February 1, 2017

New Hampshire Senate Votes 12-11 To Adopt Right-To-Work

The New Hampshire Senate has narrowly approved a bill to limit the power of unions to charge non-members for representation.

The debate of right-to-work was a essentials a formality in the GOP-controlled senate, but lawmakers still took two hours to air long-familiar arguments about what the law would mean for NH.

“Passing this law will ensure we have more jobs in this state. Passing this law will ensure we have higher wages in this state

That’s Bedford Republican Senator Andy Sanborn; here’s Manchester democratic Senator Lou D’Allesandro,

Read more: http://nhpr.org/post/nh-senate-votes-12-11-adopt-right-work#stream/0

[font color=330099]More Republican bullshit if anybody believes that it will bring higher wages.[/font]

February 1, 2017

Lawmakers Who Want To Carry Guns On N.H. House Floor Won't Be Required to Take Safety Training

A proposal to require firearm safety training for New Hampshire lawmakers wishing to carry guns on the House floor has been defeated.

Democratic Minority Leader Steve Shurtleff proposed the rule Thursday after a representative dropped her loaded gun during a committee hearing this month.

House rules say lawmakers with the proper license can carry hidden guns in the House chamber. The new rule would have required them to take a speaker-approved gun safety course before being allowed to carry concealed weapons.

Republicans quickly moved to table the proposal, effectively cutting off debate. The vote largely fell along party lines.

Read more: http://nhpr.org/post/lawmakers-who-want-carry-guns-nh-house-floor-wont-be-required-take-safety-training#stream/0

February 1, 2017

Advocates Push New Hampshire Lawmakers on Paid Family Leave

Parents, doctors and child advocacy groups are urging New Hampshire lawmakers to support paid family and medical leave and help reduce the costs of child care.

Supporters of the Campaign for a Family Friendly Economy lobbied representatives Thursday on two bills. One would establish a family and medical leave insurance fund allowing for up to 12 weeks of paid leave. The other would add $15 million to the state budget to help families pay for child care.

Both bills are primarily backed by Democrats but have a few Republican sponsors. Republican Gov. Chris Sununu said he supports family and medical leave policies in an NH1 News debate last year.

Supporters say the bills will strengthen the workforce and families.

http://nhpr.org/post/advocates-push-nh-lawmakers-paid-family-leave

February 1, 2017

N.H. lawmaker who said Hillary Clinton should be shot for treason under consideration for Deputy

N.H. lawmaker who said Hillary Clinton should be ‘shot for treason’ under consideration for Deputy Secretary of Veterans Administration

State Rep. Al Baldasaro says he received a call from the Trump transition team last week informing him that he is under consideration for the position of Deputy Secretary of Veterans Affairs, the number two spot in the sprawling department that operates the nation’s largest health care system and has a total annual budget of over $180 billion.

The six-term lawmaker and retired Marine sergeant told talk show host Rich Girard that if he is nominated for the position and confirmed by the Senate, he will resign from the New Hampshire House and will commute between Washington and his home in Londonderry.

Baldasaro, who served as co-chair of the New Hampshire Veterans for Trump Coalition and appeared regularly at Trump rallies, would be a controversial choice.

‘Hillary Clinton should be put in the firing line and shot for treason’

During last year’s Republican National Convention, Baldasaro made national headlines when he called Hillary Clinton “a piece of garbage” who should be executed.

Read more: http://miscellanyblue.com/post/156047725032

February 1, 2017

Burning issue: Bill would ban state financial assistance for anyone who desecrates a flag

A bill introduced in the New Hampshire House would prohibit anyone who desecrates an American flag or state flag from receiving state funds “including, but not limited to, financial assistance to needy families, food stamps, and tuition assistance.”

If the legislation is enacted, the state would be punishing residents for exercising a constitutionally protected right. The Supreme Court has twice ruled that burning a flag is a type of political expression protected by the First Amendment. “It is poignant but fundamental that the flag protects those who hold it in contempt,” wrote Associate Justice Anthony Kennedy.

“If I were king, I would not allow people to go around burning the American flag. However, we have a First Amendment, which says that the right of free speech shall not be abridged – and it is addressed in particular to speech critical of the government,” the late Associate Justice Antonin Scalia explained in a 2012 interview. “That was the main kind of speech that tyrants would seek to suppress.”

Co-sponsor Rep. Sean Morrison acknowledges flag burning is protected speech, but offers this tortured rationale for the legislation: “Should not we who pay for other people’s welfare not have protection regarding our freedom of speech and expression by not having to pay for people protesting the very government which provides them our money?”

Read more: http://miscellanyblue.com/post/156373876622

February 1, 2017

New Hampshire Senate bills would end statute of limitations for sex assaults

CONCORD - State Sens. Martha Fuller Clark, D-Portsmouth, and Lou D'Allesandro, D-Manchester, on Tuesday introduced Senate Bills 98 and 164 before the Judiciary Committee. Both bills increase protections for sexual assault survivors by eliminating the statute of limitations in sexual assault cases.

