Today, we learned that we voted either Concur, Non-Concur, or Non-Concur with Committee of Conference (CoC) on 93 House bills and 20 Senate bills. Most bills passed the recommended motion of the committee chair with a voice vote. Some bills and their amendments were debated, and others were voted on with just a brief explanation of what the Senate’s fingerprints… I mean, amendments… were tacked onto the bills.

All in all, the House didn’t seem to mind a few word changes or adding or removing certain items… it was the tacking on of whole other bills that sent them to CoC land.

We learned that most of the returned House bills that we non-concurred on, or those House bills that were already designated to go to Committee of Conference, had some Senate bill tacked onto it that the House had already rejected or tabled. In fact, SB499, the bill that expands the school free and reduced breakfast and lunch program, along with making it available in the summer, and also expanding food assistance to eligible older adults and people with disabilities, was not only sent to the House on its own, but also tucked into HB1278. A similar House bill, HB1212,was already tabled in the House on 4/11/24. Seems like these free school meal bills keep repeating on us like a bad hotdog.

We learned that the first bill concurred today was HB185, relative to parental rights and responsibilities based on shared parenting. Republicans have been trying to pass this shared parenting legislation for over a decade, and finally, we got it done. Of course House Democrats were opposed to it. The bill also included language to require school governing bodies to post on their official website the amount of funds received by the state, either by allocation or grant. The bill was concurred 191Y-171N.

We also learned that HB1018 will go to a Committee of Conference (if the Senate accedes). The House voted Non-Concur CoC by a voice vote after a Concur vote failed 179Y-190N and a Non-Concur vote failed 180Y-190N.HB1018 was relative to on-premise and off-premise liquor licenses…simple right? But the Senate tacked on a current use bill (SB504) which provides that the owner of land in current use and designated as open space may post that such land is restricted to use for public recreation only and expands grounds for criminal trespass to include violation of open space land posted for recreational use only and when associated with a violation of the controlled drug act or human trafficking. Now why would the Senate do that? Well, SB504 (the current use bill) came to the House only to be amended to include the House version of bail reform (HB318). Well, why did they do that? It’s because the Senate amended the House version of HB318, which is going to a Committee of Conference (if the Senate accedes), which puts the Senate bill version in jeopardy. So everyone is tacking the language of bills that they want into bills that the other body may want in hopes of getting it passed. It can be very confusing… and that is why they call this “silly season”.

We learned that the Senate amended HB1633, cannabis legalization bill, was ultimately non-concurred with a committee of conference with a division vote of 261Y-108N. The House did not like the Senate version, and if the Senate accedes to having a CoC then they will have to come up with some sort of compromise next week or it’s dead. There were some who said we should pass this version and fix it later, especially since it doesn’t take effect for two years. There were others who didn’t think a state solution (like the liquor store model) was the right idea. Then there were House members who didn’t like either the House or Senate version. Rep. Anita Burroughs (D-Bartlett) spoke against the Concur motion and remarked, “I agree with my esteemed colleague [Commerce Chair Rep. Hunt (R-Rindge)] that a gummy before going to bed would be better than a drink because I only drink on legislative days.” That did get a good laugh. Visit Tandy’s after House session and count how many legislators you see there. (Wink)

We learned that the Senate changes to HB1186 was concurred with a roll call vote of 190Y-179N. The vote was basically on party lines. This bill was relative to firearm purchaser privacy. This bill prohibits the assigning of a specific merchant code to the sale of firearms, ammunition, or firearm accessories. This bill further provides a mechanism for enforcement of this prohibition. The folks voting in favor of this bill basically do not want the government tracking what we buy by putting little notation on our credit card purchases. Nah… we don’t want to be a part of that… but House Democrats do… because of “public safety” or something. Our friend Rep. David Meuse (D-Portsmouth) also just wants to make sure there’s no fraudulent activity going on with your credit card. I really didn’t know he cared so much about my purchases… how thoughtful.

We learned that HB115 brought us yet another turn at changing the date of the state primary. It would have moved our state primary to June. The House did not concur with this attempt to move the state primary and voted down the Concur motion 159Y-202N. A Non Concur motion passed on a voice vote. The issue is now dead. June would have been a good time to have the state primary because that is when the out of state “resident” voters at our college campuses are not around to “participate”, if you know what I mean.

We learned that HB1410, relative to certain professional licenses and relative to the board of optometry and the regulation of optometry, was tabled 192Y-170N. HB1410 was amended by the Senate to include SB440 since SB440 was Tabled in the House last week. So the Senate made another stab at trying to get this language passed. It would have increased the scope of practice of optometrists to include four new procedures that they currently cannot perform. This ostensibly is meant to alleviate the shortage of people performing those procedures. The ophthalmologists would have none of it, though, and they lobbied furiously to prevent passage of the bill. Optometrists claim they are trained in these procedures and the bill language required them to get more extensive training as well. In the end, we did not see this getting passed.

We learned that the “safe haven” bill was concurred 185Y-174N. The debate regarding this bill centered around an exclusionary clause. This means that if a child is dropped off and it had been abused, that the person handing off the child could not be prosecuted. The opponents of the bill wanted to make sure that abusers would be prosecuted and held accountable for their crimes. The proponents of the bill just want the babies to be dropped off to be taken care of and they claim that people would be more likely to leave the child if they knew they wouldn’t get in trouble for doing so or for whatever they’d done. Testimony during debate indicated that no other state with safe haven laws (or baby box drop offs) prosecute people who drop off babies.

