NH News

Update:  The New Hampshire Legal Rights Foundation announced Tuesday that it has severed its relationship with former Rep. D.J. Bettencourt.  The foundation had recently named Bettencourt as executive director.

House Majority Leader D.J. Bettencourt announced Friday that he will not seek re-election and will step down at the end of the legislative session.  The following statement was released by the New Hampshire Republican State Committee:

This Memorial Day weekend, the New Hampshire Division of Travel and Tourism predicts more than half a million visitors will flock to the state.  That’s an increase of two-percent over last year.

Speaking at a business awards ceremony in Manchester Friday, First District Congressman Frank Guinta emphasized the role that small businesses play in creating jobs and keeping what he called a diverse economy thriving. Guinta argued that over 30 pieces of jobs-related legislation were passed in the house with bipartisan support and criticized the media for not highlighting this more.  The congressman also stressed the role the federal budget can plan play in fostering a stronger national economy.

House and Senate negotiators say a team of constitutional lawyers are reviewing a proposed amendment.

Earlier this session, the House and Senate both passed plans.

But the two bodies differed on the appropriate level of court oversight and the role local school districts have in establishing standards.

A high-ranking House member says those disagreements have been addressed.

Senate Majority leader Jeb Bradley says there’s a historic quality to the moment.

 World War One was great for New Hampshire’s immigrant workforce, the mills were booming and jobs were plentiful.  But as thousands of American returned home from war, there was a growing distrust of the immigrant in general and of Russians in particular.

unemployment is high In 1919, there was something like 3600 strikes in America. So we’re looking for a scapegoat. 

New Hampshire Historian, Stu Wallace

A fire on a nuclear-powered submarine at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard has injured seven people, including five firefighters.

Crews responded at about 5:40 p.m. Wednesday to the USS Miami SSN 755 at the shipyard in Kittery, Maine.

Rear Admiral Rick Breckenridge said the fire was out Thursday morning and the shipyard was open as usual. He said the three shipyard firefighters, two civilian firefighters and two crew members received minor injuries and were in good shape.

The Senate has agreed with a House bill that critics say will make it harder to improve access for people with disabilities.

Under current state law, if someone successfully sues a building owner over ADA violations, they are awarded legal fees.

The new bill would leave the matter of fee reimbursement to court discretion.

Proponents of the measure say the move is an attempt to align state and federal law.

But Michael Skibbie with the New Hampshire Disabilities Rights Center see it as a move to limit ADA compliance lawsuits.

Lawmakers will look to come to terms on how to regulate groups that sell insurance to New Hampshire cities and towns.

Some are concerned the House-passed plan could be hard on taxpayers.

This legislation comes on the heels of a Secretary of State investigation into the practices of New Hampshire’s largest public risk pool the Local Government Center.

State regulators charge LGC has violated the law and owes its customers – cities and towns – some $60 million.

The New Hampshire Senate has killed half a dozen controversial measures supported by the House.

With little debate, Senators dispatched several hot-button issues that came up this session.

The measures were tied to completely unrelated bills.

Senators shot down a bill to require a 24 hour wait before an abortion could be performed, a 1 year moratorium on refugee resettlement in the state and a plan to weaken collective bargaining rights.

Senate President Peter Bragdon says on each of those measures the Senate had made its voice clear.