The Week in Review for Feb. 4: GOP legislative to-do list

The Republican leadership in the New Hampshire House this week offered its legislative agenda for the new year: Jobs and the economy, the same as it was for 2011.

“With 38,000 Granite Staters still searching for work, and others who have yet to reenter the workforce, we need to redouble our efforts to pursue policies that cause employers to hire,” House Majority Leader D.J. Bettencourt of Salem said on Thursday.

But plenty of social issues -- even economic issues with social overtones -- will abound in the new legislative session.

Just this week, for example:

-- The House considered a measure mandating grade school students to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance. It was taken up by a House committee and not expected to get very far;

-- Legislators took up proposed legislation that would ban police use of sobriety checkpoints, a regular law enforcement tactic to keep drunken driving under control. It was killed in committee on Thursday;

-- SB 286 made some headway in the Senate to create a statewide prescription drug monitoring program. With a centralized prescription database, doctors and law enforcement could check to track so called "doctor shoppers" in search of medications such as percocet, vicodin, and oxycodone. New Hampshire Public Radio cited a report showing New Hampshire ranks fifth in the country for percentage of residents who abuse those drugs.

-- The Republica-controlled Senate passed a redistricting plan that  an NHPR report said “is expected to give Republicans an advantage over the next decade.”Meanwhile, Pelham selectmen this week voted to ask the governor to repeal the House redistricting plan. See a Eagle-Tribune report here.

State of the State

On Tuesday, Gov. John Lynch gave his final State of the State address.

He’s not running for a fifth term, so his address to the Legislature and the public was that of a lameduck governor. But the speech showed a feisty Democratic governor who won’t go quietly into the night.

See on LFDA blog post on the speech here.

He made it clear he’ll veto any bills passed by the Legislature having to do with expanded gambling, repeal of the gay marriage law, expanded gun rights, and threats to unions.

Lamontagne, Lynch on same page

Ovide Lamontagne, a Republican who wants to be the next governor, agreed with the Democratic governor about the need for a constitutional amendment on school aid.

Said Lynch during his State of the State speech: “I support a bipartisan amendment that would improve our ability to give every child the opportunity for a quality education. I remain committed to working with any legislator who shares the goal of an amendment that allows us to target state education aid and affirms the state's responsibility to our schools. And I will oppose any amendment that would allow the state to abandon its responsibility for educating our children."

In an LFDA posting, Lamontange said Lynch “was correct that an appropriately worded constitutional amendment could allow the state to target school aid to those ditricts and communities who lack the fiscal capacity to fund an adequate education while restoring local control of education in the hands of parents, local school boards and school administrators.”

Senate Majority Leader Jeb Bradley has a proposal that seems to be gaining some bi-partisan traction. Read the Nashua Telegraph coverage here.

Speaking of the governor’s race

A former state senator announced this week she’ll challenge for the Democratic nomination for governor.

Jackie Cilley of Barrington will officially announce her candidacy next week. In a statement, her campaign said she will focus her efforts on "securing for future generations the opportunities that made the success of this generation of New Hampshire's families possible."

Cilley joins Maggie Hassan of Exeter, also a former state senator, in the Democratic race to succeed Lynch.

Among Republicans, Lamontange and Kevin Smith, former head of the conservative Cornerstone organization, will likely be joined by Steve Kenda of North Hampton.

For 22 years, Kenda ran Kenda Systems, a software consultant agency headquartered in Salem. He announced on Wednesday he is exploring a run for governor, saying, “There is so much we could be doing to attract business and investment to this state — and not one reason why New Hampshire shouldn’t be leading the nation in growth, employment, and quality of life.”

The primary is Sept. 11 and the general election is Nov. 6.

And in Washington

Sunday’s Super Bowl between the New England Patriots and New York Giants motivated some bets among New Hampshire and New York senators and representatives.

Sens. Jeanne Shaheen, D-NH, and Chuck Schumer, D-NY, are betting their locally crafted beer.

Reps. Frank Guinta, R-NH, and Nan Hayworth, R-NY, are betting some local cuisine.

Campaign finance reports from this week show Democratic candidates for congress are outraising the Republican incumbents. See a Seacoast Online story here.

On Friday, Shaheen announced her pleasure in the  Susan G. Komen for the Cure’s decision to continue funding Planned Parenthood breast cancer screenings. The breast cancer charity had previously said it would stop funding Planned Parenthood grants.

Republican Sen. Kelly Ayotte this week signed on to a bill to replace sequestered defense spending. See a Union Leader story on the issue here.

And on the campaign trail

A new WMUR Granite State poll shows that President Barack Obama’s political fortunes in New Hampshire, a key swing state come the 2012 election, are rising with improvements in the economy and the job numbers.

The poll shows the incumbent Democrat’s approval ratings have climbed to their highest levels since July 2010. And the numbers show him beating any of the likely GOP rivals (Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich, Rick Santorum, and Ron Paul) in head-to-head match-ups.

Enjoy The Game on Super Sunday. We’ll be back next week. Hope you will be too.