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The House is a boat on some incredibly rocky seas. This month was all about getting my sea-legs. Figuring out the balance between my full time work schedule, and the haphazard schedule of the legislature. You can plan for the sea to be rocky but once you’re in it you realize there was no planning for waves that high. All you can do is use every ounce of your physical and mental strength to brave the wave.
We are mandated by the constitution to hold a convening day the first Wednesday of the New Year. Marking the beginning of the 168th General Court for the State of New Hampshire. The House Clerk’s office called me about a week prior to the session on January the 4th, and asked if I would be willing to give the pledge of allegiance on our first day. Peter and I carpooled again that day, with Queen Elizabeth by our side. The agenda for the day was to vote on the House Rules for the biennium. House Rules must be reapproved by each incoming legislature. There were a number of amendments offered to the rules. These included, raising the amount of Representatives it takes to remove a bill from the consent calendar. What motion is first offered on the House Floor if a bill comes out of committee tied. Whether the House should allow proxy voting for it’s members. The full list of votes can be found on the House website.
Once the House has convened, we call the State Senate into the chamber for a joint session as we did on organization day when voting for the Secretary of State. The Secretary of State is then called into the chamber to take the rostrum and deliver the official tally of the election results for Governor, and the Executive Council to the House and Senate. This is required by Articles 42, and 60 of the New Hampshire State Constitution.
The next day the House met again for the purpose of swearing the Governor into office.
That Friday, January 6th, I was called into Nashua for a work meeting. Snow was on the forecast but it didn’t look to be that bad. So I pressed on. The snow held out until I was returning to Peterborough on 101 through Temple, to make it to the Peterborough Democrats rally at the town house. If you know 101 through Temple then you know the sharp corner that comes right before the intersection of 101 and powers road. The snow was dumping onto the road. It was a heavy slick snow. I was going slow, but not slow enough. As I took the corner my tires lost traction. I attempted to preform a correction but quickly realized it was too late. I braced myself for impact as the car ran through the yellow sign which marked the sharp turn and pushed forward towards a large tree ahead. What must have been a ten second endeavor felt like a lifetime.
Slam! Next thing I knew that tree was jolted into my passengers seat. Glass all over me.
A few moments later someone opened my door. It was Mike Connolly from Connolly farms in Temple. “I was just waiting for that to happen.” He says. He had been sitting in his truck on powers road watching the corner waiting for someone to slide off. It just unfortunately happened to be me. Buy his Ice Cream! Not only is it fantastic, he is too.
Sadly, that was the end for the Honda Accord. A car that had served me very well for two years.
I am not ashamed to admit that I live with my Mother. We split rent in a three bedroom house in West Peterborough. My little sister, Alohi, also lives with us. She is in her senior year of high school. My Mom currently serves at a restaurant and luckily for me, had a schedule that could allow her and I to switch off using her car. So with a combination of carpooling with colleague on Criminal Justice, Jodi Newell, and using my Mom’s car - I made it to Concord and work without skipping a beat the rest of the month. I am so grateful for the aid of all those who helped me in my time of need.
The Criminal Justice and Public Safety committee began it’s business on the 11th. We started with an orientation where all the relevant department heads appeared before the committee. Including representatives from the various court systems in the State. They introduced themselves and their roles to the committee. Throughout January, the committee held six public hearings on thirty different pieces of legislation assigned to our committee. The bills the committee heard included, HB 498-FN, requiring fish and game officers to obtain a warrant to conduct a search and seizure. HB 318-FN-A, eliminating bail commissioners, and relative to the release of a defendant pending trial and establishing new circuit court judge positions. HB 643-FN-A, relative to legalizing marijuana. HB 421, requiring feminine hygiene products to be provided to prisoners who menstruate in state and county correctional facilities.
We held two Executive Sessions. Which are committee sessions with the full committee where we deliberate on a bill, and then vote to give that bill it’s recommendation when going to the House floor. The bills which we voted on were HB 97-FN, establishing an additional penalty for a violation of privacy. HB 560-FN-A, establishing a contact person notification program to assist law enforcement personnel who have contact with a person with mental or physical disabilities and making an appropriation therefor. Both HB560 and HB97, got a unanimous vote of Ought to Pass from the committee, and were put onto the House consent calendar. Both bills were necessary patches to the system, and the committee was right to move them forward. You can watch all our public hearings, and executive sessions online on the House YouTube.
Despite a raucous beginning, it was a fantastic month of being introduced to the House of Representatives. Another event of the month was the 4th annual Martin Luther King day event at the Hancock community church was held, and I was honored to headline the event. The video of which can be found on my website.
It is an honor to be in this legislature. On such a privileged committee, which handles legislation of such importance to the everyday lives of the people in our State. The formerly incarcerated women who came before the committee to describe the horror they had experienced in some of our county jails with blood stained sheets, clothing, and the rest, because the facility was not providing the women with adequate menstrual products took the committee aback. Despite our stark political differences on other issues, the committee was able to come together and begin the process towards legitimately addressing this issue for the women incarcerated in our jails and prisons.
That is the real work which I ran to do. That is what government should be doing.
Until next month.
Despite a raucous beginning, it was a fantastic month of being introduced to the House of Representatives. Another event of the month was the 4th annual Martin Luther King day event at the Hancock community church was held, and I was honored to headline the event. The video of which can be found on my website.
It is an honor to be in this legislature. On such a privileged committee, which handles legislation of such importance to the everyday lives of the people in our State. The formerly incarcerated women who came before the committee to describe the horror they had experienced in some of our county jails with blood stained sheets, clothing, and the rest, because the facility was not providing the women with adequate menstrual products took the committee aback. Despite our stark political differences on other issues, the committee was able to come together and begin the process towards legitimately addressing this issue for the women incarcerated in our jails and prisons.
That is the real work which I ran to do. That is what government should be doing.
Until next month.