State House Dome: Sununu says making pot legal 'inevitable'

Nov. 18—LAST WEEK, Gov. Chris Sununu said he thought legalizing the sale of marijuana in New Hampshire was "inevitable."

When Sununu announced his support last spring for having the state control the sale of cannabis, it appeared this was something this lame duck governor wanted to accomplish before leaving.

The commission studying this issue last week continued to pore over the details of a 37-page draft bill authored by its chairman, Sen. Daryl Abbas, R-Salem.

A retail pot bill died in the Senate, 14-10, last May, so for this bill to become law, Sununu would have to win over at least three state senators.

He could get there with the three who backed the concept while serving in the House — Abbas and Sens. Tim Lang, R-Sanbornton, and Howard Pearl, R-Loudon.

The commission has one more meeting on Nov. 29 before it must submit a recommendation in advance of a Dec. 1 deadline.

The result won't be unanimous; many of the commission's 19 members oppose the idea.

The commission's latest proposal would replace Sununu's state-run store idea with a franchise-style system. Private licensees would handle cultivation and retail sales, and the state would regulate the industry.

This version would assess a fee (read tax) of 15% of a franchisee's gross revenue.

Liquor Commission Chairman Joseph Mollica said this rate would attract residents of other New England states with much higher taxes.

Lang, chairman of the Senate Ways and Means Committee, said that once legalized sales are up and running, they should produce about $250 million in revenue and about $38 million from state taxes.

Two rankings put NH first

New Hampshire once again led the nation as the so-called "freest" state, according to two surveys last week.

The Libertarian-leaning Cato Institute's seventh biennial Freedom in the 50 States report had New Hampshire first overall.

In its own report on economic freedom in North America, the Fraser Institute put New Hampshire on top as well.

"The proof is in the pudding: when you cut taxes, spend money wisely, and slash overbearing, burdensome regulations like we've done in New Hampshire, freedom and the economy flourish," Sununu said.

New Hampshire's standing with Cato improved since 2021, because of cuts in business and unearned-income taxes and the introduction of the the state's Education Freedom Accounts grant program.

In fact, New Hampshire's recent score was the highest of any state in the history of this ranking.

Cato had New Hampshire first for economic freedom and second on fiscal matters and on education policy.

Executive Councilor and Democratic candidate for governor Cinde Warmington of Concord begged to differ on one point.

"What about reproductive freedom? New Hampshire is the only state in New England without proactive protections for one of our most fundamental freedoms: the right to access safe & legal abortion," Warmington said.

This topic will return to the Executive Council table when it next meets on Nov. 29.

Health and Human Services Commissioner Lori Weaver said her agency intends to submit family planning contracts.

In June 2022, the council voted, 4-1, against contracts for Planned Parenthood of Northern New England and two other providers that perform abortions.

School enrollment down

School enrollment in New Hampshire dipped 1.4% in the past year, according to the state Department of Education's latest report.

At the start of this school year, 165,095 students were enrolled in K-12 public schools, compared to 167,357 last year.

Over the past two decades, student numbers have shrunk by more than 42,500 — a 20.5% decline.

"With demographic changes across the state that include an aging population and low birth rates, communities and school districts statewide are having challenging conversations needed to address funding, staffing, class offerings and more," said Education Commissioner Frank Edelblut.

Bail reform developments

House Speaker Sherman Packard, R-Londonderry, celebrated the House Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee coming together behind a four-bill package to reform bail laws.

"Your efforts show how well the @NHHouseofReps can come together to find solutions that help #NH people," Packard posted on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Because the panel unanimously supported the changes, the bills were placed on the consent calendar, to be taken up by the House in January.

One big change that has attracted major concern is the removal of misdemeanor crimes of domestic violence and stalking from a list of offenses that can subject an offender to be held without bail until he or she sees a judge.

"The coalition does not take a position on this bill. However, to specifically exclude the crime of misdemeanor domestic violence assault from this proposal ignores the reality that domestic violence is the most dangerous crime in New Hampshire," said Alyssa Dandrea, with the New Hampshire Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence.

"The majority of homicides in our state are committed by domestic violence offenders, who escalate over time. "

More ed grant debate

Although a Superior Court judge last week upheld Education Freedom Account grants, lawmakers again will debate the program's future in 2024.

At least 11 proposed bills deal with the program.

House Majority Leader Jason Osborne, R-Auburn, said a top priority of his caucus is to expand eligibility for the program.

Bills along those lines are being authored by House Republican Floor Leader Joe Sweeney, R-Salem; House Education Committee Vice Chairman Glenn Cordelli, R-Tuftonboro; and Rep. Alicia Lekas, R-Hudson.

Proposals to place more limits on EFAs have been offered by state Reps. Tim Horrigan, D-Durham; Mel Myler, D-Hopkinton, and Corine Cascadden, D-Berlin.

