And so another important election year is upon us. Not just for the position of President, Senators or Representatives but also for the individual states. Because here in America we favor transparency, the way our elected officials vote is very important but most often not known to the average citizen. Same goes for our elected officials representing us in Concord. Let’s see how some of these elected officials voted on a few issues, shall we?
Reproductive rights: CACR 23 was an amendment to the New Hampshire Constitution sponsored by Democrat Rep. Amanda Toll along with nine other Representatives, two of whom are Republicans. Under the tireless leadership of Rep. Toll, the constitutional amendment, which would have enshrined reproductive rights, did get a majority vote in the House the first time. Unfortunately, the vote failed to receive the needed two thirds majority in the full House, and was therefore, defeated.
HB 1248 was a proposed 15 DAY abortion ban sponsored by Republican Reps. David Testerman and John Sellers. HB 1541 was a 15 WEEK abortion ban sponsored by the same two Reps. and Rep. Kristine Perez, who is also a member of the “Young Americans for Liberty”. Luckily for NH women of child bearing age, these two extremist bills were defeated.
Voting rights: HB 1074 had to do with campaign contributions by limited liability companies (LLC), ensuring they adhere to the same laws that apply to unions. Sponsored by Democrat Reps. Kat McGhee and Connie Lane, the bill was defeated. HB 1364 would raise the penalties for harassing or intimidating election officials. Sponsored by Democrat Reps. Ellen Read, Russell Muirhead, Joseph Guthrie and Eric Gallager this bill was also defeated. However, HB 1569, the bill meant to make voting harder in NH, passed. Sponsored by Republican “Liberty Alliance” member Rep. Bob Lynn, the voter affidavit system, which has worked just fine for more than a decade and has hardly ever been needed, will be going bye-bye. Be sure to have a current drivers license or passport, if you have neither, well . . . too bad. No ballot for you.
Guns: HB 1050 was legislation sponsored by Democrat Reps. David Meuse, Ray Newman, Angela Brennan, Amy Bradley, Loren Selig and Mark Vallone. It was meant to establish a voluntary waiver of a person’s right to purchase a gun. In other words, if you wanted to be put on a “do not sell to” list, it should be your right to do so. It would also be your right to remove yourself from said list in the future if you wanted to. The bill was defeated. However, HB 1336, sponsored by Republican “Liberty Alliance” and “Young Americans for Liberty” members, Reps. Daniel Popovici-Muller, Bob Lynn, James Spillane, Tony Lekas, Judy Aron and Jim Kofalt was passed. This legislation takes away the right of a private employer to prohibit employees from having guns in their vehicles on the employers property.
Future articles will detail such issues as education (hot topic) and economic bills, who sponsored them and whether they were defeated or passed. You will also see a pattern; common sense bills are generally defeated, while bills leaning to the extreme are passed.