We further learned that HB1215 was non concurred. This bill included language that would have allowed the Town of Hampton to discontinue a particular highway in order to lease that property. Currently, if there is a road in town that the town wants to change the designation (class 6 to class 5, etc.), it goes on a warrant article in a town meeting. This bill would allow the select board to make that decision. House members voted No on concurrence 172Y-180N (roll called) and sent this to a committee of conference on a voice vote.

We also learned that another House member changed her party affiliation from Democrat to Republican. Today the Republican Caucus welcomed Rep. Sherry Gould (R-Bradford, Henniker, Warner) to their side of the House.

Finally, we learned that next week, we’re taking a session break while House and Senate members duke it out in Committees of Conference while listening to The Rolling Stones sing “You Can’t Always Get What You Want.” We’ll be back on June 13th, ready to vote on Committee of Conference reports. See you then!

Editor: A quick thanks to Judy for all of these updates. I’m appending this week’s attendance list to this because we already have a ton of extra content this morning. There were very few roll call votes this week, which is why the numbers are so low, but again, the YTD missed vote totals on the right should interest voters.

5/30		YTD
7	Sanborn, Laurie (R, Bedford)	251
7	O’Hara, Travis (R, Belmont)	200
7	Brouillard, Jacob (R, Nottingham)	76
7	Crawford, Karel (R, Moultonborough)	76
7	Summers, James (R, Newton)	64
7	Dumais, Russell (R, Gilford)	49
3	Trottier, Douglas (R, Belmont)	149
3	Roy, Terry (R, Deerfield)	27
1	Guthrie, Joseph (R, Hampstead)	54
1	Packard, Sherman (R, Londonderry)	22

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America is in need of another declaration! Our first was presented in a written form, but in today’s fast-paced world, ears are more adaptable to our living styles. As with America’s first declaration, today’s version also declares an abrupt turnaround from what is current, and in both instances, America’s abrupt turnaround comes from a highly credible source.

Concerning his initial ultimatum, Trump’s 2015/2016 declarations signaled a change from the usual political campaign prattling, and despite his latter-day version lacking Jefferson’s itemized listing, Trump’s campaign announcements constituted his modern list of injustices.

His original run mainly touched upon the public’s long-simmering doubts and uneasiness about why nothing ever changes. Therefore, he lit the hope that possibilities were actually doable, which was believable coming from a man who obviously wasn’t beholden. What followed during Trump’s presidency greatly strengthened the public’s faith by simply fulfilling his campaign pledges.

Now, with this 2024 campaign being as sporadic as it is with all these groundless court appearances, Trump’s messaging is no longer based upon hope, but now with an honest expectancy of what was will be again! And this isn’t just limited to his supporters but also from that mass of anti-Americans who realize that if he gets elected, their communist revolution will be history! In essence, his re-entry into politics, based upon his previous record and latest statements, once again builds a declaratory aura.

So, it’s not difficult to link both his original and current campaigning with a modern-day version of America’s 1776 Declaration! Think about it. The similarities are eerie. These times beckon a historic review since our young country also had to deal with those stubborn Tories, who were bent upon remaining subjects rather than becoming free citizens! Today, it’s backward; modern thought demands dependency rather than freedom!

Connecting our 1776 charter with today should also send chills. Let it be considered today, as it was declared back then that “…Mankind are more disposed to suffer, while Evils are sufferable…” As is today, a few of those past grievances continue to, “He has refused to assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public Good,” “He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance,” “He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone,” “He has erected a Multitude of New Offices, and sent hither Swarms of Officers to harass our People,” and lastly, “…depriving us, in many Cases, of the Benefits of Trial by Jury.” These and other grievances were included in America’s 1776 Declaration of Independence. By the way, “He” now refers to our present-day President.

It’s fair to say that the cause of today’s turmoil began as Trump’s original campaign gained credibility. His non-political talk and truthful platform caused his foes to circle their wagons and then to show themselves and their methods; which previously had only been suspected. After that, it’s been “Katie bar the door” and “all hands on deck” against Trump and our Blessed America. George Floyd’s reckless self regard and induced passing merely provided the excuse for their anarchy!

This revealing of America’s hidden power structure was costly, but Trump dictated its necessity. Its unplanned “coming out” meant that tomorrow’s revolution was now today’s. Since this wasn’t planned, we need to build upon our enemy’s disruption. Already, Trump’s agenda has uncovered the media‘s “fake news,” which caused a reduced readership. Also, traitorous corporations have shed their masks as China is now their chosen benefactor. And colleges have been unmasked when supporting their student’s hateful anti-American/pro-communist doctrines.

The end result of this election will undoubtedly usher in one of two futures. Similar to the alternatives back in 1776, the outcomes are either the darkness of living as obedient and mindless robots or the blessed light of living and prospering as free Americans.

This is not an exaggeration when considering the many hundreds of American citizens who have been incarcerated for over three years without any charges. And if that’s not abusive enough, let’s not forget the cold-blooded murder of Ashlie Babbit, which still awaits an investigation! From such lawless acts, the lesson is inescapable; as President Trump has stated, “it’s not just me that they’re after, they’re after all of you!” If Trump fails in November, his words will become an uneasy companion!

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