"We need to do more in New Hampshire to ensure that survivors are given the resources they need to seek justice," said Fuller Clark, prime sponsor of SB 98. "We don't know when an individual who has been traumatized will feel comfortable coming forward. The timing of these charges should not be arbitrary. The damage inflicted by rape never truly goes away. My hope is that this legislation will give survivors the chance to seek damages regardless of how many years have passed."

Current law imposes a six-year limitation on felony cases involving adult victims. In child sex abuse cases, prosecutors are given 22 years from the child's 18th birthday to bring charges forward in criminal cases, and until the victim's 30th birthday in civil cases. According to the New Hampshire Violence Against Women Survey, 41 percent of sexual assault crimes against women occur before they are 18 years old and 68 percent of sexual assault crimes against men occur before they are 18.

"Fortunately, scientific advancements in DNA testing and forensic science have made it so that the passage of time no longer presents the same obstacles to investigators as once was the case," added D'Allesandro, prime sponsor of SB 164. "We believe this legislation offers much needed changes to help survivors seek justice and find closure."

http://www.seacoastonline.com/news/20170131/nh-senate-bills-would-end-statute-of-limitations-for-sex-assaults

February 1, 2017

New Hampshire Democrats outline legislative priorities, look ahead to 2018

The Democratic leader in the state senate said he believes the 2016 election showed his party needs to go in a different, more progressive direction.

“All the smart people in the Democratic Party were wrong in 2016,” said N.H. Senate Minority Leader Jeff Woodburn of Whitefield in a Monitor editorial board meeting. “Growing the party, being open minded, being progressive and being bold is what we need to do and we have not been. We cannot win this next election in 2018 by taking the Republican-lite approach.”

Though Democrats won all four seats in the Congressional delegation, local races presented a much more dismal result for the party.

Democrats ceded control of the governor’s office for the first time in 12 years, and Republicans retained majorities in both houses of the state legislature and the Executive Council.

Read more: http://www.concordmonitor.com/state-democratic-leaders-outline-legislative-priorities-for-session-7815872

February 1, 2017

NH lawmaker wants teens to be at least 16 before getting married

CONCORD — Lawmakers are considering a bill that seeks to increase the marriageable age of heterosexual individuals in the state to at least 16.

Under current state law, females as young as 13 and males as young as 14 who show "special cause" to state courts and also have the consent of a parent or guardian can legally be wed, according to Foster's.

The bill was proposed by Rep. Jackie Cilley, D-Barrington, at the request of Dover High School senior, Cassandra Levesque.

Levesque said she became interested in the topic after attending a workshop about human trafficking and forced child marriage.

Read more: http://www.nh1.com/news/nh-lawmaker-wants-teens-to-be-at-least-16-before-getting-married/

February 1, 2017

Committee approves bill that would restore state's pension promise

A House committee approved a bill Wednesday that would reinstate a piece of the state’s former contribution to cities’ and towns’ shares of their employees’ pension costs.

The bill’s sponsor, Rep. Renny Cushing, said it would be a step to “restore the promise” that the state made decades ago to help pay for public employees’ retirements.

When the Legislature decided in 2011 to eliminate the state’s 25 percent share, the burden fell entirely on property taxpayers, which Cushing said amounted to “the largest single property tax increase in state history.”

The Hampton Democrat’s legislation, House Bill 413, would require the state government to pay roughly $40 million a year by contributing 15 percent of the employer’s share of pension costs. Historically, the state had contributed as much as 40 percent, beginning in 1967. It currently pays nothing, and the burden has led to skyrocketing payments to the retirement system from the state’s towns, cities and school districts.

Read more: http://www.concordmonitor.com/house-committee-considers-bills-on-nh-retirement-system-2017-7653289

February 1, 2017

Bill cracks down on New Hampshire retirement system 'double-dippers'

When Canterbury hired its new police chief last summer, it became the latest town to convert a full-time position to part-time in order to save money and hire someone already collecting a pension from the New Hampshire Retirement System.

The hiring practice means the town can avoid paying 29 percent of that employee’s salary into the indebted retirement system. Canterbury saved more than $15,000 this way.

The arrangement also has its benefits for the 48-year-old chief, Mike Labrecque, who’s allowed to work up to 32 hours while receiving his $48,311 a year pension. He retired as a lieutenant from the Hooksett police department the same day he started in Canterbury, according to pension records.

This maneuver is known as “double dipping,” because the employee simultaneously is paid through a government job – $54,000 a year in this case – while collecting a pension.

Read more: http://www.concordmonitor.com/nh-retirement-system-bill-would-crack-down-on-double-dippers-7703265