Report from the Legislature: Abortion, Marriage, Drugs and Death

The legislative sessions on March 24, 25 and 25 saw votes on over 250 bills, including such controversial issues as a woman's right to chose, repeal of the death penalty, same-sex marriage, transgender rights and medical marijuana. It was an exciting and emotional week for all members, no matter on what side of an issue.

For details of the votes cast by members of the House of Representatives from Rockingham District 1, click
here.

Report from the Legislature: Tolls and Taxes

Throughout March, the House of Representatives has dealt with issues of finance. For results of some of those votes, and to see how representatives from Rockingham District 1 voted, click
here to read the report posted in The Forum [www.forumhome.org].

Report From the Legislature: HCRs or "if you want my opinion"

HCRs or House Concurrent Resolutions are used to put the legislature on record on some aspect of national or state policy. If they start in the Senate they are, not surprisingly, SCRs. Since they are not signed by the governor they are essentially opinions of the legislature.

Last session there were resolutions in the House on impeaching Bush and building a 700 mile wall along the border with Mexico among several others. They were tabled. My preference would be to table all House Resolutions and Concurrent Resolutions until the end of the sessions as they take a lot of time that could be better used doing the real work of the legislature. They anyone who wants to can debate as long as they please.

During the past two weeks there were four House Concurrent Resolutions which if passed also had to go the the Senate; thus they had to be considered now. They included issues concerning international agreements, election funding, and nullification and seccession. To read about the HCRs click here.

Report from the Legislature: Voter Privacy, Seat Belts and Education

After some weeks of committee hearings, the legislature has begun voting on legislation. Voter Privacy, Seat Belts and Education were hot issues in early March.

You can read about the role call votes of the state representatives from Rockingham District 1 by clicking here.

Have spent a lot of time this past few weeks canvassing and doing visibility in Candia, Northwood, Nottingham and Deerfield. Have met some wonderful people from both parties and had some great discussions; even if the encounters do not lead to a vote, I am learning that people realize the seriousness of the issues and want to be informed.

Progress on Traffic Signal at 4/107

Some constituents had asked that I see what could be done about getting a traffic signal at the intersection at Routes 4/107 south. Accidents occur at the site quite regularly. The past week, the site was added to the list of locations where a traffic signal would be effective. For more details, click here

Forum Candidates' Night Summary

The Forum Candidates' Night attracted quite a few citizens to hear candidates for state rep and state senate. The event is being telecast on local public access stations and a summary by Forum reporter Bob Strobel can be found here. Sadly, of the ten candidates running for the five state rep positions, three Republican candidates--Duarte, Reagan and Stucker--declined to attend. They attended a private Republican only candidate event the evening before where statements were presented but no questions from the public were allowed from the floor. We are elected to represent all residents and need to be willing to engage in dialogue with all residents both before and after the election. And it turned out to be a great dialogue, and a positive event.