Also on today’s menu:
Sununu Doubles Down On Border Security Risks
Bradley Proposes More Reasonable Approach
The House Education Committee has rejected a bill that would prohibit the use of social-emotional learning in public schools, recommending that it be voted “inexpedient to legislate” when the full House takes it up later this session.
House Bill 1473, sponsored by Representative John Sellers (R-Bristol), received a hostile reception on February 5, and during a committee work session on February 13, Representative Mel Myler (D-Contoocook) observed, “I think in the 12 years I’ve been on this committee, this hearing had probably the broadest breadth of individuals that came before us. I mean, we had corrections people, we had social workers, we had counselors, we had teachers, we had parents, and I think this was a very telling hearing that really talks about the breadth of the need to deal with kids’ social-emotional learning.”
Committee members spoke of the importance of teaching children to work together, respect each other, and learn other social skills.
Discussion: John Sellers recognizes that he took too broad an approach and has prepared an amendment that addresses his most serious concern, which is the sharing of student information with outside agencies not bound by the confidentiality constraints that local educators must observe.
Sununu Doubles Down On Border Security Risks
After the American Civil Liberties Union of New Hampshire used Border Patrol data showing there had been only 21 cases of illegal border crossings along the 58 miles separating New Hampshire from Canada over 15 months as a way of debunking Governor Chris Sununu’s claims that spending $1,435,384 for northern border security was justified, Sununu now is asking New Hampshire lawmakers to spend an additional $850,000 to help secure the southern border separating Texas and Mexico. Sununu wants to send as many as 15 New Hampshire National Guard members to Eagle Pass in Texas for as long as 90 days in support of Governor Greg Abbott’s defiant stand against the United States’ authority over border security.
At the urging of former president Donald Trump, Republicans killed a bill they had asked for that would have strengthened border security regulations. Sununu was one of 14 governors to travel to Eagle Pass on February 4, and he wrote in his funding request to the Joint Legislative Fiscal Committee, “Simply stated, in the absence of a willingness at the federal level to secure our border, states (both individually and collectively) must undertake efforts to protect the safety of their citizens.”
The fiscal committee plans to take up the request on February 16.
Discussion: The crisis at the border is the one that Abbott created by placing razor wire in the Rio Grande and preventing rescuers from saving people from drowning. There is a need to better control the flow of migrants and asylum-seekers, but Congress has been unwilling to address the problem with legislation that actually would solve the shortcomings. New Hampshire guardsmen should not be supporting Abbott’s defiant acts against the federal government and Sununu should be asking them to do so.
Bradley Proposes More Reasonable Approach
Senate President Jeb Bradley (R-Wolfeboro) has sponsored Senate Bill 504 as another way to address concerns about illegal immigration along the Canadian border. The bill would amend the state’s current-use law to allow landowners to post “no trespassing” signs with exceptions for recreational use. Bradley says that would allow regular law enforcement officials to arrest those suspected of illegal entry.
“In New Hampshire and in 49 other states, we have seen the results of open border policies, not only human trafficking, but the import of illegal substances, in particular fentanyl, flowing across our southern and our northern border,” Bradley testified, saying Governor Chris Sununu and Attorney-General John Formella had requested the bill.
Some Pittsburg residents claim to have seen people illegally entering New Hampshire by crossing a stream that serves as the border between the U.S. and Canada. Republicans in Concord have argued the problem is far larger than the Border Patrol numbers suggest, and that it is time for the state to step up its own enforcement efforts.
Discussion: It is, indeed, likely that the number of people illegally entering New Hampshire is higher than the number of encounters with Border Patrol agents. Bradley’s bill is a common-sense solution that does not waste money on exaggerated figures but recognizes that easy measures can solve the problems that really exist.
Café Chatter
On ‘Burgess Banktruptcy’: Tom, similar to the bio mass plant that closed in Bristol/Alexandria.
— Paul Berton
On ‘Finding The Music’: Great vignette. Music is with me. Love clarinet and piano. I play Coleman Hawkins often. My Facebook friends might think it wierd to add music to many of my posts. I spend so much time on YouTube finding something I loved in the 1940s on. Keep saving. Some vinyls are already in demand. My son and brother took most of mine.
— Dorothy Duffy