Mark Vincent
Amherst

To the Editor

Last week was a marathon three day session in the New Hampshire House of Representatives. One day lasted until 10 PM in the evening. Here are some of the bills that passed or were killed.

HB 329 passed mandating for parental notification to parents before an abortion can be performed on a minor daughter. We are only one of seven states that does not have a parental notification or consent law.

HB 513 died. This bill would allow state sanctioned suicide and the government to condone and be involved in the end-of-life decision of a citizen.

HB 524 passed correcting last year’s law that allowed for automatic early release from prison of persons convicted of violent or sex crimes. The bill also restores the power of the Parole Board.

HB 337 was passed. This insures all towns the same state educational funds in each of the next two years as received this year. This will allow budgeting stability to our school districts.

HB 213 passed as a small but first step in encouraging economic recovery and jobs by a small reduction in the business profits tax.

Killed was HB 577, a bill that would have mandated in-store aisle markings in as many as six languages in retail establishments.

Killed HB 569, a bill that would have establishes homosexual domestic unions between siblings, father son etc.

HB 609 passed insuring that the Milford District Court will remain open.

HB 147 passes the House making it a capital murder for a killing during a home invasion.

HB 210 passed allowing a person to use deadly force when faced with the threat of serious bodily injury or death. Current law mandates force only used if retreat is impossible.

In the next few weeks there will be debates and votes on the state budget. At the present time the economy and state revenues are such that we will be facing a budget deficit as much as a $600 to 800 million. To balance the budget for the next two years, cuts to the budget will be necessary in the range of 15 to 18 percent.

Representative Robert H. Rowe

To the Editor

Hooray! We stopped the Milford District Court from closing. OK, but at what cost.

Last year the Judicial Branch decided as a cost savings to close the Milford District Court and transfer the court function to the newly constructed, large and efficient courthouse in Merrimack. This would require the citizens and police in the towns of Amherst, Milford, Mont Vernon, Lyndeborough, Wilton, Mason and Brookline to travel to the court in Merrimack located near Baboosic Lake Road and Route 3A – over a half hour drive for some of the communities. Also included in the economy move was the closing of district courts in the communities of Claremont, Colebrook and Keene.

The consolidation of district court districts has been a long term policy for the judicial branch. The Judicial Branch has decided to construct large efficient buildings, that have every conceivable courthouse amenity facility requirement and serve a larger population area. Ignored is the traditional that goes back to the 19th century that the Municipal and District courts were the peoples court; the courts closest to the citizens. True, the court houses in towns were small and did not provide the desired court house amenities; some borrowed space in the town hall. When I served as a judge in Wilton the court met in the selectmen’s room, heated in the winter by a wood stove. True facilities were lacking, but the court was part of the community, and the court functioned for the citizens, often open on Saturdays and evenings for the convenience of the citizens.

So now we are allowed to keep the Milford Court open, but only if the towns pay much of the cost. Starting in July, the seven local communities serviced by the Milford District court must pay the non-personnel and rental costs totaling $97,680.20 a year. The rent for the building is almost $80,000 a year. With the towns paying the costs, the Judicial Branch saves money in that the building is on a long term lease that is still in effect that they are obligated to finance. Had the court been moved the state would be obligated to pay the rent for an empty building until the end of the lease term; now we must pay. Here are the costs apportioned to the towns: Amherst: $30,573.90, Milford: $36,141.87, Brookline: $11,330.90, Lyndeborough: $1,562.88, Mason: $2,051.28, Mont Vernon: $4981.69, and Wilton: 11,037.86.

So how do we save our local courts? First, we can offer legislation to stop the District Court relocation to Merrimack. Second, we can pass legislation that gives the towns the court fine money to offset the cost; currently all fine money goes to the state.

Last, there may be two Constitution violations. First, the courts are a state responsibility; it may be discrimination to have some towns bear the costs of courts and the state pay for others. Second, there is a provision in our constitution that states that if the state mandates a program to the communities, the state must bear the mandated costs.

If I was a selectman in the communities served by the Milford District Court, My answer would be not to pay and to take the position that the law is unconstitutional. After all the towns have passed budgets in March and this cost was not included.

