What should have been an almost relaxing morning session on June 16 turned into an all-day slug fest, with the outcome never in doubt. HB 1000, which allocates $1.5 million to law enforcement officials to combat drug dealers, had been defeated in the previous session of June 1. The bill had come out of conference […]
Will not run for re-election in the fall
The New Hampshire House of Representatives had two sessions in May, on the 11th and the 19th. The House is in the process of going through Senate bills, while the Senate is dealing with House bills. This is called, accurately enough, Crossover. If there are any changes made by one or the other body, those changes […]
There was a strange cry of relief in the woods behind my barn the other night, and I guessed it came from a New Hampshire bobcat. After a marathon session in early April, the pace in the New Hampshire House slowed on March 23, when we voted on the last of the House bills before […]
500 bills in two-day marathon
If you want high drama, forget the movies! Come to the State House; it is free, and all are welcome. March 9 and 10 saw a marathon two-day session with representatives voting on approximately 500 bills from 9 AM to 9 PM. Speaker Jasper was so fast with his gavel that at one point, we had […]
The House session of February 10 dealt with early House bills, many of which had to be referred to a second committee. For example, HB 1696, the Medicaid expansion bill, passed the House on a 207-136 bipartisan vote but needs to go to Finance before coming back to the House for another vote. If passed […]
Electronic voting system fails during Citzens United vote
On behalf of my wife and myself, I would like to extend our condolences to the family of Don Gross. He will be missed. There was plenty of drama in our first two-day session of 2016 in the State House. Perhaps the most unusual moment came when the electronic voting system failed. It failed in […]
Concord votes to study opioid crisis
The House voted 290 to 46 and the Senate unanimously, in favor of establishing a task force to come up with a plan to address our opioid crisis . The task force would report to the House, Senate and Governor by January 6 and file legislation by January 12. Governor Hassan would have preferred an […]
Supporting school building aid, a state bank, and broadband
The Fiscal Committee voted to increase state retirees’ prescription costs by $5. This new rule, designed to save the state $2 million, was approved by a seven to three vote. This will affect all state retirees, including those over 65. Retirees under 65 may also see an increase in their health insurance premiums, from 12.5% […]
Legislature passes bipartisan budget
Pay attention, Washington. Here in New Hampshire, compromise is not a dirty word. On September 16, the Senate and the House went into session and came out with an agreement on the 2016/2017 budget. The $11.3 billion budget had passed the House and Senate on a partisan basis. It was vetoed by Governor Hassan and […]
Political posturing by both parties creates an impasse
In the spring of 2013 there were major disagreements between the New Hampshire Republican-led State Senate and the Democrat-led State House of Representatives. Both houses, however, were able to come together at the last hour at the end of June 2013 to agree on a bi-partisan compromise budget. Things are different in 2015. As most […]