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ok back at the State House for day 2 of Hell Week; I packed a bigger lunch today, so hopefully I'll last longer...
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Things I wish we had at the State House that I don't think we currently have: - Punching bags (like for training for boxing) - Beds - Pillows - Soundproof booths for screaming into - On-site therapists - Courtyard access
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...oh and also, music! But anyways, enough daydreaming; session is starting...
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(reminder that I only include the #NHPolitics hashtag once per thread, to save on typing)
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Pastor Bob leading prayer again; neither of my seatmates are here yet today...
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National Anthem today: Lucius Parshall on acoustic guitar
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ok more people are starting to show up now
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We left off in the middle of the education bills yesterday, so that's where we'll be picking up again today
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some tech issues; short recess until IT gets things sorted out...
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reminder that we need #RightToRepair!
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Anyways tech issues seem to be sorted out
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current bill: HB1332, to try to undo some of the damage of the antivax stuff that Republicans have been passing
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HB1332 is tabled; a few more absences today it seems...
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reminder that I'll be skipping votes that go by too quickly on voice vote for me to write anything about, or ones where I just don't feel like it
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There's a crying baby in the House chamber today; reminds me that we've got a vote on a bill for a study committee on childcare for lawmakers among this week's bills...
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table table table
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breaking my "skip reporting quick voice votes" for HB1381, which I cosponsored, and which just passed: @cooljeanius/1467945987557806080
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.@ArtSEllison speaking in favor of HB1564, requiring school breakfast programs. My elementary school provided breakfasts to other students when I was a kid, but I guess there's some schools that don't do so...
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(I support HB1564 btw; it's a shame Dem support for it on the committee wasn't unanimous!)
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all this talk of breakfast is making me hungry... (yes, I did already have breakfast before I left for session today, but, still...)
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HB1564 is ITL-ed along party lines; an improvement over the committee vote, but, still, disappointing...
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Next: HB1576, an attempt to roll back last year's "divisive concepts" language in the budget trailer bill
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HB1576 is tabled; oh well...
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HB1607 is another bill to address discrimination and is tabled similarly
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more tabling
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Now under discussion: HB1639, making the Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) opt-in instead of opt-out. I... think I kinda remember taking this as a kid? Not really too sure, though; it wasn't too memorable... wasn't really too big of a deal to take...
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Person speaking is addressing objections that students don't take the survey seriously, which I do kinda remember being the case now... apparently there are fake questions on the survey to catch students who aren't taking it seriously and weed their results out
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(I'm pretty sure I took it seriously myself, though; I was kind of a suck-up to authority as a kid... very much a "teacher's pet"...)
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(just school authority, though; I opposed the authority of the Bush Administration as a kid while simultaneously sucking up to school authority)
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so now you get why people say things like "misinformation" and "falsehoods" instead of calling lies "lies"... (darn decorum rules)
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HB1639 is passed along party lines; so much for schools getting the data they need...
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"print remarks" motion on the preceding debate passes by a wide margin
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another recess to work out more tech issues
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ok back now; current motion is to table HB1669, another bill to rein in EFAs
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So, speaking of things that Lincoln said: @Pasifik_97/1504056913788506113
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remaining Education bills are all EFA-related
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final Education bill: HB1683, to repeal EFAs entirely. Probably won't pass (given that the milder attempts to just pare them back a bit didn't pass, either), but it's worth taking a stand against them anyways.
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he's doing this again: @cooljeanius/1503842292255371272
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seems like intentionally calling EFAs "vouchers" is a pretty good way to troll Cordelli, given how mad he gets about it
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#CallEFAsVouchers #CallThemVouchers
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I need to add more education-related policies to @cooljeaniusbot's lists of policies
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HB1683 is ITL-ed; GOP attempts to dismantle public education continue...
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motion to remove HB1072 from the table; that was from yesterday...
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it was from Criminal Justice, despite being school-related: @cooljeanius/1503775921412661258
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HB1072 stays on the table! Good.
