by Christopher Maidment |
Surrounded by police officers and writing “God bless Officer Briggs and his family,” on the official signature page for HB455, Governor Sununu sent a clear message that he supports the death penalty in New Hampshire, setting the stage for a crucial veto vote on May 23, far ahead of the traditional “Veto Day” in the New Hampshire legislature, which normally happens in September.
As the Concord Monitor reports:
House Speaker Steve Shurtleff has a “tentative” plan to attempt an override of Gov. Chris Sununu’s death penalty repeal veto next week, according to House leadership officials, a pivotal move that could lead the repeal bill to pass into law by the end of the month.
Shurtleff intends to call a vote to override Sununu’s veto on the bill during a voting session next Thursday – May 23 – officials in the Speaker’s office said. That vote, if successful, would send the repeal bill to the state Senate.
While House Bill 455, the bill which would repeal capital punishment from State law, passed the House and Senate with a “veto-proof” majority (greater than 2/3rds), it will have to reach that same threshold on the sustaining vote.
The New Hampshire Democrat Speaker moving this vote up four months to May, instead of September, is obviously a purely political move, aiming to give Governor Sununu a political black eye and bolster Democrat morale heading into a vital budget showdown, set to start at the end of this month.
It now begs a crucial question of the Republican caucus, how to vote Thursday? Those who voted for passage of this bill, nearly half of the Republican caucus, certainly did so on principle. NOT for a pat on the head by the NH Media and Ray Buckley, Chair of the NH Democrat Party, as some may say, but on a logical fact-based basis in a principled manner. To infer or accuse otherwise is insipid and asinine. But, for those principled Representatives, a tough choice lies ahead. Stand on your principles or send a message back to the Democrat leadership that they will not play along with their partisan gamesmanship.
DJ Bettencourt, from the Governor’s Office, had this to say:
I’ll leave it at this: I’m a supporter of the death penalty. But I greatly respect those that disagree. I think this is an issue where reasonable and principled people can disagree. But my point as it pertains to next week is that the Democrats have pretended that the override vote is about conscience and principle when it is not. It’s all politics for them. It started when they ensured that this was the first bill to reach the Governor’s desk. The reason for this is because they knew he would veto it and they could embarrass him by having Republicans join with them to have Sununu’s first veto of the session overridden. That reality was verified when they said that next Thursday would be the override vote (rather than the traditional “veto day” that usually happens in the fall) …unless they didn’t have the votes. In which case the Speaker will string things out until he can outflank Republicans and Gov. Sununu. I believe Republicans should stand against this partisan gamesmanship.
And I couldn’t agree more. We, as a party, can disagree respectfully and on principle regarding this issue. Assigning malintent to half of the GOP caucus in the House, and attaching a red-herring abortion argument, is not a winner.
For those 72 Republican Representatives who voted to repeal the Death Penalty — I personally thank you for that vote. Repealing the death penalty is a worthy cause, and I applaud your principled vote. I would urge you to reconsider your vote for this Thursday, and blow-back at the Democrat blow-hards who are using this issue to bludgeon the Governor and score some cheap political points.
When the Democrats are ready to deal with this issue and give it the respect and seriousness it deserves, we can revisit it and repeal it then. Until then, we are not in danger of abusing a law that hasn’t been exercised to its completion in nearly 80 years. If we rush to the finish line, while straying outside our lane, we are sure to be disqualified – just as Dancer’s Image was on May 4th.
