Opening - Doubling the number of reps?

Liz 0:00

Every year, I think we just double it. So next year, it's 400 more. The year after that, it's 800 more until everyone is a state representative in New Hampshire.

Alexis 0:09

It's real direct democracy.

Liz 0:10

Should I run for office just to run on that platform alone? No other issue. That's the only thing I'm going for is adding more representatives. You could.

Alexis 0:18

And then you could sponsor your own bill. Yes, I could. All your time building support for your position.

Intro Music

Welcome to NH Has Issues, the podcast that dares to ask...

Liz 0:24

I think we should walk through what a bill looks like going through the statehouse and we'll use that as the scenario. Liz Canada maybe is running for state representative. I'm not. But if I wanted to sponsor this bill, like what it would look like, let's hold that thought. We're going to do that. That's a good, safe, using it as an example. And I don't know, maybe people will write into the show and be like, yes, that is the issue I most care about too, is that we need more, more state reps. Welcome to New Hampshire Has Issues, the podcast that dares to ask, do we need 400 more state representatives? What do you think, Alexis? What's your tagline?

Alexis 1:15

I think we're good.

Liz 1:16

I think we're good with the 400 that we have. I'm going to try to persuade you. This episode, I'm going to try to persuade you. But what would your tagline be?

Alexis 1:22

Welcome to New Hampshire Has Issues, the podcast that dares to ask, how much do we love our neighbors?

I am your host, Liz Canada

Welcome, Alexis Simpson

Liz 1:30

This feels like it might get into the state budget conversation. Perhaps. Maybe a little bit. Well, I am your host, Liz Canada, and joining me today is the Democratic leader of the House, Alexis Simpson. Thank you,

Alexis 1:46

Liz. It's good to be

What does it mean to be the Democratic Leader of the New Hampshire House?

Liz 1:47

here. I'm looking forward to it. when you have a team and you pick your captain and you're like this is the person we want out there to like talk to the other side and talk to their team and like flip the coin and you know all those things would you say that that's an accurate description of like what a leader does of a caucus like you're sort of the aisle and that's how i described it to a 13 and a 12 year old yes

Alexis 2:33

exactly it's a great analogy i have an incredible leadership team it's very big as you would imagine there are 400 of us so we've got to have a big leadership team as well but also just the Yeah. town or they're trying to navigate something complex or it's a bill that's come through their committee and they just don't quite know how to understand it what to make of it they just need a thought partner they need a conversation partner somebody who kind of sees the big picture I have some insight from around the state because I'm always listening to people from different areas I can help them see a bigger picture but also I can be really responsive when they say yeah I get that you have the bigger picture but also this is what my constituents are saying in my little area too

Liz 3:44

yeah

Alexis 3:45

helping the team when we have to make hard decisions together being

Can I call you Alexis (just on this podcast episode alone)?

Liz 3:49

a leader of any group no matter how small or big is there's a lot of responsibility on you yeah we joke sometimes that leadership is none of the credit and all of the blame sometimes that's how it feels oh goodness it's so it's hard but I think it's true for anyone who's like in the leadership role that it's really really challenging you were chosen to be the representative of your side of the aisle yes because of what my day job is. Obviously, I work in state house, state policy worlds. I do call you Representative Simpson or Leader Simpson. I'm wondering if just for the purposes of this podcast alone, I might call you Alexis.

Alexis 4:28

Yes, please. Will you?

Liz 4:30

Thank goodness. Because we'll add four minutes on to the podcast if I say Democratic Leader of the House Simpson every time I mention your name. So I'm going to call you Alexis. Some of the state reps and state senators who I work with will often say to me, can you just call me by my first name? And I'm like, I physically can't.

Alexis 4:48

I mean, it's a sign of respect and it's helpful when we're working at the statehouse, you know, and we're in our professional lives and trying to solve really hard problems and to do it together with differences of opinion, whether it's across the aisle or inside the statehouse and outside the statehouse. It's not a bad idea for us to show as much respect as we can in the ways that we can. That's right. When we disagree, we're doing it agreeably. That's a great point. But since All of us are very regular people. Also very nice to be called by my first name as well.

