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a change [Speaker Bill] O'Brien implemented regarding public notice for committee work will make it harder for the public, press and lobbyists to track a bill's progress through the House.
The newly-crowned speaker has said he is going to focus like laser on the economy and budget, right? I always thought that "focus like a laser" means to concentrate with single-minded intensity on something, more-or-less. Then what is he doing sponsoring bills dealing with capital punishment and defining conflicts of interest for members of the executive? I don't recall a speaker ever doing sponsoring legislation before. Can anyone explain how these bills will help grow the New Hampshire economy or solve the current deficit problem?
O'Brien is also co-sponsoring other bills that spend money on a sunset panel for government programs, determine how educational funds are distributed, get rid of the evergreen clause for public contracts, prohibit new taxes, and determine who is eligible for parole. None of these bills screams, "Jobs, jobs, jobs!" to me. O'Brien needs to be true to his word and focus, focus, focus on the task at hand, or admit all that talk was just politics.
While he is at it, maybe he ought to have a quiet word about 'focusing' with his point men on the budget, the chairs of Finance and Ways and Means, because they seem to have been out of the room when he made the commitment on this. In addition to filing a host of bills to cut current a variety state taxes, the typical GOP 'solution' to budget deficits, they have proposed legislation that requires the AG to sue the federal government over cap-and-trade and healthcare (more spending), establish a state aeronautic fund (more spending), push congress to hold a constitutional convention (not relevant to the crisis at hand), and regulate how process is served on commercial tenants (not relevant to the crisis at hand).
Guys, you either believe we have a fiscal crisis or you don't. Which is it?
You know the legislature is off the rails when someone who doesn't follow state politics closely like my friend the avid hunter asks me what in the heck the did the Republicans think they were voted in for if the first thing they decide to do is brings guns in the statehouse.
It was then I explained to him that their next move was to kick out a state house rep because he filed bills such as one that would give a tax credit to small businesses.
... state and federal officials take as a key measure to solve the budget crisis.
One of the Speaker's key allies, Al Baldasaro, has proposed a constitutional amendment that changes the oath of office state and federal legislators and military officers take .
He wants to drop the part of the oath where legislators pledge allegiance to the US and substitute instead a pledge to New Hampshire. .
The current oath
I, do solemnly swear, that I will bear faith and true allegiance to the United States of America and the state of New Hampshire, and will support the constitution thereof. So help me God.
becomes
I, do solemnly swear, that I will bear faith and true allegiance to the State of New Hampshire, and will support the Constitution thereof and the Constitution for the United States of America. So help me God.
Rep. Marcus, a Republican state rep from Peterborough, is doing his part to fulfill Speaker O'Brien's pledge to focus like a laser beam on the budget deficit and the NH economy by sponsoring HCR2, a concurrent resolution in support of the Arizona immigration law.
It would be hard to over-estimate how many good jobs with good wages will be created by this vital piece of legislation and how far it will go to reduce our state's budget deficit. But heck, I'll take a stab at it.
Zero jobs and zero dollars of deficit reduction. Thank you, Rep. Marcus.
On the same day that the NH Republican Party made its fourth annual payment to the Democratic party for criminally interfering with elections in the phone jamming case, they demonstrate their deep and abiding contempt for democracy and elections.
When will these members of the House and Senate be expelled?
Sen. John Gallus- Owns Gallus and Green Real-estate www.gallusandgreen.com/default.asp.f-faq
2011-S-0761- Title: Repealing the exemption for water and air pollution control facilities from local property taxation.
2011-S-0763- title: Requiring licensure of appraisal management companies.
Sen. Fenton Groen- Owns Groen Builders Incorporated www.groenbuilders.com
2011-S-0933- title: Relative to state regulation of the septic system installation process.
Sen. Ray White- Owns Cornerstone Benefit and Retirement Group www.cornerstonebenefitsnh.com
2011-S-0569- title: Requiring certain approval before any changes are made to implement federal health care law.
2011-S-1005- title: Relative to federal health care reform 2010.
