So, Dave Wheeler and his acolytes seem to have convinced some NH folks that former Senator Bob Clegg, Wheeler’s opponent in the Executive Council 5 race, gave unilateral, dictatorial powers to whoever was sitting in the corner office when and if disaster struck when he sponsored HB 1461 following the 9-11 attacks on the United States.
ANALYSIS: FALSE.
HB 1461 repealed NH RSA 107-C:5, “Emergency Management Act“, embedded, in 2002 and amended it to make the governor’s “dictatorial” powers subject to an override by the legislature, power the General Court never had.
The amended statute DID NOT CHANGE any of the enumerated powers that existed in the now repealed 107-C:5 but provided specifically that “(c) The legislature may terminate a state of emergency by concurrent resolution adopted by a majority vote of each chamber.”
Of course, which party controls the General Court determines the intestinal fortitude of legislators to take on a sitting governor. Rather than strap on their big girl panties and demand the governor cease and desist, Wheeler’s pals point their fingers at former Senator Clegg, blaming him for their cowardice and not having had the foresight to see a time in which a governor might not share the same party affiliation as the majority of the General Court.
Not having done their homework but listening to the last persons they talked to, the wailing of the current minority has done nothing to sway the current majority which – for nothing more than cheap political gain – is allowing the current governor to destroy NHs economy and ruin the lives of thousands of NH citizens. Some even tried to use Representative Ken Weyler’s 2002 objection as proof positive of unilateral Republican objection to HB 1461. Odd, when leaving 107-C the way it was, the governor could not be overriden. Maybe that was the military chain-of-command thing in Representative Weyler speaking…..
Fact: 143 Republicans voted for HB 1461 including Senators (then House Reps) Jeb Bradley, Joe Kenny, Chuck Morse and Sharon Carson, Robert LeTourneau, Frank Guinta, John Hunt, Norm Major, Fran Wendelboe and Neal Kurk, noted big government guy. 74 Republicans voted against it.
But even Governor Sununu seems confused: “Our office will continue to follow the law as was passed in 2002 granting the Governor authority to take immediate action during this statewide crisis. It is the legislature’s prerogative to check in with the courts and we will always maintain a collaborative relationship with them. Ensuring New Hampshire families receive immediate emergency relief is paramount and the Governor remains committed to that goal.”
Do your homework.
Know the facts.
Or, you can point fingers. “
