Representative Carol McGuire represents House District 29. This is the floterial district covering the three Merrimack County towns of Pittsfield, Epsom, and Allenstown. She updates her constituents via a weekly newsletter, where she describes her work in committee and in full House sessions. This summary provides a great overview of what is really going on in the Legislature, beyond what we usually see in the headlines. We thought it would be useful to share this information with all Republicans in Merrimack County, so I am adding her newsletter to the Merrimack County GOP site. The following is from her April 9th Newsletter.
If you wish to receive this emailed to you directly, email your request to Rep. McGuire. Previous volumes are also available for download: Your StateHouse 2014-11 March 19and Your StateHouse 2014-12 March 26 and Your StateHouse 2014-13 April 2.
This week, the House continues to hold hearings on Senate bills, and is starting to vote them out of committee. My committee [ed. Executive Departments and Administration] heard two bills. The first, SB222, restructured the department of administrative services, and created a deputy commissioner in the department of information technology. Really dry, and nobody (except the affected departments) seemed to care. SB399, on ethics in public contracting, set up a basic outline of what is expected in contracting and procurement, and set up a committee to study more centralized purchasing.
SB220, updating the electrical code and allowing the electrical inspectors to charge for temporary facilities (fairs, carnivals, etc), was recommended to pass, 14-4. I was opposed because the the code is going to mean homeowners and commercial facilities are going to have higher costs for their electrical installations, with minimal improvements, and also because I still had those rumors that the bill would cause problems – somehow! But unless I learn something definite, I’m not going to argue against the bill.
SB261, including retirees of the state employees’ association in the state health plan, was amended for clarity and to include all such retirees, then recommended to pass, 13-5. I was opposed because I’m not sure the union employees should be treated as if they were state employees, and also because my committee has been vigilant about not including any more people in this plan.
On a less confrontational note, we unanimously recommended to pass SB282, on disciplinary actions by the architects’ board; SB285, changing the title of the executive secretary of the dental board to “executive director;” SB376, requiring directors of pooled risk management organizations for towns to disclose their financial interests; and SB418, moving firefighters’ memorial day from October to September. SB305, as amended by the sponsor, was also recommended unanimously.
SB405, registering radon mitigation system installers, was amended to clarify it’s only airborne radon, not water borne, and recommended to pass, 11-7. This one I will be fighting on the floor because it’s totally unnecessary. Having the state maintain a list of professional certifications is redundant – the companies proudly post them! And the need for this bill was one constituent who had a bad experience with their radon system – nobody else showed up, nobody else even reported that somebody they knew had a problem with their radon system! These things aren’t rocket science, and both radon systems we’ve bought were professionally installed with no problems. And to top it off, this was the only question of professional licensing I’ve ever seen considered where not even one radon system installer showed up to ask for it!
All in all, a quiet week. I presented two bills to the Senate: SB1300, exempting low volume seed sellers from licensing requirements, and HB469, on time limits for board disciplinary actions. Both were well received, with no opposition, and the committee voted unanimously to recommend both to pass.
The most fun was with the fourth graders getting a tour of the state house: Pittsfield on Tuesday, Allenstown on Thursday, and Epsom coming up on Monday. It’s always a pleasure to meet them, and the teachers and parents who accompany them.