Recent Activities in the New Hampshire House

The William O'Brien led NH House has been outdistancing itself in reckless and bizarre legislative activities lately. You can check out the text and status of house bills mentioned below at http://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/bill_status, but take a blood pressure pill before you log in.

Recent house bills include; HB1413-FN directing NH to withdraw from No Child Left Behind which would reduce Federal funding of NH education by $62 million, HB1360 that undermines the rule-making authority of the NH Department of Education, HB1354 relative to a person's residence for voting and legal purposes which would deny rights to NH students with temporary out-of state residences, HB1574-FN that repeals the requirement for employers to allow a lunch break after a prescribed number of hours worked, HB1423 that attacks public safety by
eliminating the requirement that a citizen using deadly force not be the initial aggressor, HB1424-FN that allows parents to withdraw their students from any program to which they object and prevents a school board from disapproving a parent's curriculum for a child.

So much for the reckless legislation. Completely frivolous legislation and resolutions that have been discussed in Concord recently include; HB1430 designating the Thompson/Center Contender pistol as the official state firearm, HB1580 requiring an explicit reference to the Magna Carta in any bill or resolution regarding individual rights or liberties, HCR2 that supports the Arizona immigration law, HB1285-FN repealing the state art fund, HCR32 that urges Congress to withdraw from the United Nations, and HB1147 establishing March 31 as Terri Schiavo Day.

It's good that HB1430 was rejected in committee because the subject pistol can be ordered over the internet and this would have been viewed as a government product endorsement. Was this a Republican plan for raising fees through product advertizing promotions? How about a State of NH cell phone or TV set?

Most Republicans want to live in the past, but returning to the Magna Carta in 1215 AD is a bit of a stretch. How about revising HB 1430 to establish the cudgel as the state weapon?  (The blunderbuss didn't come into general use until the 18^th century).

Check out the voting on the above bills that reached the house floor. It would appear that we need to replace the majority of our representatives in Concord in the next election if we expect responsible and reasonable legislation in the future.