January 2011 Member Posts (19)

New Hampshire House Speaker William O’Brien wants to refocus legislative efforts back on jobs and the economy and away from what he described to the Nashua Telegraph as a “circus”.



O’Brien used the term last week to describe the…

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State funding of public school curriculum was a hot button issue on the LFDA this week.



State Rep. Ralph Boehm (R-Litchfield) wants to narrow the focus of classes in public schools.



Boehm wants state funding of classes limited to English, language arts, reading, math, science, social studies and physical education. If a school district wants to include arts education, world languages, health education and… Continue

I'm angry.  I'm stunned.  I'm appauled.  On one page of a newspaper from last week, they talked about school buget cuts, and laying off faculty from Speacial Ed, and Guidance among others. On the next page: an article talking about fudning for the new City Gym. I ask you Portsmouth; Really!? In case you didn't know, there are already four gyms in fine working order.  When my nephew comes to me becasue he "doesn't know how to learn," and the Vice Principal of the middle school tells me there's… Continue

Here are some highlights of reaction from New Hampshire’s Congressional delegation to last night’s State of the Union address from President Barack Obama:



U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, Democrat:

“I commend the President’s commitment to focusing on innovation and exports as the foundations of a competitive 21st century economy.  It’s a view I have long held, and I look forward to learning more about the President’s initiatives and to working with him and my colleagues… Continue

Ahead of the last presidential election in 2008, Arkansas lawmakers had an idea. Why not move up the date of the state’s presidential primary from May to early February? Arkansas was tired of being an afterthought on the campaign trail, not weighing in on Democratic and Republican candidates until other states had already decided the races. This time, Arkansas was going to have influence.



There turned out to be just one problem: Everyone else had the…

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New Hampshire Republicans essentially went outside their party structure to choose their new chair with the selection of Jack Kimball of Dover.



Kimball, who owns a business in Portsmouth, a relative political newcomer, is a former candidate for governor and chairman of a statewide political action committee associated with the Tea Party -- Granite State Patriots Liberty.



He was selected by Republican Party members meeting… Continue

With his filing of HB 39, state Rep. Ralph Boehm is saying public schools are teaching classes the state shouldn't be paying for.



The Litchfield Republican wants public funding of classes limited to English, language arts, reading, math, science, social studies and physical education.



He wants to eliminate arts education, world languages, health education and technology education from… Continue

The Executive Council voted unanimously to allow a pardon hearing for Ward Bird. The Moultonborough man is serving a 3-6 year sentence for criminal threatening after a woman trespassed on his property. The hearing is scheduled for February 1.

Bird's conviction and the pardon hearing remain a hot topic on the…

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The primary objective of Saturday's meeting of the New Hampshire Republican Party is to choose a new chair.



But there is a secondary objective -- a straw poll that will offer a peek at the strength of the organizational efforts and name recognition among possible GOP presidential candidates in the state's first-in-the-nation primary.



Of particular interest will be the showing of Rick Santorum, the former Pennsylvania U.S. senator who to date has put the most effort so far into… Continue

House Republicans last week went on the record with an agenda that emphasizes economic issues for New Hampshire and plays down social issues.



House Majority Leader D.J. Bettencourt of Salem announced at a press conference that the GOP's legislative agenda is "aimed at reducing state spending, fixing a retirement system that is broken, passing a constitutional amendment for education funding, and creating a business friendly environment in the state."



Gov. John Lynch will… Continue

The economic agenda of the House Republican Caucus got all the attention this week.



But released the same day is an interesting look at five economic issues in New Hampshire that will most certainly have an impact on the deliberations to create a balanced budget for the new biennium.



The New Hampshire Center for Public Policy said the issues, presented in… Continue

New Hampshire Public Television could be the latest casualty of the state's budget woes.

Charlie Arlinghaus, president of the Josiah Bartlett Center for Public Policy and founding member of the Live Free or Die Alliance, made headlines with his recent statement that he would be…

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Republicans in the now GOP-controlled state Legislature may be looking to New Hampshire Public Television as one area to save some money.



One prediction that NHPTV might lose state funding came from Charles M. Arlinghaus, president of the Josiah Bartlett Center for Public Policy.



In remarks quoted by the… Continue

Gov. John Lynch took his historic fourth oath of office on Wednesday then proceeded in his inaugural address to outline some of his expectations for the new Legislature.



While details of a new budget are still pending, the Democratic governor offered a few hints and warned the Republican majority in both the House and Senate: "To balance the budget, we must continue assessing how we provide every state government service - and decide what services we should provide. But our reductions… Continue

The Legislature wasted no time in repealing two laws banning guns at the State House. Lawmakers repealed a year-old ban on all weapons at the State House complex, and reversed a 4 decade old law banning firearms in the House.

Here's some reaction from our Facebook members:

Daniel Cuevas:…

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Gov. John Lynch in his inaugural address today suggested a constitutional amendment to get out from under what he sees as the constraints of the Claremont public education funding ruling.



He also touched on the Ponzi scandal that hit the state last year, saying the attorney general's office should once again be responsible for looking after the state's consumer laws.



And he acknowledged the need for… Continue

It's now official for Kelly Ayotte, Frank Guinta and Charlie Bass. They no longer have "-elect" attached to their names.



With today's oaths of office on Capitol Hill they are officially U.S. Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-NH),  U.S. Rep. Frank Guinta (R-NH1) and U.S. Rep. Charlie Bass (R-NH2).



They join U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen as New Hampshire's delegation to the 112th Congress.



Shaheen is the state's senior senator now that Republican Judd Gregg has retired. As such, she… Continue

The legislative calendar shows the New Hampshire House and Senate will get right down to the business of the state's economy this week.



No sooner will the members of the House and Senate take their oaths of office tomorrow, a joint House-Senate committee will start a series of hearings Thursday, Friday and Monday to take the pulse… Continue

The Republican Party used U.S. Sen.-elect Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire to put a face on its agenda for the new year and the new Congress by having her give the party's weekly address opposite President Barack Obama.…

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