RAYMOND - You tell the people of New Hampshire for several years that you believe that a marriage is between a man and a women, and that you do not believe in same sex “marriage”. Now you have on one side, big money and a gay special interest group pressuring the Governor to sign a gay-marriage bill, while on the other side a majority of New Hampshire morally responsible adults, parents, grandparents, and religious leaders urging him to veto the bill. So now, just how do you weasel your way out of this tough situation?

Governor Lynch knows how, by demanding that the Legislature pass an amendment filled with trivial verbiage, and then he said, he would sign the bill. As I said last week, just VETO it Governor!

There is NO amendment on this subject that will win my yes vote on this bill. I will continue to vote against this legislation.

So what happened at the House session on May 20th with HB-73? After some debate, the roll call vote to concur with the Senate’s amended version, was defeated 186-188. A motion to indefinitely postpone the bill was defeated on a roll call vote of 173-202, then a motion to non-concur and ask for a committee of conference with the Senate passed on a roll call vote of 207-168. I voted ‘no’ to concur, ‘yes’ to postpone, and ‘no’ to committee of conference.

Now, what will the Governor do, wait to see the results of the committee of conference? Will the Senate agree to a committee of conference with the House? What will the House do when and if it comes back?

Another bill was pushed through by the Democrats, SB-33, allowing lobbyists and those connected with lobbyists to sit on committees established by the Judicial Branch of our state government. Our courts have traveled far from being open and responsive institutions, but that does not provide reason to allow them to go further along in that journey.

Letting lobbyists join in the operation of our courts is antithetical to the concept of a “government of the people, by the people, and for the people”. Allowing lobbyists on these committees will give them undue influence over the Judiciary Branch, and potentially lead to increased favoritism and corruption. Why would we want a special interest paid lobbyist sitting on any unbiased committee or commission?

I wouldn’t and I voted against SB-33.

SB-31 establishing the Candia District Court and the Manchester District Court as judicial branch family division sites, passed the House on a voice vote and now goes on to the Governor for his signature. This will give Raymond a family division court in Candia for family matters, domestic relations, child custody cases & etc., making it easier for all. The new Candia Courthouse is on Route 27, on the right going west into Candia.

SB-17 which State Senator “Jack” Barnes sponsored and I co-sponsored was a simple bill that would have those who are turning 18 sign up for the Selective Service when getting their NH drivers license, with an opt out box. The House Transportation Committee, I don’t think, really understood the bill and its intent, so they voted in committee to kill the bill. It was voted inexpedient to legislate on the House floor. Not a good move.

It’s time to sign up for the American Cancer Society’s Relay For Life in Raymond. The relay will be held at the Iber Holmes Gove Raymond Middle School on June 14th, from 3:00 to 10:00 p.m. Gather your friends, start a team, and help change the course of cancer. You can have as many on your team as you want. The teams are asked to have at least one person walking on the track at all times during the event. So, the more people you have on your team the better. This is a good opportunity to get out in the fresh air and take a walk, while helping to find a cure. This is the 25th year for the “Relay For Life” fundraiser. For more information, call Deborah Moran at 895-3146. Hope to see you at the relay.

The Memorial Day Parade in Raymond is this Saturday, May 30th, starting at 9:00 a.m. The parade goes from the bridge by the VFW to the cemeteries for services, and back to downtown. Come out and pay respect to all our veterans and other family members who have gone on before us. Originally, Memorial Day was always on May 30th, but now it’s the last Monday of the month. The Raymond veteran clubs that put on the parade continue to use the traditional date.

Your Water, Your Wallet, Your Watershed is an upcoming workshop giving the towns of the Lamprey River Watershed an opportunity to come together to see why working together across town boundaries makes Sense for protecting our water. Fourteen towns share this common critical resource and we need to work together to protect it. Come and learn what concerns residents most about their water supplies and what threatens our water in the future. Who should come to this very important workshop? Conservation Commissions, Zoning Boards, Open Space Committees, Planning Boards, Heritage and Historic District Commissions, and other interested people. The workshop is being held at the Nottingham Town Hall, 139 Stage Rd, Nottingham (Route 152), on Sat., June 13, from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. A complimentary lunch will be provided. To save a seat, please register by June 5th to dawn.genes@lrwa-nh.org or call 659-9363. Don’t miss this event, we all live downstream!

Remember after the infamous 9/11 attack on our American people, how many prayer groups started getting together to pray for our great nation. On Fri., May 29, at 7:00 p.m., the New Hampshire Alliance in conjunction with local citizens, is holding a prayer service to pray for our state, our governor, state and local officials, and the numerous issues facing our communities and state. Please come out and join the prayer service being held at the Raymond Congregational Church across from the common. All are welcome, hoping to see you there.



(Editor’s Note: NH State Representative Mike Kappler can be reached at l.mikekappler@comcast.net)