Legislative Update: Bipartisanship - February 10, 2923 Windham Independent
Legislative Update - Bipartisanship
One of the first lessons I learned as soon as I got to work in the State House is that the many stories that focus on portraying the legislature as a partisan body (where votes are driven by the party leadership and everyone has to just fall in line or else) are not doing the 400 legislators that comprise it justice. The press loves covering the bills that generate controversy, but over 2 thirds of the bills that pass through the House do so in a bipartisan fashion, with only a voice vote on the consent calendar.
One of the great benefits of our state legislature being the third-largest legislative body in the world (only UK’s House of Commons at 650 members and the US Congress at 435 members are larger) is the huge diversity of points of view one can find among its members, which can lead to a lot of bipartisan support for a lot bills.
The party affiliations of the other House of Representatives sponsors on House bills I am a co-sponsor on (the two I am a prime sponsor on, HB188 and HB516 are bold) are below:
As you can see from the summary above, the other sponsors of my bills range from all Republicans to all Democrats and everything in between. That is because in my legislative work, I am taking the same approach I took during my previous public service: support the right ideas and policies, regardless of the identity or party affiliation of the individual who proposed them.
Good ideas deserve support, bad ideas deserve opposition, regardless of who proposed them.
The Finance Division II committee has been meeting on a regular basis in anticipation of the state budget being presented by Gov. Sununu next week - we already had work sessions with the Department of Safety, Department of Transportation, Community College System of New Hampshire, Department of Education, and the University System of New Hampshire.
Starting next week, things are really heating up for the Finance committee: we will finally have received the budget from the Governor, allowing us to start working in earnest on putting together the best state budget we can deliver to the House floor.
I would be happy to engage with any Windham resident on my legislative work - you can reach me with concerns or questions about any legislative matters at 603 267 4142 (call or text), email me at dpm@leg.state.nh.us or send me a letter at 12 Clarke Farm Rd., Windham, NH 03087.
Daniel Popovici-Muller
Windham Representative
Clerk, Finance II Committee