A Quiet Meeting Ends up in a Contentious Debate

As predicted, the legislature supported the Governor’s vetoes of three bills when it met last week. The Senate voted unanimously against the motions to overturn the two vetoes on its calendar and the House did the same on the veto before it (65-245). And a correction was made to insure continued funding of a $4.7 million court renovation project in Laconia. That should have been it. Not quite

During the Wednesday morning session, the Senate had an unexpectedly contentious, heated debate on a new issue. The legislature passed two bills this year dealing with compulsory school attendance. One (HB 87) provides an exemption for compulsory attendance for students going to school out-of-state. It passed the Senate on a voice vote on June 7th. Another bill (SB 18), which raises the drop out age for students, passed the Senate back on March 15 by a vote of 17-7. The trouble is that both were signed into law with different effective dates which could mean, based on the language of the bills, that the new drop out age could be in place this month instead of in 2009 as intended.

A reader might ask, “what is the problem?

There is no problem for some. The Department of Education has already sent a letter to school districts telling them the department would not enforce the law imposing the new drop out age this month. And given that the bills had been signed into law, it was the executive branch of government that was now in charge. The Governor and Commissioner of Education had plenty of opportunity to ask legislators to change the laws if they saw a big problem. Neither they, nor their staff, spoke to me, for example, about it.

Some Senators wanted to correct the conflict between the two bills now to avoid possible lawsuits by passing a new bill to correct the error. Opponents said to pass a new law … even one making a correction … without a public hearing and public input was an abuse of the legislative process. In the end, on a party line vote, a motion requiring a two-thirds vote to suspend Senate rules failed. The error will be corrected with legislation in the normal process starting in January. I would hope tempers will be cooler then like weather outside.

Month in and month out, citizens acting on their own behalf or representing groups of interested parties offer legislators their advice on issues important to them. Agriculture is a key part of the New Hampshire economy, contributing hundreds of millions of dollars to the annual gross product of the state. Plus, agriculture helps keep open spaces that attracts visitors and helps support our wildlife. That is important to New Hampshire sportsmen, especially hunters and trappers.

Friday night, Representative Carla Skinder (Cornish) and her husband, Jon Woodhull, hosted the fifth annual Sullivan County Farm Bureau Agricultural Policy Dinner at their beautiful farm. Every year legislators have an opportunity to talk with the agriculture commissioner, cooperative extension staff, farm bureau officials and local farmers. This year, Representative Jay Phinizy (Acworth) offered a report as the new Chair of the House Environment and Agriculture Committee. He reviewed a number of actions taken by the legislature in the 2007 session that are directly impacting local agriculture like the new state price support program for dairy producers. Outgoing Commissioner of the Department of Agriculture, Markets and Food, Steve Taylor, reported on a pretty good year for agriculture. Many factors, often localized to a region in New Hampshire, affect the success of the year for agriculture. But for crops and dairy, clearly the weather and high prices paid to farmers for their milk were critical factors in an overall positive year. Commissioner Taylor also noted that New Hampshire and Massachusetts bucked the national trend of having fewer farms each year. Many new farms with inexperienced farmers often needed advice and help as they try to manage several animal and vegetable and fruit production efforts. That is in marked contrast to our traditional farms, often passed down through generations, with experienced managers.

Don Clarke, acting Executive Director of the Fish and Game Department, pointed out the value of farmland to hunters. Most hunting takes place on private property and much of that is on agricultural land. Conflicts between landowners and hunters encourages the posting of land which further reduces acreage available for hunting. Chuck Miner, from Fish and Game, explained his role in building relationships between hunters and landowners including farmers to insure that we have open spaces for hunting in the future.

Meetings like the annual agricultural event are an enjoyable and productive way to create an interchange on broad issues affecting agriculture and our state’s economy and for legislators to hear directly about the impact of their actions on local farmers.

The Sullivan County United Way has a new, very visible office at 23 Main Street in Newport. United Ways, through their fund-raising and grant making, help bring a sense of community to a region. With the new office, Sullivan County United Way affirms it resurgence as a leader in the county. The ribbon cutting was followed by the first “business after hours” hosted by four chambers of commerce. The Newport, Lake Sunapee, Grantham and Greater Claremont chambers pulled together for the first time at one event in support of the United Way.