Posted on April 16, 2012 by Sunapee News
Capital Comments from State Senator Bob Odell Each week I shuttle between meetings in my office and committee rooms in the State House and the Legislative Office Building across the street. Every meeting, whether with a constituent, a lobbyist or government official, is a learning experience. If I were in school, a reader might compare [...]
Filed under: Capital Comments, Federal Government, New Hampshire, Opinion, Politics & Public Policy, State Government | Tagged: Bob Odell, Business & Economy, New Hampshire, NH Legislature, state audit, state budget | Leave a Comment »
Posted on April 13, 2012 by Sunapee News
Capital Comments from Senator Bob Odell “Crossover” or midpoint in the 2012 session, was finished a week earlier amidst some of the busiest legislative days of the year. That meant last week there were too few bills ready for either the House or Senate to meet. A Wednesday not in Concord is very rare. The [...]
Filed under: Capital Comments, Commerce, New Hampshire, Opinion, Politics & Public Policy, State Government | Tagged: Bob Odell, chickens, economy and jobs, manufacturing, NH Legislature, PSNH | Leave a Comment »
Posted on April 13, 2012 by Sunapee News
“The haunting cry of the common loon is vanishing from many New England waters. Whether we hear it much longer depends on us.” – from “Call of the Wild: Loons” by Kristen Laine (Yankee magazine, July/August 2011) The Loon Preservation Committee and The New Hampshire Lakes Association are asking for help to protect our loons [...]
Filed under: Energy & Environment, Lake Sunapee, Nature & Outdoors, New Hampshire, Opinion, Politics & Public Policy, State Government | Tagged: common loon, Fishing tackle, I-petition, Loon Preservation Committee, New Hampshire, NH Legislature, threatened species | Leave a Comment »
Posted on March 3, 2012 by Sunapee News
Advocacy alert: SB 224 is critically important legislation to New Hampshire’s loons. (Click on the links at the bottom of the article for more information and contacts.) A fresh layer of snow blanketed New Hampshire this week, but rain arrived this weekend, and warmer days will follow. In the spring, when the ice melts away [...]
Filed under: Nature & Outdoors, New Hampshire, Opinion, Politics & Public Policy, Recreation | Tagged: Birds, Environment, Fish & Game, Loons, New Hampshire, NH Lakes & Ponds, NH Lakes Association, NH Legislature | 1 Comment »
Posted on May 9, 2011 by Sunapee News
By State Senator Bob Odell “Tweet, tweet” Senators jokingly went back and forth. On Thursday, the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee had its final public hearing for the 2011 session. And the hearing was on House Bill 651 allowing the sale and possession of monk, also called Quaker parakeets. The end of our hearings [...]
Filed under: Energy & Environment, New Hampshire, Opinion, Politics & Public Policy, State Government | Tagged: Bob Odell, Monk Parakeet, NH Legislature, Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, University System of New Hampshire | Leave a Comment »
Posted on April 26, 2011 by Sunapee News
By Senator Bob Odell “This is amazing,” Diane Woods of Durham said, as she began her testimony before last Thursday’s Senate Finance Committee public hearing on the budget bills, House Bills 1 and 2. More than 400 people signed up to speak. And many of them got to speak during the 8 and 3/4 hours [...]
Filed under: Capital Comments, Courts, New Hampshire, Opinion, Politics & Public Policy, State Government | Tagged: Bob Odell, NH Budget, NH Courts, NH Legislature, Public hearing | Leave a Comment »
Posted on April 26, 2011 by Sunapee News
Last week the New Hampshire Senate approved the so-call “circuit court bill” sponsored by Rep. Gary Richardson (D-Hopkinton) that will revamp the state’s court system. “The reorganization would bring lots of staffing and management changes and reductions, with an overall projected savings of almost $1.5 million in staffing costs in the next four years,” wrote [...]
Filed under: Courts, Opinion, Politics & Public Policy, State Government | Tagged: E-Lobbyist, Front Door Politics, Judiciary, NH Courts, NH Legislature | Leave a Comment »
Posted on April 21, 2011 by Sunapee News
Today’s Daily Dispatch from Front Door Politics reports on today’s budget hearing in Concord. Click on the link below for the entire article. Today’s Dispatch also mentions that the House budget would abolish the Department of Cultural Resources and defund the New Hampshire State Council of the Arts. “If passed, that would make New Hampshire [...]
