Good morning!
Here is a rundown of today’s must-see, must-read news and opinion!
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Lawmakers set to return today for drug bill vote
Lawmakers return today to vote to authorize $1.5 million for state and local law enforcement grants for drug interdiction programs such as Manchester’s Granite Hammer. The grant program was killed by the House earlier this month due to a provision in the bill concerning retired state employees’ health care benefits. The Republican and Democratic leaders of the House and Senate issued a joint statement Wednesday urging their colleagues to put partisan politics aside and approve the bill as the state grapples with an opioid crisis that claimed 438 lives last year and more than 100 this year so far.
Resigned rep accused of bribery, witness tampering in court
A Strafford County Superior Court judge kept bail at $50,000 personal recognizance Wednesday for former state Rep. Don Leeman, charged with bribery and witness tampering related to an investigation into possible voter fraud. Judge Mark Howard ordered Leeman have no contact with John Kennedy or Deborah Whitehouse, who work at the Rochester Housing Authority. Leeman, who appeared in court without an attorney, did not want to speak after his arraignment. Leeman, a Republican from Rochester, who had moved out of the district he had been elected to serve, is accused of trying to convince Kennedy to provide a letter falsely stating Leeman’s residence at Wellsweep Acres was temporary.
Ex-Rep Leeman arraigned on tampering, bribery charges
Former state representative Don Leeman was arraigned in Strafford County Superior Court on Wednesday, on charges of witness tampering and bribery. Judge Mark Howard ruled that Leeman, 67, will continue to be out on $50,000 personal recognizance bail. Leeman faces two class B felonies of witness tampering and bribery.
The charges stem from an investigation by the state Attorney General’s Office regarding the location of his home. By law, a state representative is required to live in the ward they represent. Leeman was representing Wards 2 and 3 in Rochester, but resigned his post on Friday, May 27, four days before he was arrested.
Court rules documents in Lizzi Marriott case should remain sealed, pending further arguments
Defense and prosecuting attorneys are to file briefs with the New Hampshire Supreme Court by Aug. 15 addressing issues raised inTuesday’s court order to unseal records concerning the sexual past of murder and rape victim Lizzi Marriott. Last Friday, the court issued an order that would have released the sealed information on Wednesday after the jurists approved a rule change in January giving them the power to open records sealed by a trial court. Marriott’s family, the New Hampshire attorney general and politicians have all criticized the order, saying the rule change violates Marriott’s privacy and undermines the state’s rape shield law, which says a rape victim’s sexual past cannot be used at trial.
Drug court’s fate is now up to the county –
After refusing to fund a drug court in Manchester last year, Hillsborough County officials will now consider two drug-treatment programs when they meet next week to cast final votes on the upcoming county budget. One is a drug court for Hillsborough County Superior Court North, which is based in Manchester. On Tuesday, Gov. Maggie Hassan signed legislation that would provide up to $245,000 in state money for a Hillsborough North drug court, if Hillsborough County matches the grant. -Meanwhile, county officials have recommended spending $352,500 on a drug treatment program that Corrections Superintendent David Dionne wants to put in place at the Valley Street jail.
OPINION
Donald Trump carefully read from his teleprompter this week in New Hampshire, a far cry from the shoot-from-the-hip style he embraced during primary season. And still he managed a few “oh-no-he-didn’t” lines that prompted the press to fact-check him. For starters, Trump said the killer in the Orlando nightclub shooting massacre was “born an Afghan, of Afghan parents” who came to America — willfully ignoring the fact that Omar Mateen was a U.S. citizen and born in New York. His proposed ban on Muslim immigration would not have disrupted the apparent “lone wolf” terrorist. The presumptive GOP presidential nominee followed up, saying, “the only reason the killer was in America in the first place was because we allowed his family to come here.” –
The Money Behind the Politics of Guns in NH and the Nation
The fatal shooting of 49 people at a Florida nightclub on June 12, 2016, is the latest in a long series of mass killings to restoke the national debate over gun ownership, with the Senate doing battle over the issue during the week after the tragedy. The gunman in Orlando, Omar Mateen, was armed with a handgun and an assault rifle; in addition to those he killed, he wounded another 53, and he himself was killed by police. The horrific attack — the biggest mass shooting in U.S. history — came less than six months after two suspects opened fire in a California social services center, killing 14 and injuring 21.