Let's start with a simple question: why are there 400 state reps in New Hampshire?

Liz 5:17

On this podcast, this episode, I will refer to you as Alexis. Thank you for that. All right. I like to start every episode with a simple question.

Alexis 5:25

Okay.

Liz 5:26

So here's a simple question. We have 400 state representatives in New Hampshire. The simple question is why? Why do we have 400? Can you explain to me

Alexis 5:40

why it is we have 400 state representatives in New Hampshire? So having 400 of us means that every single state representative represents about 3,500 people. Wow. Yeah.

Liz 6:15

Yeah. That is so wild just on its own. Yeah.

Alexis 6:18

Right? So we're all very accessible. Hopefully all of us do our jobs in getting our names out there and making sure that our neighbors know who we are and know how to contact us and can reach out to us when they have an opinion or need or a perspective that they want to share. Being

Being a state rep is very important - so you must get paid a lot, right...?

Liz 6:37

a state representative is such an important part of our political landscape, our state landscape. So I assume you must get paid a lot of money to have this really important job. Is that true?

Alexis 6:50

I'm so glad you asked. Actually, no. Actually, no. Here in New Hampshire, we get paid $100 a year, technically $200 a session, which is two years. So the Average, $100 a year.

Liz 7:07

$100 a year. What could you buy for $100? So

Alexis 7:11

what I tell people is I get paid enough to buy a dress a year. Or

What's the impact on folks who want to run for state rep with that pay?

Liz 7:20

two really nice ties if you like to wear ties. Wow. $100 a year. I would imagine some folks aren't able to run even if they wanted to because you all are paid almost nothing.

Alexis 7:33

Yeah.

Liz 7:33

Have you heard about people? Absolutely. Absolutely.

Alexis 7:37

I mean, there are people who would be excellent legislators who it's just off the table for them. They just won't ever be able to consider it because they are either the primary breadwinner of their family, or they have a significant income that their family needs to live on. And so it really does make for challenges. I know in my family, we rely primarily on my husband's income, and then I'm able to work some in the off-season. But it also takes sacrifice. You know, my kids also have to be committed to this project. And I think that's true for a lot of people like your family has to be on board. Thankfully, they like to get their clothes from thrift stores and are very generally very frugal. So they don't see it as a huge sacrifice. But it does mean a lot of attention to the budget and the finances if you're going to make a decision like this.

Liz 8:31

You as the leader of your caucus, it's very full time, but even for you, it's very full time. Right. Yeah.

Alexis 9:05

So we do try to work it out with people so that we can have representation from all different walks of life. But generally, no. We have a lot of retirees.

Why did you choose to run, knowing it pays $100 and there are 399 others?

Liz 9:15

Yeah. Majority of folks who are serving in the statehouse are older. Yes. For sure. Why did you choose to do this? If it pays $100 a year and you have to navigate 399 other opinions, why did you do this? Why did you run to be a state representative in New Hampshire?

Alexis 9:35

into state house politics because I was doing advocacy and policy on federal issues related to sustainable and organic agriculture. And I love that work. Food. Yes, food.

Liz 9:48

Food. Yes. Okay. We can all find common ground on food.

Alexis 9:51

Yes, it's the truth. I love food systems work. I love food policy work. I love agriculture work. I was doing that, like I said, at the federal level, and then I got involved in state issues as well. And and realized, wow, so this is how things work in New Hampshire. And I learned for myself that if you want to make something happen at the state level, you can run for office and you can hopefully win if you run a good campaign. And then you can hopefully make the change that you want to make if you can convince 200 other legislators to agree with you.

What does the NH House actually do?

Liz 10:28

You need to have at least half of them agree with you on the issues. That's right. Right. So the New Hampshire New Hampshire House is one chamber of the legislature. The other is the New Hampshire Senate. So I'm starting with the House because I feel like that's the most accessible part of our state government. What does the New Hampshire House as a chamber, as a body, what do you all do? What is your job?

