Also on today’s menu:
Concord-Laconia Connector Now Set To Debut In December
Court Dismisses Challenge To Education Freedom Accounts
Biden, Xi Meet And Agree On Key Issues
President Joe Biden Jr. and the Democratic National Committee have challenged New Hampshire’s statutory obligation to hold the nation’s first presidential primary election and lost, but the DNC has promised not to seat any Granite State delegate to the party’s national convention in retaliation.
State law dictates that New Hampshire hold the first presidential primary, and Secretary of State David Scanlan set the date at January 23, 2024. A throng of national media and New Hampshire political leaders from both the Republican and Democratic parties were present at the historic Hall of Flags at the State House as he announced the date, and both parties were unified in support of Scanlan’s position.
Biden chose not to place his name on the New Hampshire primary ballot, but 21 other Democrats filed to run, along with 24 Republicans. Some residents plan to write in Biden’s name despite his objections to being on the ballot, but others plan to honor his decision and to support another candidate instead.
“New Hampshire believes the voters of each state should decide who they prefer as the nominee to be president, not power brokers in Washington DC,” Scanlan said. “That is why Representative Stephen Bullock wrote New Hampshire’s presidential primary law in the first place. In New Hampshire, candidates of different ethnic backgrounds, genders, religions, and financial means have done well here, sometimes to the dismay of the national political parties. A small state geographically, with a population of 1.4 million citizens, New Hampshire is the one place where any qualified United States citizen can run for president and have a shot. If you had the childhood dream of growing up to be president of the United States, you can try to make that a reality in New Hampshire. That fact, after all, is the purest form of the American Dream.”
Concord-Laconia Connector Now Set To Debut In December
Terri Paige, director of transportation for the Community Action Program-Belknap and Merrimack Counties, told the Franklin City Council last April that the agency hoped to launch a new Concord-Laconia commuter bus route by the end of summer. Appearing before the Laconia City Council on November 13, she said the service, with stops off Exit 17 and at the Merrimack County Complex in Boscawen, the Franklin Industrial Park and Watts Regulator, Tilton Walmart, Market Basket, Hobby Lobby, and the Tanger Outlet Mall, the Belknap Marketplace in Belmont, and Concord Hospital-Laconia, is now set to debut in December.
The city has granted permission to establish another bus stop in its Church Street lot behind St. Joseph Church and next to the Laconia Public Library.
The main impetus for the “Concord-Laconia Connector” was the lack of transportation for people living in Concord who might fill job vacancies at manufacturers such as Watts Technologies, as well as to provide rides to medical appointments. The plan is to provide transportation between Eagle Square in Concord and Church Street in Laconia, with drivers covering two shifts.
Court Dismisses Challenge To Education Freedom Accounts
Amy L. Ignatius, presiding justice of the Merrimack County Superior Court, has granted the state’s motion to dismiss a lawsuit by Debrah Howes against Education Commissioner Frank Edelblut, ruling that Howes has not provided sufficient evidence to show that the state’s Education Freedom Accounts, established in 2021, violate state law.
Howes argued that the Education Trust Fund is prohibited from using the money “for any purpose other than to distribute adequate education grants to municipalities’ school districts.” Proceeds from lottery sales are intermingled with other sources of income in the trust fund, and Howes points out that lottery money is to be “used exclusively for the purpose of state aid to education.” Nine million dollars from the Education Trust Fund were used to fund Education Freedom Accounts in 2022, and $3,000,000 went to fund the EFA program in fiscal year 2023. Howes argued that, because there is no way to prove lottery money is not being allocated to the EFA program, it is unconstitutionally funded.
The Court found that, because “Money is generally fungible and funds within the Education Trust Fund are not segregated by source,” it must presume that the EFA is not funded by lottery money and is constitutional.
Education Freedom Accounts provide state money to allow parents to choose institutions other than public schools if they believe their children will get a better education.
Biden, Xi Meet And Agree On Key Issues
The meeting between President Joe Biden Jr. and China’s Xi Jinping on November 15 resulted in agreements on several key issues. It began with Biden saying, “I value our conversation because I think it’s paramount that you and I understand each other clearly, leader to leader, with no misconceptions or miscommunication.” Xi responded, “Conflict and confrontation has unbearable consequences for both sides.”
Among the areas of agreement was the need for the two countries, which are the world’s largest carbon emitters, to make serious efforts to tackle climate change. While they stopped short of committing to end the use of fossil fuels, they agreed to support global efforts to triple renewable energy by 2030.
The two sides also agreed to fight drug trafficking, with China saying it would crack down on chemical companies that export the ingredients used in the manufacture of fentanyl. The two countries agreed to resume military-to-military communication after China severed those links when then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan. They also agreed on the need to address the risks of advanced artificial intelligence systems.
Robert Hubbell observed:
Although the “agreements” were small and incremental (as opposed to ground-breaking), they relate to top-line, long-term issues that affect not only the US and China but the entire world. Biden was able to make substantial progress in “re-normalizing” relations between the US and China. That is no mean feat.
National Gratitude Month
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