We learned that when 7 Republicans and 2 Democrats do not attend House session, that spells major trouble for the bills that the House Republicans want to pass. With such a slim Republican majority (201-198), attendance matters. Add in the usual few “Republicans” that routinely vote with Democrats, and that really spells trouble. Suffice it to say, it was a disappointing and frustrating day for Republicans in the NH House. As they say, you can’t win if you don’t play.
We learned that the Parental Bill of Rights bill (SB272) died a horrible death. Six awful amendments meant to “poison pill” or gut the bill entirely were passed by margins ranging from 7 to 11 votes apart. House Democrats then refused the Republican Table motion citing, “the need for open debate on the issue”. The Tabling motion failed 186-199. So what did House Democrats do next? They totally killed the bill with a motion for indefinite postponement, meaning the bill, or similar legislation, cannot be brought up until the next biennium. So much for their feigned desire for “open debate and discussion” or “examination of the issue” of parental rights!! That motion passed 195-190. Just five votes! Now anything having to do with parental rights in NH is not legislatively possible until after the next election cycle! I hope parents remember this day when they go to the polls in 2024 – that NH Democrats despise them and do not trust them to raise or be responsible for their own kids! I’ll tell you, I have seen their village and I don’t think it should be raising anyone’s child!
We learned that parents now literally have no rights regarding what is happening to their kids in NH public schools. If your child is “confiding” in school employees regarding troubling issues, or gender identity, you may never find out about it. As Majority Leader Jason Osborne (R – Auburn) said, “For the next two years, parents will have to continue to accept that school is a mysterious and secretive black box where they deposit their children… Who knows what happens inside that box, and who knows what comes out the other side.” He also said that it’s a good thing parents have the successful EFA program so that they can pull their kids out of these schools and educate them elsewhere.
We learned that all of those Parental Rights bill votes were roll called so you can see who is a friend of parental rights and who believes schools have a right to raise your kids for you and lie to you, or keep secrets from you, about what your kids are doing in school.
We learned that House Speaker Sherman Packard (R-Londonderry) reacted to the indefinite postponement of SB 272 (establishing the parents’ bill of rights in education) by stating, “I am disheartened House Democrats chose institutions over NH parents today. They chose secrets over parent-involved solutions. They chose to ignore the majority of NH parents who made it clear they were looking for legislative support to help protect their rights and their children. House Republicans do not answer to outside influences, only to those who voted us into office to represent their best interests. Today, NH Republicans proved we will continue to be the voice of reason, and we will always advocate for the well-being of NH parents and their children.”
We learned that SB200 passed (with an amendment) 239-141, which would allow optometrists to administer vaccinations for flu, shingles and Covid19. It’s all about one-stop shopping convenience and money to be made on this. Seeing as optometrists have no record of your health issues like your General Practitioner does, nor do they monitor your vital signs, how would they even know if there could be side effects of these vaccines on your overall health or otherwise adversely affect your well-being? Who knows, maybe they’ll be practicing veterinary medicine soon as well! Especially if you end up needing a seeing-eye dog after getting vaccinated.
We learned that several other awful bills passed with the temporary Democrat majority in charge today. Thank goodness some of those bills will be sent off to a second committee, like finance or commerce, and maybe when they return to the House floor we’ll have enough Republicans on board to actually kill these awful bills.
We learned that the Medicaid expansion bill, SB263, became an all-afternoon fiasco. With 29 Floor amendments in tow, every one roll-called votes, it became a battle of wills to see which side would suffer attrition first. In the end, House Democrats managed to kill every single amendment. In the beginning, we saw vote margins of 184-192, which went to 166-198 as the day wore on. Between House Republicans who were absent and those crossing over, to those that got utterly disgusted and just left in the afternoon, the Medicaid expansion bill, with no sunset provision, was finally passed 193-166.
We learned that even though SB263 was passed, it will go on to the Finance committee and possibly come back to the House when our numbers are much more likely to kill it. Meanwhile, the Medicaid expansion language is in HB2, the budget bill, with a 2-year sunset. There is still hope that sanity in this legislation will prevail.
We learned that throughout the SB263 marathon of amendments, various House Republicans either gave a debate speech or offered Parliamentary Inquiries (PI) for the amendments, and Democrats did as well. Then House Democrats shut down the debate at 4:10 PM with a motion for “Previous Question,” which passed 196-169. This meant that every amendment that pointed out the flaws of this bill would not have a floor debate but only a PI and then a House vote. Essentially, House Democrats denied the explanation and debate of each amendment.
We learned that after this happened, we were subjected to the “Lucy Show.” Rep. Lucy Weber (D–Walpole) single-handedly gave every single PI for every remaining amendment, many times repeating the same talking points and other propaganda regarding passing this Medicaid expansion bill without amendments. In tyrannical fashion, she took over for every member of her caucus. As Rep. Turcotte (R–Barrington) stated, one thing is clear: House Republicans have a deep pool of strong, thoughtful legislators, and Democrats will blindly follow their leadership.”
We learned that every amendment on SB263 was roll called. This required at least ten people standing to second the motion, and after a while, even the Democrats stood up with Republicans to second the roll calls. Can’t say there was no bi-partisan cooperation on that point, except it is probably more appropriate that they needed an excuse to get up and stretch after sitting so long and listening to Rep. Lucy Weber give all her repetitive PIs.
We learned that Rep. Jim Kofalt (R-Wilton) was correct in his assessment of the situation. He stated, “We already passed Medicaid Expansion with a sunset provision, and Medicaid spending has grown to over one-third of our state’s budget and continues to grow as a percentage of our state budget. A program this big, this complex, and this expensive deserves a periodic review and re-authorization by the people’s elected representatives. Limiting debate on this bill and amendments runs counter to the traditions of this body and the sense of openness and transparency that we strive for.”
We learned that in the end, House Democrats proved yet again that they are the party of no debate, the party that supports secrets, lies, and deception, the party that supports government-controlled healthcare and uncontrollable spending. They are the party that rejects House traditions, and they are the party that wants the village to raise your child for you. Remember this in every election, and know that elections have consequences. If they ever get more than temporary control of the legislature, NH as we know it will become just like the Marxist states which surround us. We got a taste of it today.