Alexis 10:52

Well, on the one hand, essentially everybody's job is different because every community has its own needs from their legislator. So everybody comes in with a different set of needs that they're trying to represent in the house. Sure. So there's

Liz 11:11

that. From like their town or their region even?

Alexis 11:14

Right. Yeah. Okay. Exactly. But then all of us serve on committees. There are 22 committees in the state house right now. that all 400 of us are divided into these 22 committees and each committee covers an issue area. And so we have about 800 bills filed every year and those, yeah.

Liz 11:38

I mean, I know that from my day job and it's still shocking to hear. 800 bills that you're all going to, and we'll get into it more, but 800 of them that you all have to read and go through. Yeah. Okay.

Alexis 11:50

Yeah, it's true. And that's part of why we need 400 people. There's a give

Liz 11:56

and take, right? Like if you have 400 people, you end up with 800 bills. Yeah, it's kind of a

Alexis 12:01

cycle, I guess. Right, right. Yeah. If you have 400, you end up with 800 bills. If you have 800 bills, you better have 400 people to help break

NH House Committees (small groups)

Liz 12:08

them down. Yeah. That's right. So you're all in these small groups, committees. Exactly. Exactly. And they're based on different issue topics.

Alexis 12:18

Right. So we have a committee, for example, on health, human services, and elderly. And so all the bills that pertain to that issue area are funneled to that committee. And then there's also an Environment and Agriculture Committee and an Election Law Committee. And so all those bills get funneled into those different committees. And then the folks who are on there study those bills closely and decide whether they think they will work and that they're good policy or bad policy. So that's really the meat of the work that state legislators do every day. week of the session, which is generally January through June.

Liz 12:57

There's 400 state reps. You break out into small groups. You all have your group project. The house... Health, Human Services, and Elderly Affairs Committee, they get bills on things like vaccines.

Alexis 13:13

Yes.

Liz 13:13

The House Education Policy Committee will get bills in there about what should be taught in schools or what types of policies school boards should consider implementing, like those types of things happen in the House Education Policy. And then there's a different one now that's House Education Funding, something like school funding. Right. And the episode I just had was with Zach from New Hampshire School Funding Fairness Project. Those types of issues happen in that committee.

Alexis 13:42

Exactly.

Do committee members have expertise in these fields?

Liz 13:43

When state reps are on committees, do they have expertise in these fields? Are the people who are on the education committee all former educators or current educators? Are the house health committee members, are they all former doctors? What are the backgrounds of our state representatives?

Alexis 14:02

More often than not, there is a mix of backgrounds on every committee. It's a really good idea to have people on each committee who do have expertise in a given area, but it's also really helpful to have people who aren't experts in that area but can look at any issue from the perspective that they do come from. It's important to have people who know what's going on in any given field, but it's also important to bring in perspectives that might have creative solutions or out-of-the-box solutions. So it really is a mix, and we definitely have some health care professionals on the health care committee which is great

Liz 14:40

yeah

Alexis 14:40

we definitely have some lawyers on election law but often we'll also have folks who are simply involved in city or town government and so they help with elections at the polls every year yeah so they have that experience

What a "public hearing" is (for EVERY bill!)

Liz 14:56

so you've got the 400 of you you're in your committees and you get these bills and so they all get sort of divided up into the committees and then what happens what like what does it actually mean to be in these committees getting these bills? What do you do?

Alexis 15:10

Well, what I think the most important thing that happens in the state legislature are the hearings on each and every bill that comes forward in Concord. So every single bill. Yes. Yes, Liz. Every single bill gets a hearing in New Hampshire. And that's really unique. That's not true of all state legislatures across the country. That is true. Yeah, it is true.

Liz 15:33

All 800 of those bills, they're getting They're

Alexis 15:40

getting public hearings, folks. You can go talk about them. And they need to have input into the conversation and the policymaking. And the hearings give a real opportunity for that.

The public hearing process in the NH House

Liz 16:16

And so a public hearing is literally you all as state representatives hearing from the public. Yes. It sounds like such a technical term, public hearing. Like, what does it really mean? Yeah.

Alexis 16:30

So let me go through a little bit of the process first so that there may be people listening who have never been to a public hearing.

