“No man’s life, liberty, or property are safe while the Legislature is in session”
This has been especially true since that other party has been in the majority in the General Court. In an effort to provide you with an update on the shenanigans in Concord, I present you with this brief recap of some important bills recently voted on and how our Amherst/Milford delegation voted. For constitutional amendments, a vote FOR the amendment is a vote in favor of putting it to the voters in the fall, and isn’t necessarily a vote in favor of the amendment itself. But a vote AGAINST is to prevent the people from having a final say.
CACR26: relating to taxation. Providing that there shall be no broad-based taxes in New Hampshire
This is one that comes up about every session and for some reason never seems to pass. I would think that if you are against a broad based tax on the citizens of the state that this would be a no-brainer. Unfortunately, this failed by a vote of 136-221. Here’s what our delegation had to say:
FOR the amendment: Belvin, Daniels, Palmer, Rowe, Willette
AGAINST the amendment: Bergin, Chandley (D), Dokmo
OK, so we won’t be able to vote on a constitutional amendment to take a broad based tax off the table. How about an amendment to make it more difficult to raise taxes or create new taxes and fees?
CACR23 relating to taxation. Providing that a 2/3 vote is required to pass legislation imposing new or increased taxes or license fees provided that the legislature may increase the rate of taxes and fees with a majority vote in any fiscal year that insufficient revenues are provided to pay the principal and interest on a debt payable in that year, to which the state has pledged its faith and credit.
Looks like that’s what CACR23 would do. But it failed 108-239. Here’s the Hillsborough District 6 tally:
FOR the amendment: Daniels, Palmer, Rowe, Willette
AGAINST the amendment: Belvin, Bergin, Chandley (D), Dokmo
One of the largest budgeting problems we have is that the courts control education funding, rather than the legislature. This amendment would have given some of that power back to the legislature where it belongs:
CACR27 relating to education funding. Providing that state funding of education shall be targeted.
But we’re 0 for 3 on amendments as this one went down 125-233….
FOR the amendment: Belvin, Daniels, Palmer, Rowe, Willette
AGAINST the amendment: Bergin, Chandley (D), Dokmo
Lastly, for amendments to the state constitution, there’s this one:
CACR28 relating to the definition of marriage. Providing that the state shall only recognize the union of one man and one woman as marriage
The amendment failed 135-201. Here’s the breakdown for our district:
FOR the amendment: Belvin, Daniels, Palmer, Rowe
AGAINST the amendment: Chandley (D), Dokmo, Willette
Bergin – Not Voting/Not Excused
That’s all for amendments, now on to a few House bills…..
HB1654 relative to state house security
This bill is the infamous State House gun ban that I emailed you all about previously. This would have taken the existing rule against carrying weapons in the State House and adjoining buildings and made such an act a felony, rather than just resulting a request to leave the building. I am pleased to report that this bill died a well-deserved death by a vote of 35-300 and I am also pleased to report that all members of our delegation voted to kill the bill.
HB1128 relative to the distribution of meals and rooms tax revenues to cities and towns.
This bill would give back $5 million in meals and rooms tax revenue that was taken away to balance (??) the budget last year. It passed but just barely 184-174. Here were the votes from Amherst and Milford:
FOR the bill: Bergin, Belvin, Daniels, Dokmo, Palmer, Rowe, Willette
AGAINST the bill: Chandley (D)
HB1454 requiring parental consent for medical procedures and medications provided to minors.
Our own Bob Willette is the sponsor of this bill, which would ensure parental rights. Here’s some more detail on it:
This bill requires the consent of a parent or guardian for any person to provide medication or provide or perform any medical procedure, including vaccinations, immunizations, and abortions upon any unemancipated minor, except in a medical emergency. A minor may seek court approval for such medication or procedure, if the minor elects not to seek consent or does not receive the consent of a parent or guardian. Any person who violates such a law shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.
This seems to be a fairly common sense approach to parental rights. But, perhaps not too common in Concord these days as the bill failed 140-218. Here’s the tally:
FOR the bill: Belvin, Daniels, Palmer, Rowe, Willette
AGAINST the bill: Bergin, Chandley (D), Dokmo
HB1645 relative to freedom of choice on whether to join a labor union
This is a “right to work” law. It’s a another one that has come up before and never seems to pass. Wouldn’t the freedom to decline membership in a labor union fit in with our “Live Free or Die” motto? Evidently, according to the majority in Concord, freedom just doesn’t extend that far as this bill failed 122-232. Here’s how our folks voted:
FOR the bill: Belvin, Daniels, Palmer, Rowe, Willette
AGAINST the bill: Chandley (D), Dokmo
Bergin – Not Voting/Not Excused
There’s a sampling of a few important votes cast over the last month. This is in no way a complete list. For that, go to the General Court web site where you can see all the roll calls and look up any bill:
http://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/
You can search by bill number, or keywords so you can find bills that pertain to the issues you care about. There are a lot of pieces of legislation still in the pipeline so stay tuned.
– Mark