Right to Know New Hampshire, the recently formed watch dog and advocacy group dedicated to defending and expanding our right to know what our government officials are doing in our name and with our money, will hold a meeting tomorrow morning at nine to discuss pending legislation that could harm or help the state’s Right to Know Law. The group will discuss additional information the New Hampshire House Judiciary Committee has requested on bills they’ve already heard in public session. The public is invited and encouraged to attend the meeting which will be held in the offices of the Coalition of New Hampshire Taxpayers located on the second floor of the building at eight Main Street in Concord.
Things got a little dicey for administrators of the Hollis Brookline Cooperative School District last night as parents turned out for a presentation on the Common Core national standards. Administrators soaked up seventy of the ninety minutes allotted for the presentation and parent questions, leaving a mere twenty minutes for members of the large crowd to ask their questions. Only a handful got the chance. Many disgruntled parents left without the opportunity to ask their question as administrators shut the meeting down at the advertised time instead of letting the public speak. Nice. Those who got the chance asked why the district didn’t hold an informational meeting three years ago, BEFORE imposing it in the district, commented on how their kids were redoing last year’s math, and challenged administrators on many missing facts about Common Core in their presentation. Earlier this month, Girard at Large released an email from Diane Pauer, a member of the school district’s budget committee, that called out School Board Chair Tom Solon for either not knowing about the realignment of the district’s curriculum and purchase of related materials to implement the standards or lying about it. Looks like the War Over Core is on in yet another New Hampshire community.
Speaking of Common Core, House Bill fifteen oh eight will be heard in room two oh seven of the Legislative Office Building in Concord starting at eleven thirty on Thursday February sixth. If passed, the bill would require the state board of education to terminate all plans, programs, activities, and expenditures relative to the implementation of the Common Core national education standards which have been adopted or may be adopted by the state board, including any assessments and instruction based upon such standard. Reps in our listening area who’ve sponsored the bill include Will Infantine, Republican of Manchester, Linette Peterson and Jeanine Notter, Republicans of Merrimack, and Al Baldasaro, Republican of Londonderry. Opponents of the national standards that have roiled the state and nation are urging folks to appear at the hearing, send their testimony to the committee or otherwise notify their representatives that they want New Hampshire to dump the national standards in favor of something better. We’ve linked to the legislation and all the other necessary links for folks to track it (type HB1508 into the box next to “Bill Number”) and make themselves known from this newscast at Girard at Large dot com.
News from our own backyard continues after this.
The New Hampshire Senate voted yesterday to approve Senate Bill three thirty three, which kills the so called R V Tax. After the G O P legislature terminated the Campground Tax in two thousand ten, the state’s Department of Revenue Administration attempted to tax R Vs as homes under the property tax; those waskawy bureaucrats! The bill will go to the House later in the session.
Looks like ten more beds will be added to the New Hampshire State Hospital sooner than later thanks to legislation passed yesterday in the Senate. Senator David Boutin, Republican of Hooksett, thanked his colleagues for passing House Bill six twenty four and Senate Bill two thirty five which, combined authorize and fund a ten bed Mental Health Stabilization Unit at the state hospital. Boutin noted recent tragic events at the Elliot Hospital and the increased burden on emergency rooms across the state as a reason why the legislation, which actually just fast tracked an existing pending project, was necessary. The beds will now be available a year ahead of their original schedule.
New Hampshire Republicans are sharing Democratic Congresswoman Annie Kuster‘s pucker up moment with President Barry after he gave his Mistake of the Union Address Tuesday night. They’ve released a video of the Congresswoman wrapping her arms around the President’s neck as she gave him a sweet peck on the cheek, then patting him on the back as he went by. Don’t worry, we’ve linked to Annie’s special kiss, so you can see it for yourself. State G O P Chair Jennifer Horn issued a statement saying that instead of puckering with the Prez and voting with him ninety four percent of the time, Kuster should embrace the people of her district that have been devastated by his polices. Personally, I think she kissed him because he’s the only other person in American who doesn’t seem to know where Benghazi is. Remember on February 6th, we’ll be moderating a debate between Republican congressional candidates State Rep. Marilinda Garcia of Salem and former State Senator Col. Gary Lambert of Nashua for the New Boston Republican Committee at the Whipple Free Library in New Boston. We’ve linked to the details. Republicans and Independents within the sound of my voice are invited to attend.
That’s news from our own backyard, Girard at Large hour ___ is straight ahead!
