-
One more day of hearings and stuff at the State House this week… why did I ever agree to do this…
-
I'm sitting in on the State-Federal Relations and Veterans Affairs Committee for @WillisTGriffith; @Al_Baldasaro is introducing @T_RoyNHStateRep's HB1653, about educational and job opportunities for military families etc.
-
He's deferring questions to someone else...
-
Rep. Doug Thomas gave brief testimony in favor of HB1653. Now Chris Arnold of DoD is testifying; he's the one who will be taking questions
-
(DoD = @DeptofDefense btw)
-
this guy's speech patterns are so military, lol... lots of "roger" and "copy"
-
Kevin Grady of the State Veterans Advisory Committee also testified in favor of HB1653
-
uh... separate questions are being asked "off the record"?
-
ok hearing portion is over; time for a quick caucus before executive session...
-
ok back for executive session
-
HB1653 OTPs unanimously (21-0) and goes on the consent calendar
-
Next: HR16, a nuclear waste resolution
-
Nuclear waste is like one of the few things that it's good to be NIMBY about
-
HR16 OTPs unanimously and also goes on the consent calendar
-
next: HR15, which @tonylabranche has an amendment for (he has a lot of these!)
-
we're going to be voting against these international relations resolutions regardless of their contents, just on the grounds that international relations aren't our domain
-
(sorry Tony)
-
Tony's amendment to HR15 passes 11-10; time to vote on the resolution as a whole
-
resolution as a whole passes 11-10 as well
-
HR15 was the one about China... while I disapprove of certain things China is doing, I just don't think it's our place to be going passing resolutions criticizing them like this
-
next is HR17, which is a resolution opposing a carbon tax. I support a carbon tax and thus oppose this resolution.
-
relevant here: my HB1250: @cooljeanius/1467943586234830850
-
HR17 passes 11-10, along party lines... further proof that Republicans don't want to end climate change, or at least don't care enough to try
-
Next is HCR7, an Israel/Palestine resolution. Tony has an amendment to this one, too. His amendment makes it better by making it more neutral (i.e. less biased towards Israel), but we're still going to vote against the resolution even if the amendment passes...
-
(just on the "no International Relations here" principle)
-
(so, that's yes on the amendment, but no on the resolution as a whole, to be clear)
-
amendment fails along party lines, 11-10
-
thanks to @lwelkowi for distinguishing how anti-Semitism and support for Israel are separate issues!
-
thanks to @TimothyHorrigan for rebutting the points brought up about Clinton and Obama supporting similar resolutions!
-
HCR7 passes 12-9
-
Next is HCR6, the Elgin Marbles one. I support the Elgin Marbles being returned to Greece, but am voting to ITL this resolution just on the "no international relations here" principle we've been expressing today
-
HCR6 is ITL-ed 20-1
-
next: HB1411. Someone has an amendment to it (not Tony this time!)
-
amendment just changes the date it takes effect
-
ah, Tony has his own amendment to this one, too, lol...
-
need a break for time to make more copies of the amendment to have enough to distribute to everyone
-
HB1411 is a government transparency bill; Tony's amendment strikes the portion to track refugee resettlement numbers, to avoid making a political issue out of it.
-
I can kind of go either way on the amendment... I generally support more data being available instead of less, but also understand the concerns that the numbers could be misunderstood... I'll follow the other Dems on this
-
amendment... passed 11-10, but now is being reconsidered? Apparently one of the Republicans made a mistake on how they voted...
-
ok I guess this amendment failed 11-10 instead after the representative corrected her vote (the motion on the bill as a whole is still OTP/A anyways, though, since the previous date-change amendment still passed)
-
I think I'll still vote for the bill as a whole anyways, though, as I support transparency
-
HB1411 passes 14-7
-
someone might want to clip this Al Baldasaro speech from the livestream
-
motion to ITL HR18 passes 12-10; Republicans want to keep enslaving prisoners
-
voting on CACR32 now, the secession amendment... seems like Republicans on this committee might actually be joining us in rejecting their Free Stater colleagues on this one!
-
Al Baldasaro is trying to have it both ways here...
-
looks like I'm going to be missing the Bipartisan Disability Caucus in a few minutes due to this executive session running over; I thought this would be over by now...
-
The Republicans seem like they *would* support secession if there were a better plan for it, but will just be voting against it due to not having a plan... while that's good short-term, it's worrying long-term... what if they come back with an actual plan next time?
-
wait did I just hear right that Al won't be running again?!
-
CACR32 is ITL-ed unanimously, 21-0, but it can't go on the consent calendar, since all CACRs have to get roll call votes from the whole house
-
another minor break before more exec-ing...
-
Jeannie Notter is going to go get us some cookies
-
ok we're back; motion to interim study on HB1353, a bill to rename a wing of a veteran's home after someone who... well, apparently there was some sort of controversy.
-
motion to put HB1353 to interim study passes unanimously; next is HB1050
-
HB1050 is about recognizing Veterans' Day as also being Armistice Day (or is it Remembrance Day?); motion is to put it to interim study
-
Baldasaro is a pedant about the difference between Veterans' Day and Memorial Day just like I am, lol
-
motion to put HB1050 to interim study passes unanimously
-
next is HB1284, an immigration bill... some confusion about an amendment...
-
there is a difference between study committees and study commissions apparently! The difference is whether it's just legislators on it, or if there are other members of the public on it...
-
HB1284 is a bill to study the effect of deportation on taxpayers; some controversy as to whether it's about studying the effect on families or on public costs...
-
sigh
-
The amendment passes, 15-6... next motion is to ITL it, though...
-
Thankful for Linda Massimilla's leadership as ranking member on this committee; she does a good job ensuring all members of the caucus get a chance to give input!
-
HB1284 is ITL-ed 13-8... oh well, hopefully we can fix the problems with it and come back with a better version of it next year...
-
next: HCR8, to reaffirm states' rights based on Jeffersonian principles. Seems like some Free Stater neo-Confederate thing...
-
HCR8 is ITL-ed unanimously, 21-0, and goes on the consent calendar
-
ok looks like we're done now