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Orientation finished on the first of the month by going through a mock session of the legislature in the morning, working with the caucus offices, the Senate, and the roles and the responsibilities of being a legislator. I thought that the orientation process was well crafted and a good foundation for the freshman members of the House. It served it’s purpose, if one was listening.
On the fourth of the month Peterborough held a lantern walk to celebrate the coming winter. It was a bright display of handcrafted lanterns of all sorts and sizes. People walked down Grove Street in downtown Peterborough with their amazing displays. It’s one of the many ways that Peterborough builds community in a non political way. It’s the magic of the valley which we call home.
December 7th was the organization day for the House. The constitution of our State mandates that we meet on the first Wednesday of the first December of each biennium to elect the House leadership and other constitutional officers elected by the legislature in joint session. Peter and I carpooled to the House that day. He had a decal of the Queen of England, Elizabeth the II on his car, and so I was hesitant to get in - but I did.
The House buzzed with new members eager to get started, old ones returning as if it were the first day back to school, staff rushing back and forth to get things in final order for the members. It was an exciting day of mostly formalities. Speaker Packard was running for a second term and despite the close composition of the House had a clear path to victory with none of his members launching surprise challenges, or throwing their votes to the minority.
The race for Secretary of State was hotly contested between the former Deputy Secretary of State David Scanlan, who took over for Bill Gardner after he retired the job; and former State Senator Melanie Levesque.
Peter got into hot water with the leadership of the Democratic caucus after he surprised them in giving the nominating speech for Secretary Scanlan’s election. However, I thought the flak was undeserved. He gave a passionate speech for a man whom he had served with since the 90s in one way or the other. Speaking to Secretary Scanlan’s commitment to fairness, non-partisanship, and due diligence in a job where that is the name of the game. The Secretary of State (SOS) handles all statutory filing and maintenance of records for all business entities in the State through their corporate division. This is the section of the SOS’s office that has the most employees, and where the most work on a day to day basis happens. The office also handles all the election records, and runs the logistics for all statewide elections. As Peter said on the floor, it is not a role one can successfully drop into.
Senator Levesque and I had met many times before and I have enjoyed our interactions together. I find her to be an incredibly pleasant person who is deeply committed to service of the State she lives in. She had just finished running an unsuccessful campaign to return to the State Senate this year. Her decision to run for Secretary of State came at the very last minute. Leaving the appearance, if not the blatant fact, that she was running for the position because some in the party did not want the position to go uncontested. That is not a reason to run for a position of such constitutional importance as the Secretary of State. I do not believe that we should in any way make the Secretary of State a partisan position that is jockeyed for in an attempt for power. I do not believe that is what the Senator was intending to do but that is the effect of running as partisan a campaign as she did. Accusing Secretary Scanlan of partisanship when he has stood up to the Republican Party countless times, has committed to remaining non-partisan, and brings Democrats, Republicans, and Independents into the office of the SOS; undermines the very nature of those debates. It is a disingenuous argument that leaves us without a leg to stand on. After speaking to other elder members of my caucus, I decided to vote with Peter for Secretary Scanlan to be the Secretary of State. It is a private vote, but I feel an obligation to be honest about who I chose to be in such an important position.
The next day I got to run a tour with a group of lawyers from Kyrgyzstan. A group I participated in as a younger teenager called Friends Forever International, brings different groups of people from all over the world together to see the civic life in other countries. To build bridges between far away places and break down mental barriers between peoples. What an honor that experience was. Despite being newly elected, they were all very interested in my story, the legislature, and what it was like running for office. I equally was interested in their experience in the government of Kyrgyzstan. Even speaking through a translator, we were able to have some amazing conversations.
So begins the work of being a New Hampshire State Representative. Making tough decisions for the betterment of our State, even if its against the short term political interests of your party’s current leadership. Welcoming people to the State House and bringing them through the work we get to do.
The Speaker assigns each member their committee seat. One of the forms you get during orientation includes a top three list of which committees you may want to serve on, but it is made clear to you that you are not at all guaranteed to get any of the three committees you say you want to sign up for. Committee placements are often based on expertise, seniority, and overall stature coming into the legislature. Freshman members are not often at the top of any one of the metrics which gets you the committee which you sign up for.
I signed up to be on, in this order, Education, Criminal Justice and Public Safety, and the Health Human services, and Elderly affairs committees. Not expecting to get any one of those committees, I signed up for them because they were the ones dealing with the issues I was most committed to working on during my two years in the legislature.
When I found out I was assigned to Criminal Justice and Public Safety committee, I couldn’t wipe the excitement off my face. I had a grin on the whole day. I was joining a team of Democrats led by Linda Harriott Gathright of Nashua. Who after meeting during our initial caucus, quickly became one of my favorite legislators in the House. Each committee in the House, other than the Finance committee, had 10 members from each party on it, tied. So committee recommendations were going to matter more than ever before in a bills success on the floor. Criminal Justice and Public Safety handles all matters relating to the criminal code; criminal justice, the Department of Corrections, sentencing, drug enforcement, bail, probation, parole, corrections facilities, DWI, domestic violence, firearms, fireworks, police and fire training, victims’ assistance and such other matters as may be referred to it. It is an incredibly crucial committee and being on it is a great responsibility that is nothing to take lightly. The administration of justice, or lack thereof, in this State is one of the reasons I ran for office. If you know anyone who has faced the brunt of our system you know that is it unforgiving. We need people committed to building a just, justice system, serving on these committees and it is an honor to get the privilege to be one of them.
I hope everyone enjoys time with family in this holiday season. I love Christmas. Everyone coming together for a meal around the table, reflecting on the year past. The winter solstice is the darkest day of the year. The day with the least amount of light. It is this day that is the culmination of a season where every day we lose a little more light until finally the 21st of December comes. With it the darkest day; and the reminder that every day succeeding it will bring another drop of light into our world - until finally the sun fully rises once more. It is our reminder from Earth that it is always darkest, before the dawn.