Filed under: Politics & Public Policy, State Government | Tagged: Front Door Politics, NH Budget, NH Legislature, Senate Finance committee | Leave a Comment »
Posted on April 18, 2011 by Sunapee News
From Front Door Politics… “Bill Tracker: tracking the laws that matter to you. Search, sort, understand.Want to know who voted for what in the N.H. House and Senate? Our 2011 Bill Tracker now includes links to all roll call votes, as well as links to the text of every bill we’ve covered so far this [...]
Filed under: Journalism, Politics & Public Policy, State Government | Tagged: Bill Tracker, Front Door Politics, NH Legislature | Leave a Comment »
Posted on April 17, 2011 by Sunapee News
In this week’s Capital Comments, Senator Odell writes about the Senate Finance Committee and its works on the budget; the performance of “Annie” at the Newport Opera House; and Turning Points. By State Senator Bob Odell While Mondays and Fridays are usually quiet days in the State House, the Senate Finance Committee is using those [...]
Filed under: Capital Comments, New Hampshire, Opinion, Politics & Public Policy, State Government | Tagged: Bob Odell, Newport Opera House, NH Budget, NH Legislature, NH Senate | Leave a Comment »
Posted on April 17, 2011 by Sunapee News
They Said It! Tensions are running high in Concord this session, as the following references to demons, jalapeno peppers, and a hostile press in this week’s “They Said It!” reflect. via They Said It! | Front Door Politics.
Filed under: New Hampshire, Opinion, Politics & Public Policy, State Government | Tagged: Front Door Politics, NH Legislature | Leave a Comment »
Posted on February 11, 2011 by Sunapee News
In what is shaping up to be the busiest period yet for lawmakers this session, the House will meet twice next week to vote on dozens of bills — on Tuesday after Gov. John Lynch’s budget address to the Legislature and on Wednesday for its regularly scheduled session.Two bills that we have reported on this [...]
Filed under: Commerce, Government, New Hampshire, Opinion, Politics & Public Policy | Tagged: Daily Dispatch, Front Door Politics, NH Legislature, NHPTV, Public television | Leave a Comment »
Posted on February 10, 2011 by Sunapee News
More than three years after the Legislature mandated public kindergarten in New Hampshire, the debate has returned with a House proposal that would repeal the law. via Back to Basics: Repealing Public Kindergarten | Front Door Politics.
Filed under: Education, Government, New Hampshire, Opinion, Politics & Public Policy | Tagged: Daily Dispatch, Front Door Politics, Kindergarten, NH Legislature | Leave a Comment »
Posted on February 9, 2011 by Sunapee News
By Jessie Levine / New London town administrator Those of us in town and school government who are charged with budget preparation are faced with the perennial challenge of trying to provide the same (or better) service at the same (or lower) cost. It goes without saying that our task is made harder by decisions [...]
Filed under: Government, New Hampshire, New London, Opinion, Politics & Public Policy, State Government | Tagged: Jessie Levine, New Hampshire Retirement System, NH Legislature, Pension reform, public employees | Leave a Comment »
Posted on February 8, 2011 by Sunapee News
Republican leadership at the State House has made tax cutting and budget balancing top priorities and today, the House Ways and Means Committee will hold public hearings and may have executive session votes on nine tax-related bills. They include three measures we are watching that could lead to tens of millions in tax cuts on [...]
Filed under: Commerce, Government, New Hampshire, Opinion, Politics & Public Policy | Tagged: Daily Dispatch, Front Door Politics, gambling, NH Legislature, rooms and meals, tax cuts, tobacco sales | Leave a Comment »
Capital Comments: Learning for legislators is on-going
Capital Comments from State Senator Bob Odell Each week I shuttle between meetings in my office and committee rooms in the State House and the Legislative Office Building across the street. Every meeting, whether with a constituent, a lobbyist or government official, is a learning experience. If I were in school, a reader might compare [...]
Filed under: Capital Comments, Federal Government, New Hampshire, Opinion, Politics & Public Policy, State Government | Tagged: Bob Odell, Business & Economy, New Hampshire, NH Legislature, state audit, state budget | Leave a Comment »