Liz 16:36

Good for them, frankly.

Alexis 16:38

Yes. But we never want people to be intimidated,

Liz 16:42

right? Yes, let's demystify this experience. It's not so scary, actually. It sounds so much scarier than it actually is.

Alexis 16:47

Exactly. And the first time I did it, I was very nervous, I will admit. Basically, there's a committee room of 12 to 20 people, legislators, regular people who have been elected to this job. They have a bill in front of them. And published on the House website is a time for when that hearing will happen. Anybody can arrive at the State Yeah. Totally. It's

Liz 17:41

the people's house. Yes, it sure is. I think something that is important to remind folks is if you go to a public hearing, you're not required to speak. They're not going to be like you. I saw that you haven't gotten up yet. They don't cold call you from the room.

Alexis 17:58

Thank goodness. Oh my gosh. I cannot imagine.

What expertise do you need to testify in a public hearing?

Liz 18:02

Yeah, that would be pretty intimidating. That does not happen. So you actually have to go and sign and say, yes, I do want to speak. Yes. And then they'll call you up based on, you know, you're saying that you're interested in talking about this. That's

Alexis 18:40

a great question. Anybody who has an opinion. Okay.

Liz 18:44

Anybody who has any opinion on the matter, you do not need to have a degree in what's being talked about. You don't need to be in the field. You can literally be like, I just saw this and just showed up. You can do that.

Alexis 18:56

Absolutely. You could be a person who's like, oh, that's interesting. I actually do want twice as many representatives than I have. And you could go in and just say, I want twice as many representatives as I have. Or you could go in and say, What is this about? I'm just going to

Childcare example for testifying

Do you have to go to Concord to have your voice heard by the House?

Liz 19:12

listen. That is a terrible idea. I just sit there and look. What are they talking about in here? So you don't need to have any specific background. It could be a personal story, right? Like I had Ken's on about childcare. And so it could be about I am a childcare worker or I was, or I am a mom or a parent. Or it could be like, I remember growing up and needing to go to childcare and that's important. And I think it should be more affordable. Like any background. is an okay background. Absolutely. Do you have to go to Concord to be heard?

Alexis 19:44

No, this is the great thing about technology and living in the 21st century. We now have a way that you can be heard online through the internet. There's a website called the GenCourt website. The old internet.

Liz 19:57

The old internet. Here it is. So

Alexis 20:00

you can go to the GenCourt website and you can find the bill that you want to weigh in on and you can sign in and you can either say you support or oppose the bill or you can support or oppose the bill and include your written testimony

Usually hearings are during the day, though...

Liz 20:18

yeah there's an entry box there that says like if you want to write something yes you could just write it in in that moment or you can upload a document if you've already written it i've heard some funny stories about people who have uh they've gotten very involved this year in the past they hadn't really like been in the state house or maybe they recently moved to new hampshire and one person said, I have so many bills that I'm upset about that I just started writing in the box. No. It's like, okay, I think oppose is enough, but sure, if that's what you want to write, it's on the record. You said it. Exactly. Okay, so you can go to Concord if you're able. Yes. Usually, I'm going to say it, Alexis, usually those public hearings are during the day, during the workday.

Alexis 21:03

Yeah, they are.

Liz 21:05

That's difficult for people, I think, who are working.

Alexis 21:07

It's really challenging. It really is. Because even if you do have an employer who lets you take off work to come to a hearing, that means you're using precious resources. time off that you might need for a doctor's appointment or to take care of your child when they're sick or, you know, it's not always even time off that you can sacrifice to go up to Concord and be there during the day. I think that's why the online option is so important.

You can email and call your state representatives - at home

How many staff members do I have to go through to talk to my state rep?

Liz 21:34

And folks can also, I mean, you can sign in on the website and I'll add it in the show notes of where you sign in. I know that we're past public hearings, but it's good for people to see it, I think, that it's there. But you can also email and Yes. Absolutely. So let me ask you, Alexis, how accessible are state representatives? I mean, you're one of mine, literally.

Alexis 21:58

Yes.