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ok onto bills from Election Law; first is CACR15, which I was originally a cosponsor on, but I'm hearing it's been amended to do the opposite of our intent with it?
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Rep. Labranche is speaking against the amendment; so yeah, this is almost as bad as what happened with the squirrel bill...
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Barb Griffin is being annoying about her right to destroy this CACR with an amendment
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This was originally supposed to be an amendment to allow 17-year-olds to vote in elections where they'd be 18 by the general: @cooljeanius/1467934122861637637
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...but now that the amendment to the amendment has passed, it's about some nonsense about citizenship instead. I'm pretty mad about that they ruined our amendment like this.
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CACR15 fails to reach the threshold necessary to pass... next is CACR19, requiring all elections be conducted by paper ballots.
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We already do elections by paper ballot here, so I don't get why this is necessary?
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So, CACR19 doesn't reach the necessary threshold either... next: HB1009, a bill to make voter registration more onerous for the supervisors of the checklist
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most dates of voter registration is already available, the only ones that aren't would be too much of a pain to go back and collect
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HB1009 passes; whatever. Last bill before lunch: HB1082, which would prevent candidates for secretary of state and state treasurer from forming PACs.
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hm, @tjsnh is still undecided apparently; I wonder if he found that answer to his question satisfactory...
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This seems kinda inspired by @cvo's attempt to unseat Bill Gardner a few years back...
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I supported Colin's attempt to unseat Gardner, but I did find it kinda weird how he formed a PAC for the race... but I also don't really think it's weird enough to pass a law against...
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HB1082 passes by 1 vote! (Speaker Packard broke a tie, apparently...)
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Anyways, lunchtime...
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"I'm just trying to disrupt the flow here!" -Keith Ammon
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It's really nice out today
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ok time to get back to business
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First bill back from lunch: HB1153, about absentee ballot requests.
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missed the results for that; assuming it passed... next: HB1203, more "domicile" and "residency" stuff
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Vote totals aren't showing in the screens anymore; apparently the vote for HB1203 was 185-163
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Now: HB1247, relative to folded ballots. While it's true that folds were an issue uncovered by the Windham audit, this bill seems like kind of an overreaction to it?
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more vote display issues (HB1247 is ITL-ed 203-145)
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next: HB1264, a bill on #RCV
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I still think it's stupid that we have to make "gentlemen may remove their jackets" motions, but I'm always glad when they pass...
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GOP are trying to table HB1264
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hm there seems to be an internal GOP division on this one
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HB1264 is tabled; so much for getting #RCV passed in NH this term...
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next: HB1326, to level the playing field between businesses and unions when it comes to campaign donations. @ConnieLane4NH speaking for it.
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HB1326 is ITL-ed; Republicans want to maintain the system's bias in favor of businesses and against unions. #1u
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Next: HB1394, to close the "LLC Loophole" that allows the rich to evade campaign contribution limits.
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HB1394 is ITL-ed; Republicans want to continue to allow the rich to buy our elections.
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Next: HB1442; about election/voter info
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ah, apparently that was one of @mannyfornh's bills, to promote multilingualization... it's ITL-ed, though; oh well...
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last Election Law bill: HB1567, about removing election officials from office.
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Only bill from Environment & Agriculture: HB1454, about the siting of landfills... and it passes on voice vote! Applause for the "Save Forest Lake" guy, who spearheaded this effort
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Next: bills from ED&A, starting with HB1065, relative to the regulation of art therapists. My cousin is an art therapist in Massachusetts (at least that's where I think she still is; haven't heard from her in awhile...)
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oops I almost misvoted there! I *don't* want to table this; I want to pass it
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motion to table HB1065 succeeds; onto HB1135... even now that we're in ED&A, we still can't seem to avoid the education-related bills, it seems...