2011-S-1006- title: Relative to the New Hampshire health benefit exchange.
Sen. Tom De Blois- Owns Tokena Corporation www.tokena.com
2011-S-0603- title: Relative to the approval process for condominium development.
2011-S-0963- title: Relative to condominium filing requirements with the department of justice.
2011-S-1000- title: Relative to remedies in landlord-tenant actions.
2011-S-1001- title: Relative to condominium development projects.
Rep. Frank Case- Rockingham 1- Consultant Pharmacist, Northeast Pharmacy, 2003-present; Member/President, The New Hampshire Pharmacist Association; and President of the New Hampshire Pharmacy Board
2011-H-0551- title: Relative to contact lens prescriptions.
2011-H-0812- title: Relative to labeling requirements for dispensing of drugs by automated pharmacy systems.
2011-H-0813- title: Adding certain entities to the unused prescription drug program.
2011-H-0814- title: Licensing reverse distributors of drugs and requiring manufacturers and wholesalers to report changes in ownership.
2011-H-0815- title: Preventing prescribing practitioners from owning pharmacies in state and out-of-state.
Current Republican Majority Leader D.J. Bettencourt works as a law clerk in current Republican Speaker of the House Bill O'Brien's lawfirm.
That's just a start, of course.
And then, those who know tell me, there's former Republican Speaker of the House Donna Sytek, who served as a state Representative and Chair of the New Hampshire Republican Party from 1981 to 1994. And Republican state rep. LeeAnn Steiner of Manchester, who was concurrently NHGOP Executive Director. And state senators Rhona Charbonneau and John Stabile were also GOP chairs.
There is a move underfoot to remove Mike Brunelle from the legislature because he works for the NH Democratic Party - a clear assault on the right of the people of Mike's district to elect their own representatives.
When the current majority ran for office, they said they would focus on jobs and the economy. Instead, the first priority of the legislature was a rule to permit guns to be carried in the State House. The second priority is the effort by the Republican leadership to remove Mike Brunelle, who was duly elected by the people of Manchester's Ward 3, from office, simply because he is an effective advocate who happens to be a Democrat. The removal of state legislators for political reasons is a reckless assault on our democracy and our Constitution. The Speaker and his leadership team are using intimidation tactics to squash dissent in the State House. These tactics are better suited to the old Soviet Union, and bring discredit on the New Hampshire House of Representatives.
First order of business in Concord is growing the economy self-serving:
A committee of House and Senate lawmakers voted 10-1 today to lift a gun ban at the Statehouse and adjoining buildings.
...Senator Tom De Blois (R-Manchester) also voted with the majority. "I support the policy because the previous language interfered with our Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms," he said.
Can't you just feel the unemployment rate going down?
OTOH, if Dictator in Perpetuum Julius Caesar were a senator in Concord instead of in Rome, he would have had a chance to defend himself against those daggers, so there's that.
I created a tag for this series; anybody who joins in on it, please put "Like a Laser" in the tag line.
Someone needs to alert Speaker O'Brien that his laser beam focus on the economy and budget is getting a little defused by members of his leadership team.
The Honorable Daniel Itse, chair of the oddly named Constitutional Review & Statutory Recodification committee has introduced a bill that would allow a majority of the voters in the state to recall a sitting US Senator. No reason need be given as to why the Senator must come home other than the people say so. How this helps the economy is something I leave for Itse to explain.
The Honorable Ken Weyler, chair of the key committee dealing with the budget, is taking time out of his difficult budget work to sponsor and shepherd a bill ordering the AG to sue the federal government to stop last year's healthcare legislation and the EPA's cap and trade regulation.
What happened to the pious promises about concentrating on the the budget that were made just weeks ago? Does the Speaker know what his team is up to? These are not bills from obscure backbenchers. These bills are from guys in O'Brien's inner circle.
In fact, Deputy Speaker Pam Tucker said, one of the lead-off bills this year would make purple the official state color. A resolution urging Great Britain to return marble sculptures - the Elgin Marbles - to Greece also is at the top of the order.