Liz 21:59

If I call you, how many staffers do I have to go through to get to you?

Alexis 22:04

Yeah. None. Literally zero.

Liz 22:09

In a word, literally zero. And not just because we know each other, right? Like not just because we know each other. Say more. What do you mean none?

Alexis 22:16

Yeah. So it's another way that we're unique here in New Hampshire. We don't have individual staff. So the state legislators across the state, you would have to raise money and hire your own staff person if you wanted to do that. Perhaps there are folks who do, but no. I don't know of anyone. is doing that right now. Right. So almost all of us publish our home phone numbers or our cell phone numbers on the website where our bio is. So people can just look on the website, look us up and call us. It can be a challenge sometimes to get back to everybody. But I also have a bigger district than most people because I have a floaterial district. So I receive calls from multiple towns, which isn't true of most legislators. But even so, yeah, we do not have staff people.

Liz 23:04

You don't have staff. I I will say that I have called lawmakers and I get their spouses because it is their home line. So I don't go through a staff member, but I have gone through spouses where I'm like, it's so nice to talk to you again, but I need to actually talk to the representative if I can. Or like, I know that I'm leaving a message on an answering machine that's playing through the house. And then the rep comes and is like, oh, hi, Liz. It's like, hi, how are you? How's dinner? I'm sure I'm calling you a dinner. So very accessible. And I may I made a joke on an earlier episode that you're everywhere in this state because you are. Many of you, I feel like, serve on other elected boards. Some of you serve on your local school boards. Yes.

Alexis 23:48

Select boards. You are everywhere. We have select board members serving in the legislature, school board members.

Liz 23:53

So this is an open invitation, it sounds like, to call your state representatives if you have an issue that you care about.

Alexis 23:59

Yes.

Executive Session: when the committee makes a recommendation on a bill

Liz 24:00

So the committee, you have your public hearing. You've heard from the public. What do you do next? You think a bill is bad and you hide it what happens

Alexis 24:07

so then the committee has to decide what they think they've taken all this public information in and they have looked at the bill and they have thought through the technical issues around the bill like how would it actually work you know if it involves one of our state agencies could they really do it

Liz 24:24

yeah

Alexis 24:25

and is it something that we feel strongly enough that we want to ask them to do it as legislators and then the committee takes a vote up or down whether they would like to pass the bill or stop the bill.

Uh-oh, it would cost money (fiscal note)

Liz 24:39

So I have my bill to double the number of state reps. I had my public hearing. I got all my friends. All three of them came to say, this is a great idea. And then the committee has an executive session is the official term. And you all debate. Then you make a recommendation.

Alexis 24:57

Yes. And I do know in this case that one of the significant considerations they would make for this recommendation is based on the fiscal note. Because what you are proposing would cost a significant amount of money. Because Liz, we did not talk about the mileage. Now there's the $200 times 400 more legislators, right? But also legislators receive compensation for the mileage that they drive up to Concord, which for 400 of us is not a small number.

Liz 25:29

That's where they roll in the big bucks, that mileage money.

Alexis 25:33

That's where it is. We gotta to make sure

Liz 25:36

our cars are in working order, Liz, so we can get to Concord in the snow. Okay. So yes. So my proposal, the bill that I am putting forward, that would probably be a topic of conversation. This is going to cost the state some money to have twice as many state reps as we had.

Alexis 25:52

Yes. And I guarantee that would come up in the executive session. I think you are right.

Liz 25:56

And so then they will take a vote. You know, someone will make a motion. It sounds so fancy. I move that this bill be I-T-L'd. Inexpedient to legislate. I'm just making a prediction, Alexis, that my bill is probably not going to get through the chamber.

Alexis 26:14

I agree with your prediction. I

Every bill gets a floor vote

Liz 26:16

just, you know, I just have a feeling that it won't go through. A motion is made and then you all take a vote around the room. Yes. And so then it's dead, right? That's it. It's over.

Alexis 26:26

No. Oh, no, no, no. Again. Oh, no, no, no. New Hampshire's unique legislature. Hey. Yep. Yes. Every single bill. Yes, that

Liz 26:37

is true. Even if that is

Alexis 26:48

the decision, that bill will still come to the floor.

