Subject: [big campaign] Key Highlights from New Hampshire’s Veto Vote Day
From: Aniello Alioto <[email-masked]>
To: undisclosed-recipients:
Date: Thu, 26 May 2011 10:28:44 -0400
List-Id: <bigcampaign.googlegroups.com>

Things are heating up in the Granite (eh, Presidential) State.
Zandra's contact info is below for those who can provide support for our
work.

*Key Highlights from New Hampshire’s Veto Vote Day*

The New Hampshire House was scheduled to vote on whether to override or
sustain the Governor’s veto of HB 474 – the right to work for less
legislation - on Wednesday, March 25th. NH House Speaker Bill O’Brien did
not have the votes to override the Governor’s veto – thanks to the effort of
workers and community allies across the New Hampshire – and decided to
postpone the vote rather than face the rejection of his extreme partisan
agenda.

Below are major themes that developed throughout the day, and a messaging
sheet follows.

* *

*Extreme House Leadership’s Overreach Costs Them Control of Republican
Super-Majority*

* *

Republicans hold a super-majority of both the NH House and the NH Senate,
but Speaker Bill O’Brien and his leadership team’s extreme partisan
overreach have cost them control of it.

The extreme House leadership continues to attack New Hampshire’s workers and
middle class despite a WMUR/UNH poll that found over 60% of respondents
support the right of public and private employees to organize unions and
collectively bargain for wages and benefits. They continue the attack
despite losing a special election in Speaker O’Brien’s own district – and
one of the most conservative in the state - by a margin of 58%-42%. And they
continue the attack despite a growing number of vocal opposition from
long-time Republican lawmakers that this will cost the Party seats next
November.

The fact that Speaker O’Brien can’t find enough votes in a Republican
super-majority raises questions about the direction of his leadership. For a
man who narrowly won Speaker by a few votes, that’s got to hurt.

* *

*Speaker O’Brien is Playing Partisan Games to Hide from the Vote, Public*

* *

Breaking his own public commitment, NH Speaker of the House Bill O’Brien
held back a planned vote [today – May 25th] on HB 474, a bill that sells out
New Hampshire’s middle class to out-of-state corporations. O’Brien’s sudden
decision to change the vote date is a clear signal of the bill—and his
Speakership’s—plummeting support despite a Republican supermajority in the
House.

The Speaker told reporters that he will hold the vote “when the time is
right” – meaning, when he can get his small group of supporters in the room
alone. The Speaker can call the House into session and hold the vote
whenever he feels like it – whenever he thinks he will win. *Even if it’s in
the dead of night*.

*Video: Voters, Legislators Locked Out of Speaker’s Private Press Conference
*

http://www.youtube.com/user/GraniteStateProgress

*NH Speaker Has Republican Rep. Soltani Escorted to Seat by State Police
After Representative Tried to Call for Floor Vote*

When it became increasingly apparent that the NH House would not be acting
on HB 474, pro-worker state representatives became agitated with Speaker
O'Brien's inaction and his constant back peddling on this issue. In protest,
Rep. Tony Soltani (R-Epsom) rose during the third reading – the formal act
that generally concludes the legislative activities for the day – and voiced
his opposition of postponing the vote.

With a record high turnout of state legislators – and the most
representative cross-section of public opinion because of it – it was the
perfect time to take the vote. But Speaker O’Brien would hear nothing of it
– when Rep. Soltani began to voice his concerns, the Speaker tried to stifle
him. When Soltani persisted, the Speaker ruled him out of order and directed
the Sergeant-At-Arms to escort him back to his seat.

Rep. Soltani is in his fifth term as a state representative in New
Hampshire. He graduated from Franklin Pierce Law Center in the early 90’s,
has held office at the local level, is a member of the American Legion and
the American Mensa Society, and serves as a volunteer firearms instructor
for the National Rifle Association.

Before he was seated, Rep. Soltani questioned why O'Brien was not calling
for the vote after he had publicly stated that the vote would be held today.

* *

*Historically High Attendance on Day of Planned Veto Vote*

The AP reports that 380 state representatives were in the House gallery – a
rare attendance rate by their calculations.  Including vacant seats, that
means only 17 legislators were absent. For reference, at the height of the
marriage equality debate in New Hampshire, 35 legislators missed the vote.

 *Closed Door Press Conference*

For the second week in a row, NH House Speaker Bill O’Brien insisted on a
closed door press conference.

His lack of transparency and unwillingness to face the public in defense of
his actions is very troubling. Although it is not uncommon for a few press
conferences to be held behind closed doors in the New Hampshire State House,
Speaker O'Brien and his Republican Leadership Team have not had any problems
touting their accomplishment in the past. Why are they hiding now?  What
don’t they want the public to know?

*Video:* *NH House Speaker O'Brien Ducks Vote, Dodges Public *

*http://youtu.be/sdIuiTo7wxQ*

* *

*O’Brien’s Strong-Arming of His Own Caucus Raising Eyebrows*

In his campaign for the role of Speaker of the House, Bill O’Brien
stated<http://obrienforspeaker.com/obrien-for-speaker-what-are-the-goals/>“A
successful Speaker must make sure that the *voices of all members*, their
ability to scrutinize issues of interest to their district and their state,
*and their ability to speak for and vote on behalf of *their constituents
are never diminished.”

But as Speaker, O’Brien has resorted to strong-arm tactics and flat out
retaliation. He took long-time Republican Representative Marshall “Lee”
Quandt off a key committee for voicing pro-worker sentiments in his
statements and votes, and threatened to kick Republican Representative Susan
Emerson out of the Republican caucus for advocating to restore cuts made to
vital services for children and families.

