School Vouchers are a bad idea for New Hampshire…
August 30, 2018
Dear Friends,
What a busy time as a state senator; lots of roles are all competing for time:
• Hosting and being there for other candidates (Kelly and Kuster this past week)
• Campaigning for reelection (visiting worksites, schools, canvassing and sign drop offs, arranging house parties and community visits),
• Constituent advocacy – celebrating community accomplishments, ribbon cuttings, replying to constituent concerns, meetings with State department commissioners
• Working on future legislation and state grants
• Working on the reconsideration of Governor vetoes
• Keeping up on reading
Veto Session and Constituent Hours
The legislature’s reconsideration of Governor vetoes occurs on September 13 th . Three high profile bills that I co-sponsored are among those coming up for a veto override: SB365, requiring distribution companies to purchase electricity from NH wood burning and “waste-to-energy” power plants; SB446, raising net metering limits for solar, wind, and hydroelectric renewable energy sources from 1 to 5 megawatts; and SB593, repealing the death penalty. In order to hear from constituents on these and other issues, I’m hosting constituent hours on Thursday, September 6, from 5:00 pm - 7:00 pm on the second floor of the Old County Courthouse in Citizens Hall. You can park at the County Building. Please attend and share your opinions on these issues.
Organizing for Fall Elections
Kahn Interns at Walpole Town Green after a day of canvassing.
Town Democrats have organized meetings in Gilsum, Alstead, Hinsdale, and Marlborough. House parties are planned in Keene and Nelson. Town visits are on-going: this past week in Roxbury, North Walpole, and Harrisville; Labor Day week in Keene, Winchester, Hinsdale, and Harrisville; the following week in Sullivan; and then the primary election and veto session. Hinsdale Dems are hosting state legislators seeking reelection on Sept. 9 at 2 pm in the Millstream Community Center. Please attend if you can. This summer I’ve benefitted from nine Kahn-terns, interns from surrounding high schools that are working for my reelection. They are terrific symbols of a next generation of concerned students willing to work to change the world. They are my ground team. Primary elections are September 11 th . I’m recruiting supporters to hold signs at polls. Let me know if you can spare an hour or two.
Opioid Use Disorders Funding
Last week 30 area mental healthcare leaders convened to mobilize for future State requests for proposals (RFP) to award federal funds to reduce opioid use disorders. The proposals will build off a hub and spoke model, with medical centers being at the hub of regional 24/7 response teams. Spokes include residential and community based services. The Department of Health and Human Services will release RFPs in early October. Now that legislation is being implemented, I am trying to conclude the work on Mental Health and Social Services Interoperability Committee that I chair. I’ve been named to a new legislative study committee on telemedicine. Recently, I hosted the region’s therapeutic marijuana licensee in Keene to begin discussions on a satellite dispensary locally.
Education
Workforce preparation is one of my highest priorities. We build our workforce from the earliest years of childhood development. Symonds School in Keene is often cited as a strong example for our region, and I’ll be joining their principal, Richard Cate, and kindergarten classes later this month. This past week I talked with our Fall Mountain district superintendent, Lori Landry, about pre-school and elementary school innovations they’ve implemented. This next week I’ll be discussing internships and career-ready credentials with KSC and the new Cheshire Career Center Director, Michael Burnett.
Senate Resolutions
is on the floor of Len-Tex Wall-covering Manufacturing in North Walpole with Don and Charlie Lennon, owners of Len-Tex.
I worked with a variety of community organizations to prepare Senate Resolutions that help honor significant accomplishments of people and organizations in the region. Recent examples are Community Kitchen rededication, MOCO new location, Winchester Learning Center expansion, MAPS relocation, and the Hinsdale Elementary School addition. In less than two years, I’ve prepared and delivered 27 resolutions.
Election seasons take a long time and take a lot out of candidates. I want to reassure you how much your help and support motivates me to be a better candidate and a better Senator.
Thank you.
