Legislative Update: Organization Day - December 09, 2022 Windham Independent

Legislative Update - Organization day

During House Organization Day on Wednesday December 7, House Representatives were sworn in. The House then elected Sherman Packard, R-Londonderry as the Speaker (205 votes) over Matt Wilhelm, D-Manchester (184 votes) out of the 391 representatives present. 

The House also elected House Clerk Paul Smith and Sergeant at Arms JB Cullen, both unopposed (those offices are non-partisan and both have been doing an outstanding job). Office descriptions below are from the General Court website.

The Clerk serves as Parliamentarian of the House, providing guidance on established rules, parliamentary and legislative procedures. The Clerk is the Chief Legislative Officer and is responsible for the proper handling of all legislation in the House, as well as maintaining the records of the House. The office is non-partisan and is responsible for and provides all public information regarding scheduling, bill status, legislative history and voting records. House Calendars and Journals, as well as other publications used by members, are prepared and printed by this office. The Clerk's staff coordinates the flow of work during House floor sessions.

The Sergeant-at-Arms is charged with the duty of maintaining order and decorum along with overseeing and managing the security of the House while in session or in committee hearings. The Sergeant-at-Arms office serves as a liaison with Protective Services and New Hampshire State Police in providing security for House meeting areas. The Sergeant-at-Arms may be requested by the Speaker to locate and escort members to the Chamber for a roll call vote.

The Secretary of State election was then elected in a joint session with the Senate, with David Scanlan winning by 237 votes to Melanie Levesque’s 175.

Monica Mezzapelle was re-elected unopposed as the State Treasurer - she supervises a 23-member office conducting a variety of financial and accounting functions, including the management and investment of between $200-$800 million in daily liquidity, state banking functions, debt management and compliance activities (issuance of notes and bonds), and the oversight of the abandoned property program.

And the last major decision made by the House today was to approve a resolution asking that the Rochester Ward 4 race tied between state representative candidates Chuck Grassie (D) and David Walker (R) goes to a runoff election. The motion was supported by both the House Minority Leader Matthew Wilhelm and by the House Majority Leader Jason Osborne, and passed with overwhelming support.

Now that organization day is complete, the House committee assignments for 2023 can be made. Next week, the Rockingham County Convention will have its own organization meeting - more about this in my next update.

I encourage any Windham resident, business owner or town/school administrator or board member to reach out to me if they have questions or concerns about legislative matters. You can reach me at 603 267 4142 (call or text), email me at dpmwindham@gmail.com or send me a letter at 12 Clarke Farm Rd., Windham, NH 03087. 

Daniel Popovici-Muller

Windham Representative