Back to all
The final eight days of the campaign season have begun with the toll of the bell on the first of November. One hundred and forty seven days since signing up to run for office. A whirlwind primary campaign, running around to support good candidates in districts across the State, preparing myself to serve the people in an austere legislative body for the 168th General Court of the State of New Hampshire.
On Election Day I made myself a hearty breakfast, and took a walk outside before the sun rose. The sharp November air hit my system better than anything else could have. Woke me right up. Bright eyed and bushy tailed, I was ready to stand at the polls for another twelve hours. The sun came up in a beautiful orange hew that lit the entire sky. Not a cloud in the air. Unlike the primary, it was all excitement going into the polls on the 8th. Ready to say hi to all the people I met throughout the campaign. Holding signs with great people, and having good conversations about the future of our state and the country. People offered me food and treats. Hand warmers and hugs. It was as incredible a day as I hoped it would be. The reading of the results was less of an immediate shock than it was in November. After all the excitement of the night ended and I got home from celebrating with friends, I laid in bed and that’s when it hit me:
It all changes now.
Shortly after getting the results I got a call from Representative Matthew Wilhelm of Manchester. Congratulating me on a victory and welcoming me to the State House. I was surprised by how fast I got that call. He had announced his intention to run for the position of minority leader. He would be running against the current leader of the House Democrats, Steve Shurtleff of Concord. Who called me the next day to offer his congratulations and best wishes in coming into the State House. I asked around about both candidates. Spoke to people who have served with them both. Ultimately, I decided on supporting former Speaker Shurtleff. The Democrats elected to the House of Representatives are all invited to a caucus in the House Chamber shortly after the election. It is there where we vote on who we are going to nominate for Speaker, Clerk, and the other offices that the legislature elects such as the Secretary of State, Treasurer, and Sergeant of Arms for the House.
The composition of the legislature after the election was 201 Republicans to 197 Democrats. Closer in margin than it has been ever. I felt given those numbers that we would need a leader who could speak to all of the Representatives in the chamber. As Speaker, Steve Shurtleff was known to not let the partisan nature of the debates we have infect the core of the work that we do in the House. Disagreeing without being disagreeable. I felt that Shurtleff would be represent those values as the leader of our party. I was asked to give a speech seconding the nomination for Rep. Shurtleff to be our party’s leader in the House. I accepted and spoke to the reasons why I found myself as a young freshman supporting the older former Speaker. It was an honor to be asked to speak in favor of a candidate for leader as a freshman member of the House. I don’t think that often happens.
After we caucused, I had to make an evening flight to Phoenix from Boston to get to another education conference for work. I made it to Arizona that night. It was midnight and I was dragging myself to my hotel room. Only to find that my magnet key didn’t work. Doh! I think it was a mix of delirium and it being a genuinely funny way to end the night, but I sat in the hallway shook my head and laughed quietly to myself. After calling my roommate who arrived earlier that day more times than I can count, they finally woke up and opened the door. It was really only a half hour of waiting or so, and it gave me a moment to answer some messages on my phone. It was a good conference of people committed to strengthening our public education system across the country. We exchanged ideas and tactics to make ourselves better organizers coming back to our communities. It was great to get to meet people doing similar work all across the country. Hearing about the challenges they face in their own school districts made it clear to me that these are local issues, with national implications.
It also hit me that I should probably stop wearing the ill-fitting suit jacket I’ve worn since the seventh grade. That slate gray jacket served me well for several years, but its time to treat myself to a tad bit of a better wardrobe. I was excited to buy a nice cotton suit, and then I looked up the prices. Whew! How do people afford anything these days? (They don’t.)
Anyway, I found a good deal on Mens Wearhouse of a group of suits from a company called Paisley and Gray. They weren’t your average black and white suit. I thought that the funkiness of the suits served as a good allegory to the er of uniqueness I am attempting to bring to the State House. Not to mention I got them cheap because they’re all polyester.
