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As we enter the dead of winter, the heat of the legislature keeps me warm. The Criminal Justice and Public Safety committee held public hearings on twenty one pieces of legislation, and voted on thirty bills throughout three executive sessions. The full House heard three hundred and thirty bills. Two hundred and twenty eight on the consent calendar, a hundred and two on the regular calendar. The members of the Black and African American caucus of the legislature gathered in the Massachusetts State Capitol with our counterparts from the other New England States. My legislation on raising statewide adequacy funding for our students in public school made it out of the subcommittee onto the House floor; and I got awarded the National Secretary of State’s award.
My legislation on annulling the record of those convicted of a misdemeanor or violation level possession of cannabis passed the Criminal Justice committee on a vote of 14-6. I was running back and forth until the last minute to ensure I had enough votes for a positive vote out of committee. Addressing peoples concerns, deliberating each line of the bill down to the letter. It is that part of the process which I find most enjoyable. The thunderdome of the legislative process, where even the best of ideas get to experience the fire of the cauldron that is the legislative office building. The committee process, where each bill, when done properly, gets a diligent hearing from the public and the legislators. So that if a bill makes it out of committee with a positive recommendation, the full House can trust that the twenty members appointed to wring the bill out of it’s imperfections, did as best a job as they could do.
Now it is onto the House floor.
The perennial so called right-to-work bill also got it’s hearing on the floor of the House this month. Otherwise known as the mooch off your unionized co-workers bill, this legislation is sponsored by members of the Republican party in all fifty state legislatures and the federal Congress. It is an effort by the business class of this country to cut into the union employee base in many of their companies. The legislation prevents employers and the employee organizations from bargaining agency fees for the unorganized employees. When a business is unionized, benefits most often go to all employees, including those not apart of the union. Benefits such as good pensions, working conditions, healthcare, pay, collective power, I could go on. The agency fees cover the cost for those employees not apart of the union. When the government comes in and says that a business owner and their employees cannot impose agency fees, the government is essentially saying we would like to bleed the union out by allowing non unionized workers to receive benefits for free. New Hampshire has a history of stopping this national effort and this year continued that tradition. With the aid of some brave union Republicans, such as my seat mate on Criminal Justice Dennis Mannion, Representatives Steve and Mark Pearson, Mark Proulx, Kevin Pratt, Tim Cahill, and eighteen other incredibly brave people. Who voted for what they knew to be right, even if it wasn’t politically popular. That is being a New Hampshire State Representative. It is further proof that despite the rot, there are healthy roots throughout the tree.
On January 31st, 1865. The Congress of these United States of America was enthralled in the debate on the thirteenth amendment to our national constitution. The Congress was debating chattel slavery’s place in the future of the young Republic. After some of the most gripping legislative history in the world, the constitutional amendment passed. Symbolically ending the scourge of chattel slavery in these United States of America. The caveat was that slavery would still be allowed in the case of incarceration. Begging the creation of prison farms where the labor of the incarcerated was used in the place of former chattel slaves. This practice continues to this day in private and state prisons across the country. We here in New Hampshire do not do this, however our State constitution contains the same exemption language found in the 13th amendment of the federal. Representative Amanda Bouldin brought forward a constitutional amendment in the 2024 session to get rid of the exemption.
The bill came to the floor on February 1st, 2024.
159 years to the day that President Lincoln signed the resolution marking the passage of the 13th amendment to the constitution of these United States of America.
Here I was, a glib young legislator, descending the aisle of the House chamber. With the grand portrait of President Lincoln standing over the entire body. Senator John P. Hale standing beside him. Famed abolitionists who in many ways paved the way for this kid to take the well. Speaking to the same work they attempted to complete all those years ago. There was a really palpable sense of importance in that moment. I am not sure I did as good as I could have but nonetheless we won the floor debate, and passed the amendment onto the State Senate. I gave President Lincoln and Senator Hale a silent nod from my seat as the numbers displayed of 366-5.
It is the small moments of synchronicity which remind you how important the work I privileged to do is. I stand under the giants of American history, on the shoulders of the silent soldiers who fought to preserve this incredible nation of ours.
Until next month,