STRANGE BEDFELLOWS

The 2012 New Hampshire Legislative Session is now history – all that’s left will be to meet on June 27th relative to any gubernatorial vetoes. As reported by numerous media outlets, last week’s session was contentious and extremely long, due in part, to a trifecta of proposed constitutional amendments that were on the docket. The saying that politics makes strange bedfellows was certainly demonstrated last week as arch-conservative-libertarian members found themselves agreeing with liberal-progressive-democrats and free-thinking republicans. For totally different reasons, conservatives and liberals came together as a block to defeat a constitutional amendment for the November Ballot regarding education funding that would have overturned the Claremont lawsuit. Some on the right thought that CACR-12 would be as one representative described it “Claremont on Crack” meaning if passed the present situation would become worse and more costly to the State. On the left side of the spectrum, members felt the amendment would make the Supreme Court merely a procedural onlooker and unable to protect the rights of citizens. Having spent the past two years mistrusting the motives and decisions of these libertarian minded colleagues, I must admit it was somewhat unsettling to find myself in concurrence (albeit for different reasons) over CACR 12. However, we are sent to represent the people of our district – and since I didn’t believe CACR-12 was in Claremont’s best interest both financially and constitutionally I couldn’t support this amendment. Two separate votes on this legislation were taken, however the magic number of 237 never materialized and the opposition stood firm. One sad comment that was hopefully made by a representative in the heat of argument were negative statements regarding the honor and integrity of NH Supreme Court Justices, however as I stated it was a long and contentious day. Another of the proposed constitutional amendments, CACR 6 that would have required a 3/5th vote of the legislature to impose any new or increased tax or fee also failed. An interesting argument was raised how the United States Senate is presently paralyzed by the 60% rule; therefore do we want to impose the same affect on New Hampshire. Thankfully this was also defeated, this time by moderate republicans and democrats. Actually, of the trifecta of proposed constitutional amendments, only CACR 13 prohibiting any new tax on personal income passed last week and will be on the November Ballot. Unfortunately, the Session was so long that for the 2nd year in a row I was unable to attend the annual meeting of the Upper Valley Lake Sunapee Regional Planning Commission. This year the event was at the Common Man in Claremont which offered the historic Mill District as an attractive backdrop to an event that brings planners, municipal leaders and developers from around the region. Next year the Commission will be celebrating their 50th year of providing professional planning assistance to municipal boards. Their present array of expertise includes comprehensive planning, land use regulations, transportation planning, natural resource inventories, community/economic development, public participation, affordable housing, and hazard mitigation planning. As one of the 9 Regional Planning Commissions (RPC) in New Hampshire, their mission is to coordinate all aspects of planning, act as a liaison between local and state/federal governments and provide advisory technical assistance. They are an excellent example of intergovernmental collaboration and coordination. Kudos to the Upper Valley Planning Commission for all they do and choosing Claremont as the site of their annual meeting. Another unsung governmental entity is the Statehouse Visitor Center in Concord. Under the excellent direction of Ms. Virginia Drew – this small department of New Hampshire government conducts tours and coordinates historical presentations and events that highlight NH and the Statehouse. This includes everything from workshops on NH history, as well as tours for students. Several years ago, the legislature mandated that all 4th graders would learn New Hampshire history which has now evolved into almost all of the elementary schools making a yearly trip to the statehouse and a tour by the Visitor Center is tops on their list. We often forget that our state capital is the oldest facility of its kind still in use as a seat of government. Therefore, it provides a marvelous living showcase of New Hampshire history and takes on an almost museum like quality that is visited yearly by thousands of tourists and NH residents. The statehouse and visitor center is also used by the US Department of State who regularly bring foreign government officials to New Hampshire as a way to better educate people from other cultures about the United States. For example, last week Ms. Drew was hostess to a group of young Algerian diplomats who were in NH for three days to observe US government in action. Their tour included visiting 3 states - New York, Wisconsin and New Hampshire. Representatives Schmidt (Grantham), Théberge (Berlin) and I had the opportunity to meet briefly with these visitors, during last week’s session. They appeared genuinely intrigued regarding how the state operates and thanks to the fine work of the Visitor Center; we might have had a small influence in Algeria’s future. Strange bedfellows indeed!