At the beginning of each biennium the House and Senate individually vote on deadlines that set the timeline for the session ahead. These deadlines include the set time for filing legislation, when each type of bill must be voted on by, when the crossover of bills passed in the House go to the Senate and vice versa will occur, the deadlines to vote on House bills, and when committees of conference can be formed. I have my gripes with this system but I am also not accustom to it, so I may not yet understand the method to the madness.
We get just over a week to file legislation. In order to make sure your bill is properly written, there are dedicated staff in the Office of Legislative Services (OLS) who are paid by the State to ensure that all the bills drafted have the correct legalese etc. I filed one bill, and co-sponsored eight. The bill I filed came from an idea given to me by Erica DeVries. A woman out of Hampton who lost her bid to the State House this cycle. A constituent had come to her complaining about the fact that they had to buy postage stamps for their absentee ballot. A small cost but when you think about it, nobody should have to pay the State in order to vote. Whether it be a ‘small’ cost or a large one. It also must be said that small is a relative term. That which is small to one may be onerous to another. The budget office is combing through the numbers to come up with the total estimated cost to the State for a bill such as this but I estimate it at around 150k dollar cost. Less than 1% of the State Budget.
I co-sponsored eight pieces of legislation. Including expanding coverage of medicaid to cover currently uncovered pregnant women and children under the CHIP (Children’s Health Insurance Program). Removing Fentanyl and Xylazine testing strips from the definition of drug paraphernalia. Appropriating the State General Fund surplus toward the retirement systems billion dollar unfunded accrued liability. This is the work I was running so hard to do. Working on the actual legislation which could make a positive impact on our State and its citizens.
Yesterday we began our official House Freshman Orientation. Our first full introduction to the State House as newly elected members. It is a program run by the Speaker of the House for the session that is wrapping up prior to our session being sworn in. The Speaker for the 167th Congress was a man named Sherman Packard. He is a Republican from Londonderry.
Orientation was a firehose of information and you were expected to catch each drop. As someone who had closely studied the legislature for my adolescence I had the advantage of expecting a firehose, but a water jet is a water jet. You can expect the blast as much as you want - it’s still going to sting.
We began the orientation by getting our photos taken, and grabbing all the documents we need to sign. Then we were introduced to the committee process. We held mock committee hearings where we were able to practice the behavior expected of us during a public hearing. How you’re supposed to ask questions of members of the public, avoiding cross examination and encouraging genuine questions. There was an emphasis on avoiding the T.V. politics we see in Washington. That message really resonated with me because it was one I spoke to during the campaign. Washington D.C. is so calcified by partisan politics that they’ve forgotten their basic constitutional duties to budget and to be a check providing oversight over the vast government we have here.
After our committee orientation we got what I dubbed the ‘lobbyist orientation’, aka our first lobbyist lunch. The New Hampshire Association of Counties, the lobby for the interests county governments in the State, lured us with sandwiches and locked us in with a presentation about our duty to the county legislatures as members of the State legislature. When elected as a member of the State House, you are also a member of the county legislature. Counties in New Hampshire are comprised of commissioners, who act as the county executive branch, county legislators (us) who act as the legislative branch and have the final say on budgetary matters, and county courts who act as the judicial branch of the county. All in all it was a good presentation, but I was more taken aback by the fact that this was new information to so many of the freshman members of the legislature. You would expect people to have more of an understanding about the role they ran to undertake.
Lunch wrapped up and we all walked back to the State House, heading into the House Chamber for the ‘Legislative Essentials’ portion of the day. Led by the Speaker and the House Clerk, they went through the minutia of being a Representative. Told us about the day to day of being a legislator, and gave us a preview of what House Floor sessions are like. We ended the day with a reception at the beautiful Upham Walker House across the street from the Capitol building. It’s been great to get to know all of my new colleagues regardless of party. In D.C. they do individual party-based orientations. Isolating each other from the get-go. We have our problems here in New Hampshire but at least the House makes somewhat of an effort to bring us together in the beginning, even if the snakes are just regenerating their venom.
Its getting late and there is much to read over in preparation for the beginning of the session. So I will end it here but I must say, I will take this responsibility with great care, and I am grateful to the people for giving me their confidence to serve. Thank you all.