State Senator
District 10
EDUCATION
• Full-day kindergarten funding
• Hinsdale School renovation state matching funds
• Public School Infrastructure
Fund; School Emergency Readiness Program
• School employee death equivalent to responders statute
• All Children Educated Safely (ACES) in Monadnock Regional School District, funding restored
• Authorizing Keene State College decals for license plates, raising scholarship funds
• Electronic of school annual reports to the department of education
• Consumer Protection increased for private career school students
• Dual and concurrent enrollment agreements between high schools and colleges
HEALTHCARE|
• Nursing temporary licensing for all new hires from New England states
• Increasing alcohol and drug prevention and treatment funds
• Study committee on mental health and socials service interoperability
• Allied Health Therapists tem porary licensure if from NY or New England states
• Therapeutic Marijuana satellite dispensary in southwest NH
BROADBAND CONNECTIVITY
• Study committee on broadband infrastructure
• Broadband Infrastructure and Municipal/Town
bonding for public-private partnerships
SAFETY
• Streamlining Criminal History Background Checks
• Emergency Medical Services (EMS) rule setting process accelerated
• Independent state Medical Director for Emergency
Medical Services to be established
ENVIRONMENT
• Study Transmission, Distribution, Generation,
Costs and in the State’s Electricity System
• Boost renewable energy producers with a net metering increase to 5 megawatts
LOCAL GOVERNMENT
• Revisions to Zoning Boards of Adjustments statute for clearer decision making
• County audits statutes and updated
The NH House of Representatives meets this Thursday, April 19th to consider 4 bills on which I am a prime sponsor. All are on the consent agenda.
SB 374 exempts adoption of emergency medical and trauma services protocols from the rulemaking process under RSA 541-A. These protocols are highly technical and need to be changed quickly and frequently (think carfenynol protocols for first-responders), making them exceptions for the standard rule-making process. They go through review by 2 boards and the Dept. of Safety Commissioner.
SB 456 turns the position of the state medical director for emergency medical services into a part-time position and repeals the requirement that the chairman of the emergency medical services medical control board shall serve as the medical director. It also makes the medical director a nonvoting member of the control board. A companion bill, SB 544, allocates sufficient funds for fire standards and training for the remainder of the biennium.
SB 170 permits municipalities and towns to issue bonds for the purpose of providing or extending broadband infrastructure to areas lacking minimum FCC rates of transmission. Certain conditions must be met before bonds can be issued and the bill provides for public-private partnerships for financing purposes. Public hearing testimony strongly indicated that enactment of this legislation would be a significant catalyst for economic development in many rural areas of New Hampshire.
SB 393 consolidates three types of audits utilized by county government—annual financial audits, performance audits and forensic audits--from within several chapters spread throughout Title II of state law into one chapter. It requires that a copy of each completed audit be forwarded to the Department of Revenue Administration.
Four other bills that I introduced are in final stages of consideration this week.
SB 388, regarding therapeutic marijuana satellite dispensaries, will be acted upon by House Health and Human Services and Elderly Affairs.
HB 1761, including an amendment to extend school district dual and concurrent enrollment policies to include University System of NH institutions, will be acted on by the Senate on Thursday.
SB 386, streamlining the criminal history background check process, and SB 334, regarding temporary licensure for allied health professionals wanting to work in NH, will be heard by the House Executive Department and Administration Committee on Tuesday afternoon.
Sincerely,
Jay
Dear Friends,
The Legislature is moving towards the halfway point, where legislation that has passed in the originating chamber crosses-over to the other chamber for another round of hearings and voting.
Some good things moving forward from the Senate include Medicaid expansion, broadband expansion, funding for disabilities waitlist, and funding for child welfare investigations and family support services, and foster care. This week we will be considering a state match so children whose family’s income is 85% above the poverty level are provided a free breakfast. This is the single greatest improvement is school outcomes we can make and it will cost the state only $345,000 a year because of federal funding. We’ll also consider assuring the rights of victims of violent crimes, Marsey’s Law.
Repealing the death penalty passed the Senate by a 14-9 margin, which is not veto proof. If the bill gets to the Governor and he vetoes it, there will need to be two more senators to vote in favor to overturn his veto. Many senators, including myself, argued the death penalty is immoral, our justice system is fallible, and life imprisonment is less expensive.
I introduced and won a floor amendment on placing a therapeutic marijuana satellite dispensary in Cheshire Co. I’ve been contacted by constituents stating they drive 2 hours to Lebanon only to find they can’t fill their prescribed amount and they pay too much. They’ve said it’s cheaper to buy the marijuana on the street. Remember, medically prescribed marijuana treats diagnosed illnesses and is an alternative to opioids. By placing the dispensaries so distant to this region, people believe the best option is to illicitly buy medically prescribed marijuana on the street or, in the future, illegally carry the marijuana across state lines from a store in Massachusetts.