Let's double our friends!

Liz 26:53

It'll still go to the floor. And then I, as the state representative who has sponsored it, I can get up there for the floor and be like, look, everyone, look around you. Look how many friends we have. Let's double it. We can do this. We can

Alexis 27:08

have

Liz 27:08

twice as many friends.

Alexis 27:10

Yes. And somebody else might get up and say, but Liz, we only have 400 chairs.

What are the actual debates in Concord this year?

Liz 27:16

Let's just make risers. Just platforms, add people right on top. It's totally fine. You're right. So every single bill, no matter how, let's say silly, like this idea, no matter how silly, does get a public hearing, gets a committee vote, and then it goes to the full chamber for a full vote. Yes. Yeah, that's very unique to New Hampshire. Other states do not do that. All right, so we went through a silly scenario, but that's the process. So what are the actual debates? You're all not talking about doubling your size, but what are the debates that you're taking up right now?

Alexis 27:52

So one of the biggest ones right now is the budget. Every two years, the budget bills first start with the governor and then come to the House and then move to the Senate and the House and the Senate have to agree on a budget and then the governor has to agree that they will sign that budget and then we have a budget. But that is a significant process and includes a lot of debate over a lot of different issues because while we talk about everything, we talk about everything that the state spends money on and whether that is how we

What is happening with the state budget? What's in it and what's not?

Liz 28:30

should be spending our money. Part of those things, and we've talked about it in previous episodes, I've talked about it with other folks, folks are things like child care and school funding and we're going to have a housing episode like all of those issues can also be part of the state budget how the state prioritizes spending money

Alexis 28:46

yes

Liz 28:47

we're recording this in mid-may so where is the state budget what's happening with it right now

Alexis 28:53

so april 10th the house voted out a budget and sent it to the senate so right now the senate finance committee is working on the budget they're working multiple days a week on coming up with a Senate version of the budget, they will vote in committee on that budget. And then on the floor on June 5th, that's the deadline for the Senate to vote on a budget.

Liz 29:16

You all did your process at the House level. So the House had the state budget. You all had your committees and talked about it and voted on it. And then you send it over to the Senate and they're doing that again, which is what happens with any other bill, just like the 400 to 800 reps, true for the state budget as well. In this moment, what's in that budget? and what is not in that budget.

Alexis 29:37

So we're at an interesting time where the... I

Liz 29:40

love when someone comes on here and says interesting because it always means something different. What does it mean? Yep. We are at an interesting time. I'm sorry to interrupt. Yep.

Alexis 29:51

It's a good word to use when you want to disagree with folks in an agreeable way. Yes, that's right. It's very

Liz 29:58

interesting. Yes. Okay. So we're in an interesting time with the budget. Yeah.

Alexis 30:02

It's literally no surprise because I am on record voting against the budget that came out of the House because there was so much about it that I disliked. And then when it moved to the Senate, now the Senate is starting to make changes, changes that will likely stick through the Senate's vote on the budget in early June. So some of the things that were taken out of the budget in the House or that were changed might already be different because the Senate has decided when they send a budget back over to the House It's going to be different in XYZ ways.

Liz 31:05

So many of the issues in the state budget received cuts, but there's been a lot of cuts to the state budget. One of the things that has had an increase in money is the education freedom accounts. Is that accurate still or has that changed?

Alexis 31:21

That is accurate. Currently, folks who make 350% of the poverty level wages can ask the state to support their either homeschooling or private or religious to school, and the state gives money that partially funds that education. So that's not education in a public school, right? We have public schools. We have public charter schools. This is different. So those vouchers that have been open to low-income folks so that they would have an opportunity if they are really struggling in their local public school. Currently, there is in the budget an increase in that program. It would be offered to people regardless of the income that they make. The state would would be instead of putting that money into public schools, public charter schools, or any of the other critical needs that the state has at this moment, giving that to folks who make any amount of money, including a million dollars, they would still be able to apply and get a voucher from the state for private school.

