State Senate Update

Organization Day

Organization Day for the New Hampshire legislature is the first Wednesday in December on even-numbered years; it is the day when all state representatives and senators are sworn in and start their duties.  The first order of business on Organization Day, after senators have been sworn in, is for them to choose a president to lead the state Senate for the next two years.  I was honored to be chosen once again by my fellow senators to be Senate president. 

The selection process itself was overseen by another state senator with local connections, as Sen. Bob Odell of Lempster was our temporary presiding officer until a president was chosen.  Sen. Odell grew up in Milford and is a 1961 graduate of Milford High School, which I believe was the last class to use the old high school building on Elm Street.  In fact, Sen. Odell told me they actually held their graduation ceremony at the “new” high school on West Street, even though they had never had any classes there.

Committee Assignments

Being Senate president gives me many additional responsibilities.  An important early task for the president is to determine which senators are on which policy committees.  There are eleven policy committees in the Senate and each committee has a major area of focus such as commerce or transportation or finance.  Decisions on committee assignments are important because every bill that goes through the Senate has to go to a policy committee for a public hearing and subsequent deliberation.  The committee then must make a formal recommendation on the bill to the full Senate.  It is important, then, to have people familiar with the committee’s focus area and/or those who have an interest in that area serving on the committee. 

Legislative Pay

The extra responsibilities of being Senate president do come with a pay increase some may consider significant, twenty five dollars.  The Senate president and House speaker each receive $125 per year, while other senators and representatives receive $100 per year.  This rate of pay has been enshrined in the New Hampshire Constitution since 1890.  Prior to 1890, legislators were paid $5 per day while the legislature was “in session,” even on days when there were no meetings.  There were no controls on how long the legislative session year lasted and, in the years following the Civil War, the session year grew longer and longer until the legislators were making almost three times the average per capita income of New Hampshire residents.  The people of New Hampshire did not like that arrangement so the 1890 amendment to the constitution was passed, setting legislators’ salaries at $100 per year.

When the $100 annual salary was established in 1890 it represented about 25% of the average per-capita income.  An equivalent percentage today would yield about $11,500, but the $100 figure itself was used in the Constitution and has remained unchanged.  It is certainly interesting to know the history behind some of the inner workings of the legislature.

[If you have any questions or concerns about state government or legislation, please feel free to contact me.   My office number is 603-271-8472 and my email address is Peter.Bragdon@leg.state.nh.us.  Please be sure to include your mailing address in any messages, as messages from residents of district 11 towns (Amherst, Merrimack, Milford and Wilton) receive the highest priority.]