By PAULA TRACY, InDepthNH.org
CONCORD – Instead of one standing committee on Education in the House of Representatives there will be two starting this session, with one that deals exclusively with education finance issues and the other to deal with Education Administration issues.
Another new committee will be created and permanently dedicated to the issue of Housing, House Clerk Paul Smith told a gathering of legislators-elect Wednesday.
“The reason we are doing that is because as soon as we are done with Organization Day we have to start assigning legislative committees and as the Speaker as he has mentioned has to appoint members to committees. Normally, all rule changes are made in January, however, waiting until January we have missed out on assigning any bills to those committees and we don’t have members to fill them. So that is the rationale,” Smith said. It will be offered as a joint motion between the Speaker’s office and the Democratic leadership office.
The news came during orientation week for some 130 new members of the state House of Representatives who are learning how the process works.
The voluntary, all-day sessions included information on potential conflicts of interest, how to write a committee report, ethics laws, how to deal with sexual harassment and guidance on what not to say on social media.
Day two was Wednesday and it involved a mock hearing on a bill involving the minimum wage and a mock House session with Speaker Sherman Packard at the gavel.
Thursday will provide more guidance on what legislators need to know to get through the next two years.
State Rep.-elect David Walker, R-Rochester, said Wednesday was a bit more interesting than the first day and he said it is different from his work for the public in the city over the years which included a stint as mayor.
For three women who did not know each other before this week, state Reps.-elect Marie Bjelobrk, R-Haverhill, Susan DeRoy, R-New Durham, and Linda Franz, R-Wentworth, sat together as new friends in Representatives Hall.
They said the orientation is providing them an opportunity to learn about issues that are common and different in their collective communities. Housing and taxation were among the matters they believe they will be working on though none have been given their assignments.
In the afternoon, seated in the House of Representatives, Smith and Speaker Sherman Packard, a Republican, discussed what will happen on Organization Day Dec. 4 when they will all be sworn in, they will select leaders and get their $170 paycheck for the two years, (what is left of $200 after taxes.)
Smith noted the pay will come in handy because legislators will have to pay for their own license plates and business cards.
The turnover in the House this session is about average – thirty percent – and this year there will be 221 Republicans, 178 Democrats and one Independent.
