Stories from the State House, Pt. 1
This was an intense week at the NH State House. On Tuesday, as I've already posted, I delivered my first speech "at the well" on school choice. The bill was crushed, as I'd expected, though I was happy to see the amount of Republican solidarity on the issue.
Wednesday was the more exciting day by far. The first bill under consideration was HB184, a repeal of the parental notification law. Marilinda Garcia delivered her first speech at the well on this issue and she caused quite a stir; when speaking about the emotional roller coaster pregnant teenage girls experience, she made an aside: "well, all women are an emotional roller coaster." Whoah! The whole room gasped! Even hours later I heard a few female Democrats scoffing about that comment (I resisted the urge to tell them not to be so emotional about it).
The parental notification law was ruled unconstitutional by the federal courts but the Supreme Court unanimously ruled that the lower courts erred and they remanded it for further review. They ruled that the only problem with the law was that there was no emergency health exception. Republicans wanted to fix the law by passing an emergency health exception with the same language that had been upheld in other states. The Democrats wanted to repeal the whole law "and start from scratch" because "it's unconstitutional". Tony DiFruscia -- a very, very "moderate" Republican -- compared it to taking out a cancer versus killing the person.
After several hours of debate, the Democrats defeated every single proposed amendment -- even the one proposed by our own would-be Cicero, Neal Kurk, who wondered aloud before the vote on his amendment how large the Center is -- and they passed their repeal, 226-130.
Republicans didn't take this sitting down. DJ Bettencourt rose immediately after the vote and approached the well. The Speaker recognized him for a motion. DJ stood at the well and moved: "Madame Speaker, as a result of the vote, I am compelled under Part II, Article 24 of the NH Constitution to enter my protest of this vote into the Permanent Journal." He was followed by Fran Wendleboe and then almost a hundred more Republicans. Video is available; the protest began just before the two hour mark.
Most of the afternoon was uneventful. The Democrats, of course, won every time. They raised taxes ("surcharges") on real estate transfers and other Registrar of Deeds documents (HB868) and on certain waste management applications (HB472). They also instituted a boat decal program which charges out-of-state voters and will likely drive away some tourists (HB815). According to Marjorie Smith, the Democrat Chair of the Finance Committee, the Democrats spent about $153 million above and beyond the governor's budget in the course of those two days.
On what?! The Democrats voted to buy Temple Mountain (HB183) but declined to lease out Cannon Mountain (HB52) even though it's costing the state over a million dollars a year; Mt. Sunapee, meanwhile, is leased out by the state and it makes a profit while providing superior services. They raised the salary of the state veterinarian (HB897). They spent $75,000 on barns (HB239). They spent $14 million on kindergarteners and kindergarten construction (HB669). They voted to spend $100,000 a year for the state to test water in the state though the towns are already doing the job (HB505).
Of course, the Democrats didn't want to provide education certificates for families of limited means nor did they want to fund the developmental disability wait list. The priorities of the Democrats are absurdly backward.
In my next entry, I'll relate the exciting events of that evening.
Wednesday was the more exciting day by far. The first bill under consideration was HB184, a repeal of the parental notification law. Marilinda Garcia delivered her first speech at the well on this issue and she caused quite a stir; when speaking about the emotional roller coaster pregnant teenage girls experience, she made an aside: "well, all women are an emotional roller coaster." Whoah! The whole room gasped! Even hours later I heard a few female Democrats scoffing about that comment (I resisted the urge to tell them not to be so emotional about it).
The parental notification law was ruled unconstitutional by the federal courts but the Supreme Court unanimously ruled that the lower courts erred and they remanded it for further review. They ruled that the only problem with the law was that there was no emergency health exception. Republicans wanted to fix the law by passing an emergency health exception with the same language that had been upheld in other states. The Democrats wanted to repeal the whole law "and start from scratch" because "it's unconstitutional". Tony DiFruscia -- a very, very "moderate" Republican -- compared it to taking out a cancer versus killing the person.
After several hours of debate, the Democrats defeated every single proposed amendment -- even the one proposed by our own would-be Cicero, Neal Kurk, who wondered aloud before the vote on his amendment how large the Center is -- and they passed their repeal, 226-130.
Republicans didn't take this sitting down. DJ Bettencourt rose immediately after the vote and approached the well. The Speaker recognized him for a motion. DJ stood at the well and moved: "Madame Speaker, as a result of the vote, I am compelled under Part II, Article 24 of the NH Constitution to enter my protest of this vote into the Permanent Journal." He was followed by Fran Wendleboe and then almost a hundred more Republicans. Video is available; the protest began just before the two hour mark.
Most of the afternoon was uneventful. The Democrats, of course, won every time. They raised taxes ("surcharges") on real estate transfers and other Registrar of Deeds documents (HB868) and on certain waste management applications (HB472). They also instituted a boat decal program which charges out-of-state voters and will likely drive away some tourists (HB815). According to Marjorie Smith, the Democrat Chair of the Finance Committee, the Democrats spent about $153 million above and beyond the governor's budget in the course of those two days.
On what?! The Democrats voted to buy Temple Mountain (HB183) but declined to lease out Cannon Mountain (HB52) even though it's costing the state over a million dollars a year; Mt. Sunapee, meanwhile, is leased out by the state and it makes a profit while providing superior services. They raised the salary of the state veterinarian (HB897). They spent $75,000 on barns (HB239). They spent $14 million on kindergarteners and kindergarten construction (HB669). They voted to spend $100,000 a year for the state to test water in the state though the towns are already doing the job (HB505).
Of course, the Democrats didn't want to provide education certificates for families of limited means nor did they want to fund the developmental disability wait list. The priorities of the Democrats are absurdly backward.
In my next entry, I'll relate the exciting events of that evening.