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HB1135 passes, but with an amendment... next: HB1171, an occupational licensing reform bill
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I'm not necessarily against occupational licensing reform, I mostly just don't trust Republicans to implement it in a way that addresses everyone's concerns and avoids harm
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dunno why Republicans are bothering with a roll call on this
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HB1171 passes; whatever. Next: HB1173... somehow snuck by on voice vote? I thought that would be a controversial one... (topic was Indigenous People's Day)
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Next: HB1330, about the board of registration of medical technicians. @wmarshcc8 is speaking about one of the amendments to it.
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multiple amendments here; this is a complicated bill...
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stuff going by on voice vote now
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meh, we've run into a procedural mess
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well at least I'm doing a better job focusing today... (internal screaming is mostly just due to procedural dilatoriness)
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so yeah the bill currently under debate is HB1357, relative to land acknowledgments.
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.@GroteJacinthe speaking in favor of HB1357
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HB1357 = ITL-ed; finished up the ED&A bills on voice vote... 2 bills from Finance are next
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HB103 (Medicaid dental benefits) keeps coming back before us; apparently it needed to go before multiple committees before we can pass it for real: @cooljeanius/1479164931190792195
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huh, Ken Weyler is actually supporting this; that's a pleasant surprise!
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HB103 passes; yay for Medicaid dental benefits!
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next: HB1677, about settling claims of abuse at the Sununu Youth Development Center. This is something that's been in the news...
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a few separate amendments to this one
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ok we're out of Finance; onto Fish & Game (committees go in alphabetical order for anyone wondering how far along we are, so, "F" is still pretty early...)
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lobster bill! There was some theater production I was in (in middle school) where we did this "lobster crossing" skit based on a t-shirt had
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on display here is... well, you can kinda see the divide between lobsters being perceived as "poor people food" here in New England and "rich people food" everywhere else going on with this bill
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next up: HB1356, the squirrel bill. Hey @Safigirl17 you watching?
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(Republicans amended this bill to make it do the exact opposite of its original intent)
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there's some backstory about Jim Spillane here that people ought to know; don't really feel like typing it up, though...
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I was a cosponsor on the original version of the bill: @cooljeanius/1467945074059264009
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Tim Lang thinks he's so funny, but he really isn't
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bleh
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onto HHS bills... oh man, the first one here is an ivermectin bill... good grief
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(this is HB1022 btw)
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let's do a forsythia bill next @noelvpascual/1378148090813669376
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sigh
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ok so next is HB1044; Republicans are trying to deregulate the health care industry. For all this talk of Republicans possibly giving up their free-market fundamentalism, it sure doesn't seem to have reached New Hampshire...
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one-vote margin!
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... (-_-)
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ok next is HB1077, the conversion therapy bill that's been causing all the controversy
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I oppose HB1077: @cooljeanius/1503548196676591623
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motion is to table (from a Republican!); apparently some of them want to avoid the controversy
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.@JoeAlexanderNH did the PI on the motion to table HB1077; it's Republican vs. Republican
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HB1077 is tabled; phew!
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Current bill: HB1080
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HB1080 passes; next is HB1180, another one of those controversial gender discrimination bills that I've committed to constituents to oppose
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huh I thought I quote-tweeted this earlier in the thread, but I'm not seeing it as having any quote tweets? @cooljeanius/1503548196676591623
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.@GerriCannon doing the PI to table HB1180
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motion to table fails by 2 votes; darn...
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amendment to it is a tie vote... attendance is so important...
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ANOTHER motion to table; apparently we can do that due to there having been intervening business (the amendment)
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Since the amendment didn't pass, the bill is now worse than it might have been (people were thinking the amendment *would* pass), so maybe now people will be more willing to table?
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(well, to be clear, the amendment didn't pass when we voted on it as the full House just now, but it *had* passed the committee, so that's why we were assuming it'd pass here, too)
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HB1180 is tabled *this* time; phew! Time for a dinner break...
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ok back from dinner; 2 or 3 more hours to go tonight...
