Mr. Lynch Does The Right Thing

by
Steve MacDonald

Veto!You might have missed this. The Governor just vetoed HB 53. HB 53 was a bill proposed by Kimberly Casey (D-Rock 11) and Jim Garrity (D-Rock 6).  Both of them should be run out of the state for even proposing it.

In short, it would alter 91-A (Right to know law) by redefining what a public body is, making it almost impossible for you to find out what your municipal officials were up to.

I wrote this about it back on May 17th.

It means that (as the Union Leader pointed out this morning) "…any records created by a mayor, town manager or department head, and any records created during municipal staff meetings, would arguably be unavailable to the public."

Is that the kind of open government the Democrat majority in the NH House and Senate is promoting? That the state needs to protect the actions of municipalities from the tax payers that support them?

It is. They passed it. So now, in an election year, we get to see if Governor Lynch agrees with them.

Should the State, governor Lynch, use its power to obscure the peoples business from them?

Well it is still exactly the kind of government the democrat majority wanted for you; overly complex and obscure.  But John Lynch, in an election year, just vetoed it. Thank you governor. This is a significant victory for all the people who stood against this bill.

So why is the veto buried on page B2 in a few column inches in the ‘In Breif’ section? Right to know deserves better, and while I’m no fan of this governor, whatever his reasons he protected the people today. He deserves some credit for that.

Author

  • Steve MacDonald

    Steve is a long-time New Hampshire resident, blogger, and a member of the Board of directors of The 603 Alliance. He is the owner of Grok Media LLC and the Managing Editor of GraniteGrok.com, a former board member of the Republican Liberty Caucus of New Hampshire, and a past contributor to the Franklin Center for Public Policy.

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