Poultry in Motion

There were 1101 legislative service requests filed for the 2018 session of the NH House. An LSR is a fledgling bill, one that is written up by a legislator and sent off to be refined and gone over by legislative services, and will then go on to be assigned a number and be sent to a committee. Eighty-three bills were withdrawn before reaching legislative services.

It’s always an adventure. A fair percentage of bills will be retreads that we see over and over, sometimes for decades. There are bill sponsors who pay no attention to the fact that their favorite hobbyhorse doesn’t delight anyone else, or the time for their dream (can anyone say casino?) has passed.

In other legislative updates, last week the legislature had a non-mandatory training for the 425 members of the NH General Court on sexual harassment and discrimination. Of the 425 members, fewer than 10% were in attendance. The rest, no doubt assuming that they were already fully capable of engaging in harassment and needed no further guidance. The presentation is available on the NH General Court website for anyone who is interested.

There are 8 gun related bills this session. There is one bill related to bridge construction. We have hundreds of bridges in dire need of repair, and some of the least restrictive gun laws in the country. There are 20 bills related to “domicile” which is defined in the NH dictionary as “way to prevent voting.” There are 21 bills that are related to “voter,” as in “we don’t want you to vote.” HB 1772 would allow online voter registration, something the Republicans will never allow. After all, a bus can’t park behind a computer.

HB 1474 would make the NH Red the official state poultry. We have pretty much an official state everything else, so why not let the chickens have their day? Indiana is just getting around to passing a bill to make the firefly their state insect. NH has had a state insect since 1977. Take that, Hoosiers.

HB 1242 comes from two young state representatives seeking to create a committee to redesign the state flag. It’s true that the image of a frigate that appears to have run aground may not be the most interesting state flag, but the sponsors of this bill stipulate that the new design will feature the Old Man of the Mountain and the state motto. The Old Man fell off the side of the mountain in 2003. Why do even young New Hampshire guys want to live in the past?  What we need is a new (less destructive) state motto and a new state song. “Old New Hampshire” is a dirge. Lets try for something with a dance beat.

There are 4 abortion bills this year. HB 1707 would create a waiting period. The woman would have to go see a doctor to be handed information, and 24 hours later would be able to go back and access a procedure that she has a legal right to. HB 1721 would force a woman to go through a screening process to determine that she isn’t being coerced, prior to accessing a procedure she has a legal right to obtain. Other medical procedures don’t require this. In HB 1680, the fantasy gyno team will attempt to ban abortion after “viability.” They did include a stingy little line to cover medical emergencies, though in reading the bill you get the feeling they’d just as soon let the woman die.

HB1787 concerns the “right of conscience” for health care providers, including pharmacists. The bill’s concerns are only around abortion, sterilization, or birth control. To give an example of the breadth of concern these folks have for the born, note that every single one of the sponsors of these abortion bills voted against the Family and Medical Leave Insurance bill, except for the two who didn’t bother to vote. As for pharmacists, they aren’t doctors. It’s their job to fill prescriptions. If they can’t manage that, they should find other employment.


SB 465 (the duplicate House Bill is 1762) is a bill that would change child labor laws – especially for kids working in restaurants, allow employers to make tip pooling involuntary, and take rulemaking authority on wages, hours, and child labor from the Dept. of Labor and give it to the legislature. Senator Andy Sanborn, lead sponsor, owns a sports bar and is running for Congress in CD-1. You’ve gotta marvel at him for being so blatantly self-serving while running for higher office.

There are many more, but I’ll end with HB 1289, a bill that makes trespassing fowl a violation, instead of something to work out with a neighbor. Trespassing fowl could also be called poultry in motion. If you have “She Blinded Me With Science” as an earworm now...you’re welcome.

This was published as an op-ed in the February 9, 2018 edition of the Conway Daily Sun newspaper

Magic Bus

Donald Trump won the NH Primary – and he won it bigly. That night he said, “THANK YOU NH! I love you all.” Ah, gratitude…an emotion with a very short half-life.

Fast forward to a year later. Trump did NOT win NH in the general election, and it’s been eating at him ever since. That he sits in the White House is not enough for him. He’s miffed that he didn’t win EVERYTHING. The one thing Donald Trump loves more than anything is being seen as a winner. NH wounded his overweening ego, and like every petulant tyrant, he’s lashing out. If he didn’t win NH, it’s because thousands of illegal voters were bused in from Massachusetts.