Price tag off the rails

The Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority last week said it needs $24.5 billion to replace or rehab tracks over its corridor, $14.5 billion more than previously estimated.

If New Hampshire were to restore commuter rail traffic from Concord or Manchester to Boston, the MBTA would have to be the provider.

That's a chief reason Sununu has opposed the idea.

"When choo-choo fans say they want to bring their passenger rail boondoggle to NH, this is the organization they want to tie us to. The taxpayers would be totally screwed," said Greg Moore, state director of the fiscally conservative Americans for Prosperity.

Trump piles on DeSantis

Former President Donald Trump continues to pile on attacks against Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who has slid in recent New Hampshire primary polls.

When the Union Leader first reported that Londonderry country store owner Thomas Estey had withdrawn his support for DeSantis, Trump pounced.

"In what is becoming common practice for Ron DeSantis and his campaign, they were caught in a blatant lie about one of their supposed endorsers," Trump said in an email alert.

In May, Estey signed a pledge card backing DeSantis, but he changed his mind.

Two secession bills coming

Fans of the debate over New Hampshire leaving the country will have twice the fun in 2024.

For the first time in state history, the Legislature will deal with two bills on the subject.

"The federal government have nobody to thank but themselves for the inevitable result — more and more of us want to choose freedom," said Carla Gericke, president emeritus of New Hampshire's Free State Project.

The first, from Rep. Matthew Santonastaso, R-Jaffrey, would create a Secession Study Committee. The other, from Rep. Jason Gerhard, R-Northfield, would trigger the state's secession once the national debt reached $40 trillion.

UNH leaders blasted

Republican State Chairman Chris Ager called the decision of University of New Hampshire administrators to not criticize anti-Israel protests on the Durham campus "very disappointing."

"We have been reaching out to the university that free speech is great but there is no dialogue with people who say they want to exterminate a whole class of people," Ager said.

Senate President Jeb Bradley, R-Wolfeboro, and Sen. Dan Innis, R-Bradford, offered their own statements critical of the protests and anti-Semitic statements made by Associate Professor Chanda Prescod-Weinstein.

In a video, the protesters chanted "from the river to the sea, Palestine shall be free," which many view as favoring the extermination of the state of Israel.

"The university is proud of its record of protecting free speech on campus, including speech that may be objectionable," UNH administrators said in response.

In a recent survey, UNH ranked among the top five colleges in the country for allowing free speech.

Biden write-in campaign

President Joe Biden's support among likely Democratic primary voters remains strong in New Hampshire despite his refusal to place his name on the ballot, according to the first poll since Secretary of State David Scanlan set the primary date.

The CNN/UNH Survey Center poll found only a quarter (26%) said they would be "enthusiastic" if Biden were the nominee. A similar-sized group (21%) said they would be "dissatisfied."

Nonetheless, 65% said they would write in Biden's name, well ahead of his two rivals, three-term Minnesota Congressman Dean Phillips (10%) and California liberal author Marianne Williamson (9%).

In a September poll, Biden's backing was at 78%.

Abbas raises big stake

In his first fundraiser of the 2024 campaign, Abbas brought in more than $60,000.

The sold-out event attended by 260 was held at the new Artisan Hotel in Salem's Tuscan Village to coincide with Abbas's 40th birthday.

Windham election kerfuffleWindham Selectman Bruce Breton, a top Trump confidant in New Hampshire, called for the resignations of Windham Moderator Peter Griffin and Windham School District Moderator Elizabeth Dunn because of ballot irregularities in the November 2020 election and Sept. 13 state primary.

Breton wrote that the state's audit of the town elections found "significant deficiencies in your collective inabilities to follow simple election laws and procedures."

Attempts to reach Griffin for comment last week were unsuccessful.

Dunn had called the complaint "background noise."

Prescott endorsed

The conservative 603 Alliance supported First Congressional District Republican candidate Russell Prescott of Kingston last week, a few days after it announced it was backing Trump.

Hollie Noveletsky, a 1st CD primary rival and Greenland businesswoman, got her own big endorsement from Rochester Mayor Paul Callaghan, who just won his own reelection bid.

Scanlan pays respects

One prominent defender of the state's first-in-the-nation primary was missing from Scanlan's big reveal — Sybil Dupuis, the great-granddaughter of Stephen Bullock, the Richmond farmer who wrote the original presidential primary law back in 1913.

Dupuis passed away recently, and Scanlan attended her funeral Monday.

Dupuis was in Scanlan's office Oct. 20 during the candidate filing period to celebrate the anniversary of Bullock's law and the return of Bullock's historic desk, one of the state's treasured pieces of political furniture.

Kevin Landrigan is State House Bureau Chief for the New Hampshire Union Leader and Sunday News. Contact him at klandrigan@unionleader.com.