CAMPAIGN 2016
Drugs Emerge Early As big Issue in N.H. Campaigns
If one needed proof the opioid crisis is seen as a powerful election issue, confirmation came last week, in the form a $4.6 million dollar ad buy from the GOP group, One Nation.” Governor Maggie Hassan’s budget veto last year forced delays for substance abuse programs, program delays that threatened families in need. Then, Governor Hassan’s Drug Czar resigned….”The ad was criticized by Hassan, by members of law enforcement –and also by Kelly Ayotte. “I don’t think we should play politics with heroin, and that’s why I myself called for it to be taken down.”
NH Dem Platform Draft Opposes Housing Non-Criminal Mentally Ill People in Prison
The state Democratic party’s proposed 2016 platform includes language opposing housing severely mentally ill people who haven’t committed a crime at the state prison Secure Psychiatric Unit. The proposal was submitted by state Rep. Renny Cushing, D-Hampton, who has fought against the commingling of the mentally ill patients in prison for several sessions. The 2016 proposed platform will be voted on Saturday at the Democratic State Convention. “It is a small change but for those of us working to help end the criminalization of people with severe mental illness in our state, I think it is an important value statement,” Cushing said.
Bradley calls Sununu ‘wrong’ to claim lack of NH anti-drug leadership
BRADLEY: ‘CHRIS IS WRONG.’ State Senate Majority Leader Jeb Bradley is making it clear – very clear — that he strongly disagrees with Republican candidate for governor Chris Sununu’s assessment of how state leaders have responded to the opioid, heroin and fentanyl crisis. Sununu, an executive councilor, last week weighed in on the drug crisis, saying in well-publicized comments that there has been “no leadership in Concord” and “no leadership at the local level.” As lawmakers return to the State House on Thursdayexpecting to pass a clean bill to fund the Granite Hammer drug interdiction program, Bradley is mincing no words on fellow Republican Sununu’s assessment.
Gun debate takes a dramatic turn
Democrats found an unlikely ally in Donald Trump on Wednesday as they took over the Senate floor in a bid to pressure Republicans into passing legislation that would ban gun sales to suspected terrorists. The filibuster in the Senate was led by Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), who began holding down the floor Wednesday morning in a maneuver that was cheered by the left and embraced by the party’s presumptive presidential nominee, Hillary Clinton. “I’m prepared to stand on this floor and talk about the need for this body to come together on keeping terrorists away from getting guns … for, frankly, as long as I can, because I know that we can come together on this issue,” Murphy said at the beginning of his floor speech.
Donald Trump’s campaign for the White House is teetering amid dismal poll numbers, racially tinged controversies and a rising chorus of criticism from within the GOP.
After knocking Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) out of the primary in May, Trump picked up momentum and made strides in unifying the party. But the presumptive Republican presidential nominee has failed to pivot to general election mode and is now in his third straight week of bad headlines. Not surprisingly, the angst in the Republican Party is intensifying. “I think the tailspin could be really bad — historic proportions bad,” said Tony Fratto, who served as deputy White House press secretary during former President George W. Bush’s administration. “I think it’ll be a historically bad loss. I’ve said that from the very beginning.”
IN OTHER NEWS
Council OKs extension of state hospital psychiatry contract
Canadian national anthem could become ‘gender neutral’
Money approved by Executive Council aims to help recruit medical providers
NH to get $15.8k in Medicaid fraud settlement
State Will Provide Blood Tests To Some Residents Exposed to PFOA and PFOS
Jim Rivers
Director of Communications
Office of the Speaker
State House, Room 312
107 Main St.
Concord, NH, 03301