Liz 32:25

So even if a family makes more than a Yes. And that's

Alexis 32:40

one of the huge disagreements in this budget, because there are a lot of people who disagree that money should be spent that way, that that money should be reserved to the most critical needs in our state, which doesn't include supporting private schools for folks who make a large income.

Liz 33:04

tried your best. It's now in the Senate's hands. There's nothing you can do. Do you all have another shot at it?

Alexis 33:09

Well, the Senate will come back with their bill and the House has three options.

Liz 33:14

Ooh.

Alexis 33:15

Yeah.

Three options: concur (yes), nonconcur (nope), committee of conference (not...yet)

Liz 33:15

Choose your own adventure. Okay. What are those three options? I'm excited.

Alexis 33:18

We can concur, which means we say, looks good. Let's go with the Senate version of the budget.

Liz 33:24

Okay.

Alexis 33:25

We can non-concur, which is to say, nope, no thank you. We don't like that budget. We're not taking it.

Liz 33:31

Boo. We don't like this. It's your profession. Professional elected boo is the non-concern. Yes, it is. Yes, exactly. Actually, sometimes I hear you all booing. I do sometimes hear booing. I am sure that you have heard booing. Okay, so there's the concur, meaning yes, we agree, this looks good to us. Non-concern, this looks bad, it's a no for us. And that's a drastic

Alexis 33:55

move. I would be very surprised if the House would do that. That basically would kill the budget bills. So we're not going to go down that scenario right now.

Liz 34:04

These three options are true for any bill that's changed, but we're talking about the state budget specifically, but that can happen for any bill that is changed by the other chamber. It comes back to the first one and concur, non-concur. And what is the third?

Alexis 34:17

Non-concur and request a committee of

Liz 34:20

conference. Ooh, what an exciting phrase that is. Non-concur with a committee of conference. So many words. Very

Alexis 34:28

exciting.

Liz 34:29

What does that mean in language of regular people?

Alexis 34:33

Yes, regular people. right so it means we do not like this but We think we can work with you. Okay, okay. So let's get into a room and let's talk about what we like the least and see if we can negotiate something that both chambers agree to, the Senate and the House.

Liz 34:56

Okay, it's a no, not yet.

Alexis 34:59

Right, that's good. Yeah, not yet.

Liz 35:01

So the Committee of Conference, these terms are so interesting. Let's go back to our classic word. It's so interesting. It's literally lawmakers from both chambers, the House and the Senate, they get chosen by the leadership and they literally like sit in a room and just talk it out and have amendments flying around like, let's do it this way, this way, this way. Yeah, that's it. You have your not yet, your non-concur with committee of conference. They get in the room. They duke it out professionally. And then it's over? No.

Alexis 35:32

Then those people in the room, if they've done their job, both chambers will agree to whatever came out of that room, or at least the majority of both chambers will agree. But there does have to be a vote in each chamber on what comes out of the committee of conference.

Liz 35:50

So with the state budget, the Senate is going to, they're working on it right now as we speak. They're working on it. And then they're going to vote. They're going to send it back to all of you because they're going to change something inevitably they've already made some changes yeah sure and then they'll send it back to you probably there'll be some sort of committee of conference and then you all have to vote again you have one more vote it's a lot of votes you all have to take for a hundred dollars It is a

Alexis 36:16

lot of votes.

Liz 36:17

It's a lot of votes. It's a lot of votes.

Alexis 36:19

And for $100, I mean, they're votes that affect a lot of people's lives.

Liz 36:22

Yeah.

Alexis 36:22

Right? A lot of granite staters' lives.

Does the House get along with the Senate?

Liz 36:25

Boy, oh boy. What about the other chamber? Do you all talk? Or is it truly like, well, they're the other ones? How does that work?

Alexis 36:34

Yeah. I mean, we do talk. The bulk of our work really takes place in our own chambers, you know, when we're studying those bills and all of that. But we do talk, especially when a bill that we like has gone to the other chamber. And that's a great thing about our Senate. It's only 24 people, so it's much easier to educate all the senators on any given issue.