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Current bill: HB1369, about COVID procedures for performing arts venues
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HB1369 is tabled; oh well...
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going back to see if we can print remarks from HB1180
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HB1379... more vax debates...
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my motivation to continue livetweeting everything is waning
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oh wait HB1409 is a good one, though; it's a mental health bill that I meant to testify in favor of, but didn't manage to
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the anti-therapist views that some Republicans are espousing are really sickening
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HB1409 is tabled; Republicans continue to be bad for mental health
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motion to remove HB1264 from the table
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I really ought to write that mental health op-ed that I've been meaning to write one of these days, some time when I can focus...
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HB1264 stays on the table; I think this was a worse margin than the previous vote on it...
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next bill: HB1439, relative to hospital visitation policies
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2 separate amendments on this one
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uh oh, be careful with words like "trepidation" Jerry; the Republicans might not know it
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(we're on HB1495 now, btw, another one of those anti-vax GOP bills)
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(all the remaining HHS bills are vax-related)
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that's not even what the word "blackmail" means
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I'm losing the vocal strength to participate in voice votes again
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Done with the HHS bills; Republicans continue to show their disdain for the public health. Next: bills from Judiciary
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CACR18
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I don't really get why the Judiciary Committee is called "Judiciary"; the bills from it don't really seem related to the judicial system... in fact, the bills from it don't seem to fit any sort of theme whatsoever; I guess it's just a catchall for bills that don't fit elsewhere?
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like, it's got bills about abortion, housing, lawyering, policing, vaccines, religion...
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wow people are getting rude here
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If we had mute people as state reps, how would they supposed to be able to participate in voice votes? Like, imagine if Stephen Hawking were a legislator...
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(I'm trying to get my voice back here for the voice votes on these landlord-tenant relations bills, since housing is important to me, but...)
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Roll call on HB1291, prohibiting discrimination against tenants who have Section 8 vouchers. This is a good bill and I hope we can pass it over the veto of the landlord lobby. Down with landlords!
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HB1291 is ITL-ed; Republicans want to allow landlords to continue oppressing tenants
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current bill: HB1477, a fetal heartbeat bill.
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The viability standard set forth in Roe is fine as-is; no need to go second-guessing it.
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GOP speaker in favor of the bill seemed to be trying to intentionally violate Roe in order to get sued and set up a SCOTUS fight to try to repeal it, and, well, that's not going to happen here. New Hampshire's not going to be that state. That's not us.
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HB1477 is tabled; Marjorie Smith seemed to be intending just to be having it be a temporary tabling, though, so I wonder if it'll come off the table tomorrow?
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Next: HB1490, to make vaccination status a protected class. Ridiculous. Republicans want so badly to find a way to consider themselves "oppressed" that they'll go inventing... whatever this is.
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Petition to change the spelling of the exclamation "welp" to be "wuelp" instead in honor of Kurt Wuelper, who quite commonly causes the phrase to be said
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public health is public, not private, Mike! public health is public public health is public public health is public public health is public public health is public public health is public public health is public public health is public public health is public
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wow we managed to kill HB1490! Nice!
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Current bill: HB1673, to repeal the abortion clinic buffer zone law. The current GOP speaker is correct that the existing law doesn't currently get used, but the solution to that is to use it, not to repeal it
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SCOTUS has upheld time/place/manner restrictions on speech on other topics; seems inconsistent that they'd disallow such restrictions solely on this topic
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I live across the street from the @EqualityHC and boy do I wish they had an actually-enforced buffer zone on the sidewalk in front of them sometimes when trying to walk past them
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HB1625 passed; onto HB1673, an ultrasound bill
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"first time in history" try learning some history
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good grief, this speaker...
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(referring to the previous guy btw; Marjorie Smith doesn't make me say "good grief" like he did)
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one last bill from Judiciary; hopefully we get out for the night after this...
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third reading motion! Finally!