Your representative,

Robert H. Rowe

The weather was warm and dry last Saturday for holding one of my periodic “office hours” for meeting the public as a state representative for Milford and Amherst. As a public official you get comments and questions based on constituents’ issues covering national, state and local concerns, so we’ll take them in that order:

National

The majority of comments and inquiries for the day were about strong objections to national policy ranging from opposition to recently passed health care legislation to the growing size of the national debt, and sheer size and perceived invasion of liberty characterized by the growth of the federal government. Clearly, these issues are beyond being a state rep … but that is what the majority of the approximately 30 people with whom I spoke wanted to talk about. Without my asking, most identified themselves as “independents.”

State

One person never left his truck, but asked that I support calling on the New Hampshire Attorney General to join the suit by 14 other state attorneys general against the mandated coverage required by the new federal health care bill. … I will. Another person favored casino gambling as proposed in Senate Bill 489. … which I oppose, and a group enjoying the weather just wanted to talk about the New Hampshire legislative process … we did.

Local

An individual was adamant about stabilizing school funding; another stressed the need for more recycling, and finally the motorcycles were out in force and a biker stopped to talk about the joy of being back on the road.

I was at the Milford Rotary Park, and the Amherst Transfer Station this time and will hold more “office hours” this June after the state Legislature has adjourned before the September primaries and November elections.

BILL BELVIN

Amherst

State Representative, Hillsborough District 6, Milford/Amherst

Mark joined NHTR during their second hour on Thursday, October 22, 2009.

Read the Full Press Release Here

In reality, this budget is neither fiscally responsible, nor balanced as the law requires. A recent court decision prevented the State from confiscating $110 million from the Joint Underwriters Association (a fund to assist physicians in purchasing malpractice insurance). Thankfully, the court stopped this theft of a privately owned fund to which the State contributed nothing. This budget was also “balanced” in the last minutes of the legislative session by miraculously discovering $75 million of projected revenue that somehow had not previously been available. Based on the past performance of the Democrats’ revenue projections I would say we’ll be in a mess again early next year when this miracle revenue does not appear. Worst of all, we continue to have a structural deficit of over $500 million which is being filled this budget cycle by one-time federal “stimulus” funds. It appears the only thing this money stimulates is an even more bloated New Hampshire State budget. And let’s not forget the 38 tax and fee increases included in this monstrosity.

The good news is that 7 of 8 State Representatives from the Amherst/Milford legislative district, as well as our State Senator Peter Bragdon voted against this irresponsible budget. Unfortunately, Shannon Chandley complied with the wishes of the Democrat leaders in the House and voted in favor of it. She has helped set us on a course to an income or sales tax in the next budget cycle unless real cuts are made. If Democrats are allowed to control our legislature for one more term, this is a near certainty. Please keep this in mind when you go to the polls in November 2010.

Mark Vincent
Amherst Republican Committee

No drier words may have ever been spoken: “Beginning with Y3, the Commissioner shall establish a process to allow an affordability credit to be used for enrollees in enhanced or premium plans.”

Cameron Thomas, a voiceover artist, acknowledges that reading HR 3200 aloud isn’t as captivating as performing Shakespeare.

But the Amherst resident and about 80 other fellow artists believed it was a civic duty to record the entire text of the U.S. House health care bill so that Americans could have a better understanding of the legislation without the interruption of advocacy and opposition messages.

Read More…

SASKATOON — The incoming president of the Canadian Medical Association says this country’s health-care system is sick and doctors need to develop a plan to cure it.

Dr. Anne Doig says patients are getting less than optimal care and she adds that physicians from across the country – who will gather in Saskatoon on Sunday for their annual meeting – recognize that changes must be made.

“We all agree that the system is imploding, we all agree that things are more precarious than perhaps Canadians realize,” Doing said in an interview with The Canadian Press.

“We know that there must be change,” she said. “We’re all running flat out, we’re all just trying to stay ahead of the immediate day-to-day demands.”

Canadian Press Article

Here is their statement:

May 12 House Judiciary GOP Statement