Liz 36:56

So should we double the size of the New Hampshire Senate? You know what? Maybe I need to run for Senate. Maybe I have to do that. Who knows? Maybe

Alexis 37:04

that's what you should

Liz 37:07

do. I'm coming up with great ideas

Alexis 37:08

today.

Liz 37:10

First idea, best idea. Here we go. No bad ideas in a brainstorm. Do senators and representatives Get along with you all. Or is it like you see them, you're like, oh, it's the other side of the wall. Like,

Alexis 37:21

how does it work? Well, I can't speak for every legislator. Yeah, of course. And sometimes people will say things about the other chamber and sometimes I don't know if they mean it or if it's just kind of a joke, you know, or certainly there's a level of frustration when the House wants to do something and the Senate wants to do something

Liz 37:40

drastically different. Yes, of course. That is

Alexis 37:42

incredibly frustrating. And I'm sure the same is true for the Senate, right? When they have an idea, they all agree on and they send it And we're like, no, thanks. I mean, they must get very frustrated, right? I bet that that is true. I bet that is very true. two towns or whatever. Yeah. But they have to work for and understand a larger region. So it's important to listen to them too.

What do you do in the "off season" (July - December)?

Liz 38:27

Right. What do you all do when you're not in Concord January through June? Like hibernation? Do you just like go off into the woods and reemerge? What do you do in the off season? There are

Alexis 38:42

a lot of legislators on our team and the other team who work full-time jobs or part-time jobs. Oh, yeah. But they're Right. Right. to the finish line or the governor's desk next year. So we'll do a lot of that in the off season.

Liz 39:23

So it doesn't actually stop. It doesn't. It

Alexis 39:26

slows down. It

Closing, Upcoming Episodes, Support the Show!

Liz 39:27

definitely slows down, but it doesn't stop. Alexis, thank you so much for indulging me in my legislative idea and for walking me through the statehouse process. In some ways, very literally walking through the process and answering these questions. Thank you so much for making this accessible for folks who maybe have never been to

Alexis 39:52

Concord at all. make sure that everybody feels welcome in the process of making the laws that make our state run.

Liz 40:06

And if there was one thing you wanted people to do, what would it be?

Alexis 40:09

So I think it's really important that people figure out how to get information about what's happening at the state house. On social media, people should be paying attention to the New Hampshire House Democrats, which is our social media out of the House Democratic Office. I know we talked about, I don't have personal staff, but we do have three incredible staff people in the New Hampshire House Democratic Office who work very hard to get our message out there. We want people to be able to hear from us and learn from us and speak back to us on all the different platforms, whether it's...

Liz 40:46

We're going to be quizzed on all the social media. Let's see. How many different ones are there? Let's

Alexis 40:50

see if I can do it. Okay. Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Blue

Liz 40:55

Sky,

Alexis 40:56

X.

Liz 40:57

Oh, my God. Are

Alexis 40:58

there

Liz 40:58

any more? I don't know. I don't know either. I honestly don't know. There's so many. But we try to

Alexis 41:02

be on all of them, Liz, because there are Granite Staters everywhere. I just...

Liz 41:08

It's fine. We can do it.

Alexis 41:09

We can.

Liz 41:10

We can do it. We can do hard things. Yes. And some of those hard things is the social media.

Alexis 41:14

Yes. And we can learn from younger Granite Staters.

Liz 41:17

Yes, of course. They will teach us and they will help us. Of course. I think you got all of them. You got all the ones that I know about, at least. So that's a good place to be. New Hampshire House

Alexis 41:24

Democrats.

Liz 41:25

New Hampshire has issues with... Many social media pages to look through. Thank you for listening to New Hampshire Has Issues. If you'd like to support the show, click the link in the show notes and thank you, of course, for doing that. Some episodes that I have coming up have to do with housing affordability, about education freedom accounts, which you might know as school vouchers, and about how tariffs are impacting the cost of chocolate. Yes, an episode about chocolate. New episodes every Tuesday. If you're wondering, Liz, why didn't you explain that it's a CACR, not a bill you would file to double the number of reps? Oh, boyfriend, just take a deep breath. It's okay. Thanks for listening. See you next week.