We learned that today was the first of two days this week that the House will determine the fate of around 66 bills that were retained from last year. We voted on 37 of those bills today.

We also learned that the majority of Democrats attended the House session today wearing face masks as if they pined for the old COVID days in the UNH athletic arena. Rep. Eric Gallager (D-Concord) still wears a bandana on his face, bank-robber style. Maybe it’s all just become some sort of fashion statement…Or maybe just some cult thing?

We learned that first out of the gate was HB185 – a bill having to do with shared parenting coming out of Children and Family Law, passed with 202-172. Apparently, some changes in language will clear up ambiguities for judges when it comes to visitation and parenting rights.

We learned that HB645-FN will allow the establishment of “Decentralized Autonomous Organizations” (DAOs) in NH. Similar to legal entities like LLCs and corporations, this allows people to pursue coordinated projects using predefined rules (codified in software) deployed on public blockchain networks. A DAO allows participants to govern themselves directly over a decentralized computer network. This bill will allow a DAO to register with the NH Secretary of States office, and will make NH a leader in this new technology. Some people say it’s really cool and cutting-edge. I say it’s much better understood by the folks in the Commerce and Consumer Affairs Committee. Chairman John Hunt (R-Rindge) was absolutely thrilled at the passage of this bill 340-33, citing it as one of the most thrilling bills to come out of Commerce in a very long time.

We learned that the House killed HB113 with a vote of 195 No-178 Yes (on OTP motion) and finally a voice vote of ITL. That bill would have eliminated the physical fitness requirements for certified law enforcement officers. So, those requirements will remain in statute. The argument for removing them was that it was an impediment to hiring and that it didn’t need to be in NH statute now anyway because many police agencies and municipalities have their own physical fitness requirements. 195 members of the House felt that we need to keep physical fitness requirements on the books. We can’t have criminals being more healthy, active, and agile than our police officers now, can we?

We learned that 9 out of 12 education bills were tabled. I guess they just weren’t worth talking about, so they were tossed on the table. The three that were debated were: HB354, which passed 190-177 and would allow charter schools to be eligible for state school building aid, HB628-FN which died 195-178 and would have required homeschooling parents (teaching their own kids) to get a background check if they were getting Education Freedom Account money, and SB151-FN which died 186-183 and would have included mental health education in adequate education standards (yet another unfunded mandate in NH curriculum). Now to tackle the 100+ bills coming to their committee in the coming months! Those committee members will be camping out at the State House.

We learned that the House would prefer state primary elections be held on the 3rd Tuesday in August according to the OTP 281 Yes – 82 No vote on HB115. Is anyone even around to vote in August?

We learned that 2 Ranked Choice Voting bills went down in flames. HB345-FN (RCV for state party primary and municipal elections) was killed 207-170 with a roll call vote… and HB350 (RCV for federal and state offices) was killed 248-128, also on a roll call vote. Ranked Choice voting has been an utter mess in Maine and Alaska. Why would we ever want to bring that crazy mess here? If you can’t make up your mind who to vote for then RCV is for you. You rank your 1st, 2nd, and 3rd choice from the candidates, and then the computer algorithm decides who the winner is… umm yeah, that’s transparent and somehow translates into the “consent of the governed”… BIG NOPE! I’m glad the NH House still has some sense and rejected this, although it would have been interesting to see how it would have come out if we somehow ranked choice voted these bills (wink).

We learned that the House passed HB463-FN with 195 Yes-172 No. This bill allows the Secretary of State to establish an online election information portal to make voter registration easier and available online for updates and corrections. Now let’s see what the Senate does with this and if they have any concerns about election security, voter fraud, file hacking, and a host of other problems, this portal might invite.

We learned that HB369, establishing an energy task force to provide energy relief for farms, was voted down 187-186. That was the first real close vote of the day. It ended up being tabled 322-54. The majority did not want to spend $100,000 to give UNH an FTE/person to run a program to help farmers find federal grant money to help them with energy use improvement on a farm. It was claimed by opponents that there are places they can already get assistance, and also, the program should not just be for farmers… but should include businesses and individuals.

