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February, oh February. The dead of the winter. The cold, dry air bites as all of us do our best to make it to spring. In these the coldest days of the year I am thinking of those with no way to get warm. Those with no propane in the tank doing everything they can to keep their pipes from freezing, heating their house with space heaters. Those with no roof to sleep under and no space in a shelter. The elders on fixed incomes who have to decide between eating and heating. While the reality show rampages forward on our screens. It is important not to forget the realities of our neighbors who’s stories we don’t hear. The people who are going through pervasive struggle - yet never let their light fade.
At it’s best the public sector should be the place where those on the edges of society can go in moments of need for aid. To redress the grievances of the public. The current common understanding of government is that it is, and will forever be corrupt. That is not a false understanding. People are smarter than their leaders give them credit for. They see the people going to Washington and coming out hundred-millionaires. They see the influence of big business on our politics; and they have seen it for so long that it has become common place. So common place that many have entirely tuned out because they see the government as an entirely immovable, untouchable object. When we break free of the apathy of believing we are powerless, and utilize the power we are all enfranchised with as citizens of these United States of America; we can move the immovable.
In the legislature’s biannual battle on the ‘mooch off union benefits’ bill, otherwise known as ‘Right to Work’, we utilized that power to again stop that legislation from passage in the House. Despite the great institutional power against them the workers of the many unions in our State mobilized to the State House Legislative Office building to stand arm in arm with their union brethren against the bill. Testifying to what the bill would do to their unions, their families, their paychecks and lives. Unafraid to call out those who tried to paint the legislation as ‘pro-union’. The legislation would allowed non-unionized employees to receive union benefits for free. Unions do not have billions in liquidity which they can patch wounds with, unlike the businesses whose workers the union serves. Allowing non-unionized employees to take union benefits with no remuneration, the more the union is strained. In some businesses it will result in the death of the union. That is anything but ‘pro-union’. If you’re an employee who’s decided to work at a business where the owner and the employees have signed a contract of collective bargaining, I’m not sorry to say that I do not feel bad about voting against a bill which would allow you to take benefits from that union without participation of any kind in that which results in those benefits.
Due to the strength of the citizenry, and the resolve of twenty-five members of the majority, we killed the bill on a vote of 200 yeas to 180 nays. Those brave members of the majority face a fantastic amount of flak from the well funded elements of their party which for decades has tried to pass this legislation. All of them will almost certainly face a primary. In this time of political cowardice it is heartening to see that some still have the backbone necessary to be in the legislature.
The House heard hundreds of different pieces of legislation this month but the one which garnered the most attention was House Bill 283. The bill would amend RSA 193-E:2-a, and E:3-b, the state statutes regarding the ‘Substantive Educational Content of an Adequate Education’ and ‘Accountability for the Opportunity for an Adequate Education’. The statutes defines each subject which the State deems necessary for an education in our schools such as english/language arts and reading, mathematics, science, social studies, personal finance literacy and six other subjects. The bill would remove from this list the subjects of civics and government education, history, arts education, world languages, engineering and technology applications, personal finance literacy, and computer science.
Thirty thousand people signed up in opposition to the bill. With such attention given to the bill the committee used the House chamber to hold the public hearing in. People were streaming in for several hours to testify against the legislation. Speaking to what these subject meant to them, what they mean to their students, and the impact of rolling back the State’s endorsement of these subjects. Yet again the strength of our citizenry proved to great for the legislature to ignore and the bill was killed by the committee unanimously.
Governor Ayotte introduced her State budget request to the House Finance committee on Valentines Day. I wrote about it in my letter earlier this month entitled “The Governors Valentine’s gift to the Legislature”. Her budget request again shows the majority is more interested in placating their donors than they are the citizens who elected them to deal with the critical issues of our time. The imploding public school system, the untouchable housing market; the joke of a healthcare system, our infrastructure and so much more. Instead her budget expands the funding for private, religious, and homeschooling while doing nothing for the ragged public education funding formula which leaves the burden of our education system on the property poor towns of our State. Introduction of a Medicaid co-pay of $200 a month which will leave those who would seek aid from the medicaid system from seeking that aid. Leaving them without care. No action on the landfill regulations or lack thereof which results in our citizens being poisoned by the leakage of these facilities into our land and waterways. It is a State budget that continues to increase State spending, without adequate services to match. It is the opposite of good governance. Setting the stage for a budget process in the legislature which could only get worse.
The House will now take the revenue estimates from the House Ways and Means committee, crafting the State budget to be introduced onto the House floor. The House Ways and Means committees estimates for revenues in the next fiscal year are a couple hundred million dollars less than what the Governor’s office estimated. Therefore the House will have less money to craft a budget with. All agencies and departments budgeted by the State are bracing for serious cuts. The House will likely have the text of the budget out by the beginning of March, with a public hearing to follow.
This is the heat of the legislature, and oh how hot it is. I have been running around the House almost every day to politic legislation I’ve sponsored, or bills of importance such as the ‘mooch off the union’ bill and the bill which said that students in our State don’t need to learn history. Assisting members and constituents who request my support, and answering every message, email, and text that I get. Such is the work of the legislature that I am privileged to be able to do.
The month ended with a town hall at the Peterborough library with Peter and I. Good conversation on much of the same craziness relayed here in this letter and more. It is enthusing to see people involved and willing to come here us speak about the legislature. A number of my bills have now passed onto the Senate, including my legislation on school start times and annulments.
The sun is setting. Glistening light dances over the icy snow. The power of the citizenry was proved this month and as the promise of spring looms, let us not forget it.