The NH Liberty Alliance ran robocalls to Republicans across the state
earlier this week, targeting other Republicans who were voting with workers.
And [today/this week] Speaker O’Brien refused to allow the vote despite high
turnout and vocal calls by Republican legislators.

*Citizen Participation is a Hallmark of New Hampshire Tradition – But Not
for Speaker O’Brien*

* *

New Hampshire’s tradition of open government dates back to its founding and
continues to this very day through our townhall meetings, large legislature,
and more. Yet Speaker Bill O’Brien is willing to play partisan games with
those New Hampshire traditions, moving a key vote around to circumvent
opposition. Over the last week, the Speaker has also called on legislators
to “take a walk” and shirk their their duties as an elected official.

NH AFL-CIO President Mark MacKenzie said the political games are the worst
he’s seen in his 35 years of political activism – a tenure that is longer
than Speaker O’Brien’s residency in New Hampshire.

* *

*Video:* *NH AFL/CIO President: Never Seen Such Lack of Transparency in
State House in 35 years*

http://www.youtube.com/user/GraniteStateProgress#p/a/u/0/wDRI3r-GDJQ

*Speaker O’Brien Is Catering To, Hiding Behind, Big Corporations*

Speaker O’Brien tried to hide behind big business for why he pushed off the
vote, saying he needed time to inform his caucus about a new press release
from the Business & Industry Association – the statewide chamber of commerce
–about their position on HB 474.

Speaker O'Brien has had plenty of time to inform his caucus about the BIA's
position – the BIA submitted a letter to the Governor on this very topic on
May 11th and it was included in a publicly posted news brief the same day.
This is a red herring because O’Brien doesn’t have the votes to push through
his anti-worker agenda.

Even if it were true, it would just be another example of O’Brien giving
incredible precedence to corporations over the people of New Hampshire,
postponing a vote at the beck and call of big business.

*Additional: *Why is the BIA weighing in now? Would it have anything to do
with pending legislation for millions of dollars in business tax cuts that
they are trying to secure votes for?

*House GOP “Victory” Shot: Did Speaker O'Brien and the NH Liberty Caucus
Schedule a Victory Photo Shoot Before They Knew They Actually Lost?*

We’re just saying … it was less than 20 minutes after the crowd died away
from outside NH Speaker Bill O’Brien’s closed door press conference, then
who should appear on the State House lawn but … Bill O’Brien.

Flagged by members of the so-called “Liberty Caucus” and others who moved to
New Hampshire specifically to change the political scene, Speaker O’Brien
looked like he was posing in a victory photo shoot. Odd timing, anyone?

* *

*Photo link: http://twitpic.com/52fit5/full *

*Social Media Links for Archived Coverage*

Twitter: #StandUpNH, #nhunion, #nhhouse

Facebook: ProtectNHFamilies, NH AFL-CIO and Granite State Progress

Flickr: *http://www.flickr.com/photos/protectnhfamilies/*

UStream:
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/nh-house-hb-474-vote-on-anti-worker-legislation

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/GraniteStateProgress

* *

 *Key Messages from New Hampshire’s Veto Vote Day*

* *

*Top Message: Despite record attendance, NH’s Speaker of the House doesn’t
have the votes to carry anti-worker agenda.*

* *

*The extreme partisan NH House leadership knows it's overreaching with its
attacks on middle class families.*

   - They can't win in broad daylight, so they are using every political
   trick in the book to try to slip this unpopular bill through when no one's
   watching.

   - But make no mistake: New Hampshire is watching.  And the voters don't
   like what they are seeing.

   - These guys were elected to create good jobs for NH families. Instead,
   the Speaker and his buddies are helping out-of -state interests at the
   expense of middle class families and middle class jobs.

   - Legislators have heard from hundreds upon hundreds of workers and
   community allies in opposition to this legislation.  Even the high profile
   arm twisting from Speaker O’Brien and other political figures can’t erase
   that from legislator’s minds.

*This is the wrong path for New Hampshire, and just last week, it cost the
Speaker a House seat from his own district.*

   - New Hampshire has one of the strongest and fastest-growing economies in
   the nation.
      - New Hampshire’s unemployment rate is under 5% - one of the lowest in
      the country.
      - Granite State workers have among the highest average incomes in the
      country.

   - And we know from the evidence that "Right to Work for Less" does NOT
   create jobs and it infringes on our rights. In fact, in states with a
   right-to-work law, workers on average have a lower standard of living, bring
   home less pay and go without health insurance more frequently.

*So what is this really about? This is about a national strategy led by
outside national interest groups who are interfering with the right of
private business to freely negotiate and enter into contracts with their
employees.*

   - The real motive behind efforts to pass the so-called “right to work”
   law is to create a New Hampshire without unions—where nobody is left to
   stand up for workers when Wall Street executives outsource jobs or cut
   workers’ wages and benefits in search of higher profits.

   - We need to protect our teachers, firefighters and other essential
   workers in our communities from the reckless cuts and attacks proposed by
   these politicians and their wealthy corporate sponsors.

*We may not control when the vote is taken, but we will be ready whenever it
is.*

   - The Speaker needs to stop playing partisan parliamentary games. New
   Hampshire voters deserve openness and transparency—not partisan tricks.

For more information on New Hampshire, contact Kurt Ehrenberg, NH AFL-CIO at
(603) 498-2275 or [email-masked], or Zandra Rice Hawkins, Granite
State Progress at (603) 892-2150 or [email-masked].**

-- 
Zandra Rice Hawkins
Executive Director
Granite State Progress
Office: (603) 225.2471
Mobile: (603) 892.2150
[email-masked]

-- 
Aniello Alioto
National Political Director
[email-masked]
o: 202.756.4109
c: 502.664.2420

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