The fantasy of busloads of people from Massachusetts voting in NH began sometime in the late 90’s, and was spread by the Republican Party. In a strange coincidence, this rumor began to circulate at the same time Democrats started winning elections. The more Democrats won, the louder the rumbling about buses became.

I sat through a hearing on a photo ID bill at the NH House a few years ago. It was such a big hearing that it was held in Representatives Hall. Dozens of people went to the microphone to testify that they had seen buses full of people from Massachusetts pull up to the polls and all of the passengers went inside to vote. Under questioning by members of the committee, it turned out that not a one of these folks took a photo of the bus, wrote down the license plate number, made a complaint to the moderator, spoke with the police officer on duty, called the Secretary of State or the AG’s office.

The ugly undercutting of our state elections has continued. Every year a handful of bills are presented attempting to cast the runes in some magic combination that will change the definition of the word “domicile” to allow the Republican Party to ensure that college students don’t get to vote any more. This year there are well over a dozen voter suppression bills. One of the concerns endlessly voiced by the voter suppression crowd is that of the same day voter registrations, or those who vote without ID, signing a voter affidavit. They claim there are thousands of them that need to be investigated, even though there is no proof that anyone did anything untoward.  Given the high volume of indignity expressed, one would think they’d be chomping at the bit for those investigations.

One would be wrong. They’re all mad at the AG’s office for not investigating – BUT – they aren’t funding the AG’s office sufficiently to do the investigations. That tells me that all this hype about voter fraud is intended to gin up the base and cast suspicion any time Democrats win. If they were really concerned, they’d pony up for the staffing the AG’s office needs.

This constant drumbeat of fraud serves to create a kind of cynicism intended to discourage voter participation. Republicans may have once had some interest in public service, and the best interests of our state. Now their service is to the shoddy values and dubious actions of their political party.

Now that Trump is in on the act, the stakes have suddenly gotten a lot higher. I’ve always said that when NH loses the first in the nation primary, it will be because of the Republican Party. The end feels increasingly near. The newly minted, unofficial leader of the GOP is nothing if not petty and vindictive.

Over the weekend, professional NH embarrassment, State Rep. Al Baldasaro was on WBZ-TV, showing a reporter some photos of Massachusetts license plates he saw at the polls in Londonderry on Election Day. A license plate isn’t proof of anything – but putting that aside, we also know that Al didn’t take his deep concerns to the moderator, the officer on duty, or call the Sec. of State or the AG’s office. He saved those concerns for three whole months – until he was in front of a TV camera, noble patriot that he is.

In the days before the election, candidate Chris Sununu had plenty to say about voter fraud in NH. Now he’s in the unenviable position of having to flip flop. If Governor Sununu followed his leader, that would mean that the legitimacy of his own election was in question. Can anyone explain to me, why, if busloads of people from Massachusetts came to hijack the election, do the Republicans have control of every branch of the state government?

Given the accusations leveled by Trump and his minions, there’s only one thing NH can do to put this matter to rest. 

We need to do the NH general election over, right away.

Published as an op-ed in the February 17, 2017 edition of the Conway Daily Sun newspaper

The Havensteins abide by different laws than the Havenotensteins

The NH Ballot Law Commission ruled 3-2 today that Walter Havenstein, the Maryland resident who is running for governor of NH can run for governor of NH.  Havenstein signed forms in Maryland to get a homesteader tax break, stating that he was a full time resident of the state. Today, we learned (anew) that laws don't apply to the wealthy. 

NHPR:
For months, Havenstein has stressed he’s considered New Hampshire his home since he moved here in 1999.

Oh, well then. Why wouldn't we take him at his word?? 

“The area that I think is most compelling is the fact that I came home. I came home routinely as often as I could. And so the context of domicile was never at issue, certainly not in my mind.”

He visited NH as often as he could! And it was never an issue in HIS mind. The rest of you hacks are just mean spirited, questioning the sterling intentions of this candidate. 

A lawyer for the Democratic party noted that Havenstein signed several documents, including a mortgage and a Maryland tax return, where that indicated a Bethesda condominium as his primary residence. Havenstein called those mistakes.

If I dishonestly filled out a form and then called it a mistake, I'd be disqualified, forced to pay back the money, and possibly be charged with larceny. A mistake? The man signed a homesteader tax deduction saying he was a full time resident. How, exactly, did he do that by mistake? And WHY has no one in the NH media bestirred themselves to ask that question? 

If he doesn't read what he's signing - why would anyone vote for him? 

 Justice really is different for the rich and Republican.