We also learned that HB602-FN, yet another landfill siting bill, passed 226-145. This bill ended up being an entire rewrite of the original legislation that was submitted last year and would allow the Department of Environmental Services to come up with a two-step process or preliminary checklist for a landfill permit application. Proponents claim this will avoid applicants and DES investing time and resources in a site that would ultimately be deemed unsuitable for a landfill. Just wait… there are 17 more landfill-related bills coming in 2024! The House is not done talking trash!

We learned that the establishment of a new state retirement plan group (Group 3 – changing to a defined contribution plan for newly hired employees) proposed in HB559-FN died 192-181 and was then indefinitely postponed with a vote of 201-174. This bill would have created a third tier for all new employees in the state retirement system, allowing them to take their contributions with them should they leave state employment (like most companies do these days). Proponents of this bill know that people don’t stay decades at any one job anymore. Now, this topic can’t be discussed again until 2025.

We learned that HB601-FN-Local was killed 189-188. One vote mattered as this bill which would have required the Department of Education to obtain direct certification with Medicaid such that any student on Medicaid would automatically be signed up for free and reduced meals. There’s a reason why families don’t want to sign up for free and reduced meals, and there are privacy issues of their family information involved too… so why do proponents want to automatically enroll them and make them participate? Umm… probably because they know school districts will get more state money (differential aid) based on how many kids get free and reduced meals. Relieving food insecurity?? Nah… Follow the education dollars involved.

We learned that HB620-FN died 188-185. This bill would have established a division of early learning in the Department of Education. It basically would have revived the failed federal Head Start program in NH. Thank goodness three more people in the NH House understood this to be an unwise educational investment.

We learned that SB239-FN was sent to Interim Study by a vote of 186-185. This bill would have amended the Governor’s Commission on Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse Prevention, serving as an advisory capacity to the governor and general court, to include drug misuse prevention and harm reduction. Drug misuse prevention and harm reduction could literally mean a lot of things. Rep. Ken Weyler (R- Kingston) said this legislation needs to be studied more, narrowed down, and set some well-defined limits to any proposals. That was the wisest string of words spoken during the day.

Finally, we learned, as Scarlett O’Hara once said, “Tomorrow is another day.” Stay tuned as we finish up what is left on our legislative plate on Jan 4th…. And then it will be a whirlwind of committee hearings until we see you in February!

Do ‘Grok Commenters Have More Fun? – Join the conversation and find out. You could win free stuff!

The post So Kids, What Did We Learn From Wednesday’s House Session (1/3/24)? appeared first on Granite Grok.

According to retired Wall Street Journal’s executive Washington editor Gerald Seib, candidate Trump has an advantage being his party’s front-runner since the primary “rules and calendar are designed to help a front-runner sew up the nomination quickly.”

If you can stomach it, Seib is implying that the Republicans don’t play fair and that, otherwise, his challengers could be a threat!

His piece was written prior to when those cheating Republicans removed former Rep. George Santos from the House, which reduced their House majority. Such cheaters! Still, Seib misdirects the public’s understanding, or at least tries to but it’s impossible given Trump’s former Presidency and the public’s relishing for more of it!

Seib employs journalism’s current standard to misdirect rather than option two: to accuse the opposition of your party’s tactics. Whichever the case, their tactics are anticipated since Trump has read their playbook and is quite capable, given his tendency to fight back. But more effective is his supporting cast, which includes the truth he speaks and puts into play.

Trump will be the Republican nominee because of the public’s instinctual draw to what they have been seeking. Many have sensed the void that something was missing. So when Trump started to campaign by citing issues that career politicians would never even mention, they immediately knew that their search was over! This is a fact that the voters remember, in addition to the public’s starvation for the truth, which will ensure Trump’s return to the Oval Office.

This voter loyalty and avid support points to why the truth has been erased from our children’s grade school lessons. Why inform the young when ignoring and inventing a different American beginning poses less difficulty?

