By PAULA TRACY, InDepthNH.org

CONCORD – Several hours after hearing from North Country leaders that a bill was “deeply insulting” and could negatively impact business in the region, a Senate committee recommended the entire body kill Senate Bill 424, which would have eliminated the position of the northern county area industrial agent.

State Sen. Tim McGough, R-Merrimack, made the motion in the Senate Executive Departments and Administration Committee to recommend killing it saying though it was well-intended “it clearly does not have the support from at least a good portion of the North Country or all of the North Country so I am happy to find at this time (it) truly inexpedient to legislate and we will find other ways to invest in our economic development.”

When he introduced the bill McGough said the effort was to provide equal footing for all regions of the state looking to advance the economic climate and not an attack on the person who has held that job for 19 years, Benoit Lamontagne.

McGough said the reorganization he envisioned within the state Department of Business and Economic Affairs would actually elevate positions to be regional and that Lamontagne, who he noted is respected by many, could apply to serve in that region and would likely be hired if he did.

McGough noted there might likely be additional costs associated with the change and that he had amendments that would look to change some aspects of the bill including implementation dates.
The bill will now go to the full Senate with a recommendation to kill it. Some asked what the motivation for the bill was in the first place.

Speaking to InDepthNH.org before the hearing, Executive Councilor Joe Kenney, R-Wakefield, said the bill was politically motivated and related to his and two other councilors’ unwillingness to support another term for former Commissioner of Business and Economic Affairs Taylor Caswell who has since left the state’s employ.

James Key Wallace is serving as interim commissioner while Republican Gov. Kelly Ayotte, who favored a third term for Caswell, looks for a replacement.

Kenney said he did not support Caswell along with the majority of the council as he stressed the need for the Business and Economic Affairs leadership to move into a different direction to focus more on economic development, business retention, and recruitment.

Lamontagne’s position is in statute and this bill would have eliminated that position, which is intended to focus efforts on supporting economic development in Coos, Carroll and Grafton counties.

Kenney said Lamontagne never pressured him to not support Caswell but had expressed to him his frustration over the years of not getting enough financial resources to recruit in Canada and elsewhere during the administration of Gov. Chris Sununu, a fellow Republican.

The bill, Senate Bill 242, as introduced, would have authorized the commissioner of the department of Business and Economic Affairs to reallocate those responsibilities to other departmental directors and employees and to ensure that all areas of the state are served equally.

The position was created at the behest of former Executive Councilor Raymond Burton, R-Bath, who urged the former Department of Resources and Economic Development Commissioner George Bald that the North Country was almost a separate economy from the rest of the state and needed its own advocate, particularly north of the border.

Kenney, who is also a personal friend of Lamontagne’s, told the committee that Lamontagne brings a unique set of skills to his job that includes being bilingual in French and English; that he has owned two Radio Shacks in the North Country, worked for the state for 19 years and has made hundreds of business contacts and relationships.

If passed, it would transfer $111,313 within the department, according to the fiscal note, though there would be no new hires.

Last year, the legislature passed a bill declaring Coos County an economically distressed economy.
It has by far the lowest average income in the state and has been suffering from a decline in the wood products industry over the past decade.

McGough said the hearing the bill is about improving the economic climate of the entire state.

Sen. Debra Altschiller, D-Stratham, asked if the department asked him to help them restructure the organization and McGough said “No.”

Barry Normandin said the North Country is “scathingly mad at this legislation…The business community up there cannot believe this is happening…We are deeply insulted in the North Country.”

Sen. David Rochefort, R-Littleton, who represents the entire North Country including over 50 towns and unincorporated places said, “If it ain’t broke don’t fix it.”

He said he was never asked by the sponsor of the bill, a fellow Republican, and was never asked by the selectmen, chamber of commerce member, business or member of the public for this change.

“This is unneeded, unnecessary,” he said, noting it is “a solution looking for a problem.” He urged the bill be killed.

State Rep. Mike Ouellet, R-Colebrook, who is a member of the Canadian Trade Council and was representing the entire legislative delegation of the county, said he opposed the measure and said it directly affects the North Country.

“The North Country does not want it,” he said.

Former state Sen. Lou D’Allesandro, D-Manchester, said there is no support at all for SB 424.
“Ray Burton is turning over in his grave as this bill is being heard,” D’Allesandro said.

He said it was Burton’s goal, as a long advocate of the North Country on the Executive Council, that the North Country needs this kind of support to recruit and retain businesses and it is unlike the rest of the state. He said being bilingual is essential for the job.

He also said it cost $1,750 to draft the bill. “I think $1,750 should be repaid to the state,” D’Allesandro said.

Steve Shurtleff of Concord, former Speaker of the House and a Democrat who spent years on the Canadian Trade Council, said he has seen how well this system works and how this position benefits the North Country.

Former state Rep. Linda Massimilla said the current occupant of the position has an extensive list of contacts that have proved invaluable to the success of the North Country. She said if he was serving any other part of the state, LaMontagne would be valued and retained until his retirement.

Brad Bailey of Monroe, a former legislator, opposed the bill. “Our region has distinct needs,” he said. “No person asked for this bill.”

George Bald, former commissioner of the former Department of Resources and Economic Development for 13 years, said he would strongly encourage the committee to vote down the bill.

“The idea of losing this position in the North Country is a real travesty and an insult to the three northern counties,” Bald said.

Bald said he knew when he was commissioner that the North Country does not have the same resources as the rest of the state and suggested senators go home and look up bus routes in Nashua and Manchester and compare that to the North Country.

He said if the committee wanted to do something of benefit, it would help that agency by putting more money in and the ability for them to go to Montreal.

McGough asked Bald if he remembered their talk after he introduced the bill and that it would in fact elevate all regions.

Bald said adding four more positions to go to Governor and Council for confirmation every four years would not be improving the department.

Bald said it was curious to him that McGough would put legislation in without having discussions with people in the North Country.

“If you truly wanted to help,” Bald said, “you would have called a lot more people than you did.”

Coos County Commissioner Ray Gorman of Colebrook said the last thing the North Country needs to do is to take backsteps in terms of economic development. He said he spoke for the commission in opposition to the bill.

“It is important to get the recognition we need,” he said.

Councilor Kenney said the bill was not really well thought out and lacks clarity of what it is trying to accomplish.

“The North Country is a difficult place to find work,” Kenney said.

“What can be accomplished in Nashua and Manchester takes 10 times the effort” in the North Country and an industrial agent is a critical position.

“I must ask what is behind this bill being brought forward,” he asked. “The North Country needs this. The North Country is really upset about this…. it is time for (the bill) to go away.”

CORRECTION: State Sen. Tim McGough made the motion to kill SB 424, not Sen. Gannon.