Brody's Notes... Legislative Round-Up

Staff Reports

New Hampshire Republican Legislative Leadership Release 2012 Agenda- Gay Marriage Repeal Missing

CONCORD, NEW HAMPSHIRE --The New Hampshire state House legislative leadership announced Thursday they will focus on the state's economic growth and education initiatives in the 2012 session but are leaving social issues out of the agenda including a repeal of the state's same-sex marriage law.

House Majority Leader Representative David, 'D.J' Bettencourt (R-Salem) who formally introduced the House Republican agenda told reporters that the House was focusing on changes to economic and education policy that would bring job creators to New Hampshire and put citizens back to work.

Bettencourt also said that lawmakers did not need to spend much time on same-sex marriage, which is the target of several bills aiming to repeal it.

"If their minds aren't already made up, it's something they're intimately familiar with," said Bettencourt of his fellow Republicans.

Other controversial social issues such as gun rights, immigration and labor laws were all also absent from the agenda. Bettencourt told reporters such bills distract from the Legislature's real initiatives.

"Unfortunately, a lot of the hard work that needs to take place to get people back to work here in New Hampshire isn't going to be exciting, and there's going to be a temptation to take a small, isolated group of bills and try to make them representative of what goes on here," said Bettencourt.

Democratic leaders said in a news conference Thursday afternoon Republicans were hurting jobs, not creating them. House Democratic Leader Terie Norelli from Portsmouth pointed to a bill to remove a requirement Democrats passed in 2008 for municipalities to provide workforce housing.

"I think they look to how to undo things instead of ... letting positive things play out, or even leaving things alone," said Norelli.

House leaders said their focus on education this session would improve New Hampshire's job market.

Education initiatives included an amendment to the state constitution giving state lawmakers authority over education standards and funding. Other proposals would enable parents to send their children to private schools using scholarships funded through business tax credits, and allow parents to have a greater say in what their children are taught.

Restoring funding to public universities, which was cut nearly in half in the budget, was not on the agenda.

House leaders said the agenda was created after hours of meetings and surveys of the Republican caucus. ~ The Associated Press via The Boston Globe