Recognizing truth and its vital input is but one of the missing links to proper governing. Over the last century, it’s been a gradual but steady disinterest by the public that has enabled these miscreants to gain and retain elected power. By not knowing, even the more obvious abuses of power fail to stir many from re-considering their voting norms.

Today’s perfect example is shining when the self-proclaimed “poorest Senate member” buys beachfront property in addition to other pricy residences. At some point, it is we, the people, who become partially to blame. Not totally, but with an air of complicity from when they were in grade school, their parents in high school, and their college-educated grandparents were short-changed from the public’s necessary learning scale. Their learning interest lessens when America’s glorious Founding is not taught.

So magnificent was America’s beginning that some might say “glorious” doesn’t quite do it justice, so much so that some may point skyward, and rightly so, given the magnitude of our rag-tag military’s success against the most powerful force of that era. That, in addition to a rare gathering of the most knowledgeable minds holding a united purpose. Again, planting thoughts of insurrection in the young would not jive if these long-ago truths were taught.

When understanding that both Russia and China endlessly teach their youngest with glorious nationalistic tales of past victorious battles, our course is clear! Dust off those factual accounts of our 1776 Founding; delve into the strife and sacrifice, the meagerness of our forces, and despite how ill-equipped, still managed to gain independence from the tyranny of British rule. The fact that ignorance has been the lead object of our curriculum for several generations should present a tenure or starting point for realizing when today’s more bold and boisterous in-your-face demand for the ruination of America’s Blessed freedoms actually began. How many knew that the CPUSA, the Communist Party of the United States, was initiated in 1919?

Trump is the one person who, with his attitude and financial resources, can actually compete and overcome this pervasive revolution. Our enemy knows it and paints his efforts with whatever brush happens to be most damning. They recognize his intent and awesome appeal to re-unite our people by this awesome and truthful appeal! Our enemy fears its power and also accepts the fact that it’s unbeatable when known! Therefore, what our enemy fears is our best weapon; this is only common sense! Besides, it’s the damn truth!

The post Absent No More appeared first on Granite Grok.

The federal government has put the nation so far in debt that it has become common practice for the ‘Grok to remind anyone they are encouraging taxation without representation. You are spending the labor of Americans who won’t be born for years and have no voice but will be responsible for the spending and debt service.

When locals brag about it, I find myself offended. When it happens to be a solar farm – and in Derry, well – how could I resist taking a few shots?

The project, planned for about 10 acres of unused landfill property off Kendall Pond Road, has been researched and planned for several years.

And now, thanks to a $500,000 Congressional Directed Project grant opportunity, that could bring support for costs. Derry Public Works has been working through the United States Department of Energy in applying for and meeting all criteria to secure the grant funding. And getting that financial support could help the town save money on electricity costs as part of the planned solar project that could be in place by next November, with Burlington, Vermont-based Encore Renewable Energy handling the work.

Some will say, whether they believe it or not, that by doing this, they are saving the planet for their grandchildren or great-grandchildren. Those who will bear the cost burden of this exercise. As if this might be a fair exchange. Sadly, none of that is correct. The carbon footprint of the mining and manufacture of their components is significant. The decommissioning of aged-out panels, which will no longer even be in use when Derry’s descendants are old enough to work and begin to pay the debt service, has a high environmental cost. True, we may have figured that out by then, but any electricity savings today’s residents might realize are dwarfed by the debt cost burden created by spending money that doesn’t even exist.

Parity is impossible, even if you think solar farms can save the planet – a proposition even wildly progressive filmmaker Michale Moore does not believe.

The only nice thing I have to say about this is that they chose to put it over an unused landfill, but it would be better for everyone now and in generations to come if locals would stop pretending that grants from the Feds are free money. There is no such thing, and bribing today’s taxpayers with the promise of a few shekels at the expense of future taxpayers needs to stop, but voters everywhere need to understand this and vote in every election.

Every. Damn. One.

The wider the margin in favor of sanity, the harder they are to steal.

One more point, and maybe this is a homework assignment for our readers in Derry. What strings have the Feds attached to this grant that the town likely has not shared?

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