See call to action below…
Dear Citizens,
There is a peaceful revolution underway and I hope each of you will choose how in any small way you can be part of that. Citizens are currently standing up to the bullies all over the place.
HB 154: Please try to track this yourself, through House, then Senate. There needs to be some further action by the House and it doesn’t look like that will happen on Feb. 15, when the full house next meets. Stay tuned for that.
HB 154 has passed the Senate (because Senators don’t have to follow their own rules or Legislative Ethics standards unless a few important people in the Senate say they shouldn’t/can’t. Citizens (except ONE) weren’t aware of the bill, so the rest of us couldn’t even TRY to stop them.
Even if the Senate snuck it through without us knowing, we would expect a huge election law bill like this, with many NEW parts to next come to the House Election Law Committee for a properly noticed hearing.
WRONG. I am now waiting for a decision from the Chair of NH Municipal and County Committee of what he has decided to do with the bill.
On Feb. 12, I sent this to Sen. Gray, Soucy, Abbas, Murphey and Perkins Kwoka, copied to others.
Dear Senators,
You have received numerous emails from me about our current abusive system and how many of us ordinary people in NH (and our legislative allies) have been harmed by this system.
I have now had some time to fully process my rage without being abusive to you.
I now give you an alternative to resigning, to choose to be on our side and begin reforming this system that currently works for a few, not most of us.
Two questions:
1) Sen. Gray, this bill LOOKS like Dave Scanlan and Bud Fitch wrote it in consultation with you. True or false? No response.
2) Who else consulted with you on this bill? No response.
We all know that the Senate and House and Courts don’t have to follow their own rules and the Executive branch is free to ignore the constitution and laws consistent with it.
LAST QUESTION
I ask you to withdraw this bill from consideration this year and agree to work with interested citizens in resubmitting a bill (or bills) next year.
Will you do that? Yes or no. Please respond today. Call if you choose. No (Sen. Gray’s actions, not his words.)
Sen. Abbas was absent when the others sent a 4-0 committee recommendation to the full Senate. I have now asked the others to resign.
Below is part of what I sent the House Election Law Committee yesterday, from the heart, expressing my deep and very real hurt. Thank you, Al, for helping me process my emotions so I could be open to take dictation from a higher source and communicate it, first to those legislators who need to hear it and can choose to change course, and then to you.
I am attaching only the 15 pages of the amended bill the Senate passed.
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Dear Honorable Members of the House Election Law Committee,
Yesterday, I sent this message to the members of the Senate Election Law and Municipal Affairs Committee.
Dear Senators,
You have received numerous emails from me about our current abusive system and how many of us ordinary people in NH (and our legislative allies) have been harmed by this system.
I now give you an alternative to resigning, to choose to be on our side and begin reforming this system that works for a few, not most of us.
They all chose to be on the abusive system’s side. Now it is your choice.
We see…a bill that gives more authority and discretion to the Secretary of State, that financially benefits a for-profit company that takes no oath of office, that has left citizens with no voice even though they will pay for the costs in money and lost trust. Your committee, intentionally, has been left without a voice.
Sponsors of the original bill, all those who took time to testify for or against the bill. Utter disrespect for us all. What has become of the NH we all love? Can we ever begin to turn things around?
The chair of the Municipal and County Government gets an okay from the Secretary of State, who likely WROTE the bill and House Leadership, leaving the rest of us to dutifully obey the master’s orders…when we do not accept him (abusive system) as our master. We SHALL march to the ballot box, we SHALL deposit our vote…we SHALL bow and scrape and curry favors, or else…
Separation of powers is ignored. The master writes the law, interprets it, enforces or doesn’t at his will alone. Yes, sir. Yes SIR. Two plus two equals five because YOU say so, SIR! No one but we citizens (the littlest of the little people) dare question it. Dare expect better from our government. Dare to tell you so.
I learn, one more surprise, that not only are we as ordinary citizens disrespected and marginalized by an uncaring power, wearing the scars of continual abuse from the master who says we deserve our bad treatment, that now he tells us and you that most members of your committee do too. Maybe some of you would question sections of the bill (I hope so!)….maybe there would be amendments, maybe the majority would vote against it. That possibility isn’t acceptable to the master, so he must take away that authority from you little people who might question his. As he has taken away our voice and our vote, he has taken away yours. We SEE. We feel. We hurt. We keep going….because we love NH so much the hurt cuts so deep to see it/us so badly treated. Easier if we stopped caring. We shall not stop caring.
Below is what I’ve shared with the Municipal and County Government and senators who have allowed this to happen to us. I have now asked the four senators who recommended OTP to the Senate to resign. Other citizen actions are under way.
I have said before and I’ll say it again. “If you stand up for the people of NH, I will stand up for you and ask others to help.”
Respectfully,
Deborah Sumner
Jaffrey, NH
PS The more I look through this bill, the more problems I find that need a full discussion and significant changes. Please do not look away. CARE!
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