Now we need to prepare for testimony in the House of Representatives. This means people in Cheshire County that would gain from a dispensary within an hour of their home need to testify or send written comments to the committee. Please contact me so we can coordinate a presentation for the House of Representatives hearing.
The Senate Education Committee this week recommended against granting local school boards the ability to determine whether or not to prohibit the possession of firearms in a safe school zone. Polarized views (guns keep us safe vs. I don’t feel safe worrying that guns could be carried into the school) blocked serious consideration of how such a ban might be effective. The bill comes to the floor this week and will be defeated by Republicans. I’ve visited with SAU 29 Keene area; SAU 93, Monadnock area; SAU 60, Fall Mountain area schools; and SAU 92, Hinsdale, and each of them has serious concerns and prefer local control. They are all taking steps to hold discussions on school safety and to apply for, and are receiving, grants for school safety improvements (door locks, security glass, alarm systems).
Several Republican Senators joined Democrats in voting against the prohibition on gender reassignment surgery. Gender dysphoria is a medically identifiable condition, signs of which can be observed at birth and can be diagnosed by the time children are 4 years old.
I co-sponsored a bill to increase by five-fold the amount of customer generated electricity that can be sold back to electrical utilities, from 1 megawatt to 5 megawatts. Think back a few years when there was a 4-fold increases to 1 megawatt and the contest that was. No contest this year. We won’t be studying decriminalizing sex work; I got a bunch of email against this, on which I agreed. Only 4 Senators voted for the study; they liked the provisions to study sex trafficking.
I’m sorry to go partisan, but my Senate Republican colleagues seem to be voting sometimes based upon outside influences. Three examples: My bill on temporary licensure of allied health professionals--licensed respiratory, physical, hearing, speech, and occupational therapist in surrounding states wanting to work in NH—has passed the Senate with an amendment. The original bill passed Health and Human Services 5-0, the full senate 24-0, and was routed into the Finance Committee. Despite having no fiscal impact, it was amended to apply to all licensed professions in NH. Amazing. We had researched allied health professional licensing in New England states, solicited the support of the licensure board and the Office of Licensing, done the fiscal analysis and provided testimony from hiring hospitals, nursing homes and state employment security regarding workforce shortages. The Finance Committee’s expansion of the bill to all 361 different licenses and certifications reviewed by 47 different boards occurred with no hearing, no support from licensing boards, no fiscal analysis, no workforce analysis, and no analysis of the requirements of other states. Even the Office of Professional Licensure and Certification was not notified until I sent them the amendment just prior to the Senate having to vote on the final bill. I was appalled and spoke on the floor to return to the original bill. There was absolutely no Republican support. I sought answers for where the push for ending licensure was coming from; the answer was the Heritage Institute and Americans for Prosperity. Imagine that a guardian-ad-litem from out of state could receive temporary licensure in NH and be appointed to take care of children and elderly. The violations that could occur are beyond my comprehension. I’ll try to return the bill to its original narrow focus when it is considered in the House, but the
fix is in.
Another appalling bill is the repeal of the interest and dividends tax. It would reduce the State’s revenue by $100 million a year when fully implemented. I rose to say it was irresponsible to offer this reduction without also telling our taxpayers from where spending reductions would occur. No response was given. In response to the point that this would make the state more attractive, I offered the fact that NH has the 7th most millionaires per capita among the 50 states and the highest median income. Our policies must be working without this senseless bill. Every Republican Senator voted for this bill.
Another crazy vote aimed at prohibiting deferred action for childhood arrivals, DACAs, from enrolling in adult education courses. However, the bill, SB 525, is so poorly written that it prohibits anyone not a legal resident, including those on a legal path to citizenship (green card and asylum seekers), from taking adult ed courses, which include English speaking, literacy, and workforce training courses. These points were made in the committee hearing by the NH Dept. of Education, 3 adult education directors, and Catholic Charities. In total, 85 of 88 people signed in were against the bill. In spite of my reiterating these points and my calling this nothing more than an anti-DACA bill, the bill passed on a straight party vote. It’s unclear who is behind this hateful bill.
The House is considering SB 193, school vouchers, this week. There’ are hundreds of more legislation being considered. Please keep in touch if you have interests to share.
Sincerely,
Jay
