business NH Magazine. Retrieved 2024-12-18.
18. "HB1609-FN".
19. MECKLER, LAURA; DAWSEY, JOSH (2021-06-20). "Republicans, spurred by an unlikely figure, see political promise in critical race theory". Washington Post.
20. Harris, Adam (2021-05-07). "The GOP's 'Critical Race Theory' Obsession". The Atlantic.
21. LaCasse, Alexander (2021-07-09). "'Divisive concepts' ban is NH law. Will it affect the way teachers do their jobs?". Seacoast Online.
22. "New Hampshire Department of State". Retrieved 2022-07-09.
23. "PorcFest XIII". Retrieved 2022-07-09.
24. Quimby, Taylor (2018-04-12). "You Asked, We Answered: What Is the Free State Project?". New Hampshire Public Radio. Retrieved 2019-03-06.
25. "Bitcoin's Last Gunslinger" Forbes. Retrieved 2019-03-26.
26. "GOPAC announces 2016 Class of Emerging Leaders" GOPAC. Retrieved 2019-03-22.
27. "The Bretton Woods Experience" Bretton Woods Summit. Retrieved 2019-03-12.
28. "Blockchain, Bitcoin, and Public Policy" HKS New England Alumni Association. Retrieved 2019-03-22.
29. "New Hampshire Blockchain Council Member Bios". Retrieved 2024-12-18.
30. Currie, Judi (2020-10-09). "NH's Flying Car Laws". Business NH Magazine. Retrieved 2024-12-18.

External links

• Official website