Capital Comments from State Senator Bob Odell

The first “big bill” of the session hit the Senate floor on Thursday. I think of a big bill being a piece of legislation that gets lots media attention, there are clear divisions amongst Senators and their feelings are strongly held and there has been plenty of lobbying around it. The legislation fitting that description on Thursday, if enacted, will prohibit smoking in bars and restaurants. After two hours of debate, eight amendments offered and defeated, the bill (SB 42) passed on a roll call vote of 17-7. Last year, the same bill was defeated in the Senate by one vote.

The bill now goes to the House and if passed there, the Governor has said he will sign it into law. If that happens, New Hampshire will join all the other New England states, many other states including California, and hundreds of towns and cities including New York City and Washington, D. C., which have already banned smoking in bars and restaurants.

Although there were only 24 bills on Thursday’s calendar, the day seemed to drag on as everyone knew that the one week winter break for legislators would begin the next day. There was another problem, too. Several members were suffering from colds, the flu and possibly a case or two of food poisoning. The winter break had come at a very good time.

The last three bills of the day dealt with the Lottery Commission. The Commission handles the various lottery products and scratch cards sold throughout the state. The profits go 100% to the educational trust fund for the state’s support of public education. Central to one bill (SB 73) was raising the maximum scratch ticket price to $30 from $20. Most of the lottery business today is in scratch or instant tickets and the Lottery Commission management believes the state will increase annual revenue by $2 million with the higher priced ticket. After a brief debate, the bill passed 17 to 7. Another bill (SB 144) will allow the Lottery Commission to have commissioned sellers work at events like the speedway in Loudon during NASCAR racing. That passed quickly.

The third bill (SB 87) found a different fate. An audit of the Lottery Commission in 2004 found that there were two laws governing pay for commissioners. Under one law the three commissioners would each receive $2,400. Under another law each commissioner would receive $7,375 and the chairman $13,829. Guess which one has been in use? Yes, the commissioners have been paid since the 1970s under the more generous statute. There were also questions raised about some contracting proposals. Seeing that there was some confusion on the bill, the Senate President called a brief recess. After the recess, as Chair of the Ways and Means Committee, I moved that the bill be recommitted to committee so we can work out the details at the committee level and come back with a better bill down the road.

The morning started with one of the most appreciated annual events in the State Senate called Read Across America. The National Education Association in New Hampshire for ten years has organized this program. Two students from each senate district read to their Senator on the Senate floor. Senators and students alike put on Dr. Seuss hats. That’s right, those funny stove pipe red and white ones. It is a great chance to celebrate reading. My two students, Brennan Corrigan and Brianna Dumeny from the Washington Elementary School, were excellent readers. Incidentally, this is the 50th anniversary of Dr. Seuss’ book, “Cat in the Hat.”

In his recent budget address, Governor Lynch placed emphasis and some financial commitments behind early childhood learning initiatives. There is a strong consensus among educational leaders that developing learning and social skills in the early years gives children a better chance at success when they enter kindergarten and grade school. The Governor’s comments drew a round of applause but I think the importance of a $90,000 increase in funding for Head Start was missed. Starting in 1988, the state supplemented federal funding with an annual appropriation of $330,000. Along the way that commitment was lowered to $229,000 and the Governor is bringing our support up to levels established years ago.

At the invitation of Bill Marcello, Executive Director of Southwestern Community Services, I joined our new Congressman, Paul Hodes, Friday morning for a visit to the Newport Head Start at the Ice House Plaza. The Newport program, which currently serves 36 children, is one of seven local Head Start operations managed by Southwestern in Sullivan and Cheshire Counties.

Recognizing that parents are the first and most important teachers, Head Start complements what parents can do. In my visit, I heard parents tell of the positive changes Head Start has had on their children. One mother told of how her son did not talk until he went to Head Start; now he talks all the time and has picked up social skills that have given him added personal confidence. The program is for children 3-5 years of age from families that fall below federal income criteria. For those of us who remember President Lyndon Johnson and his “war on poverty,” Head Start and the Community Action Program (Southwestern Community Services is one) are the two surviving programs from that era. Both were created in 1965.

Congressman Hodes also toured the Richards Library and saw the beauty and resource the library is for the greater Newport community.