Last week’s decision in the ConVal case means legislators would have to find another $530 million to meet the higher per-pupil amount contained in Rockingham County Superior Court Judge David Ruoff’s order.

Gov. Chris Sununu and Republican legislative leaders have decried the decision, arguing it takes away the province of legislators to set education aid grants in the state budget every two years.

“Why don’t we just get rid of local school boards?” Senate Ways and Means Chairman Tim Lang, R-Sanbornton, asked rhetorically. “If the state is providing 51% of resources for schools, then let’s just let the state set the policy. This is absurd.”

House Democratic Leader Matt Wilhelm of Manchester said he’s optimistic he’ll be able to work with House Republicans on a “bipartisan” aid solution just as he did on the state budget last spring.

This will be a heavier lift.

The first response from many top Democrats has been to urge the Legislature to retain the state Interest and Dividends Tax that currently is scheduled to be fully repealed by the end of 2025.

They opposed that repeal, maintaining it would primarily benefit a small number of very wealthy residents.

Former Democratic Party Chairman Kathy Sullivan, as usual, summed up well the political dynamic of the ruling:

“The gubernatorial race just got even more interesting,” Sullivan said.

Cannabis panel fine-tuning

recommendations

The commission working on legislation to legalize marijuana has a few issues to resolve Monday at its final meeting prior to a Dec. 1 deadline to make its final report.

The likelihood is that not even everyone on the panel who supports the principle will be able to agree on all matters.

There are several members of the commission that oppose this whole idea including members of the state police, local police chiefs and some substance abuse advocates.

The working majority that supports legalization in principle has not come to consensus on how to deal with those who would repeatedly violate the law and use marijuana in public.

Commission Chairman Lang said he would prefer the bill contain a heavy sanction for repeat offenders.

“We want to encourage responsible behavior so I think that should mean if someone is flaunting it out in public over and over, they should have to pay a price,” Lang said.

The representative of the American Civil Liberties Union opposes that approach, Lang said.

Another sticking point is whether to create a standard for driving under the influence of cannabis, a murky topic that only a few states have tried to address.

One of the complications is that science tells us that after someone uses marijuana, it can remain in the bloodstream for up to 20 days.

Thus, someone could be stopped on the road and be judged as impaired even though they did not recently use pot.

Lang said one approach could be to allow local police to use an impaired standard as one factor in the “totality of all circumstances,” to include field sobriety testing.

Public health and social justice leaders will offer their suggestions for cannabis policy at a news conference Tuesday morning in the Legislative Office Building.

The goal of this group is to limit youth use and reduce public harm.

Speakers will include Kate Frey, vice president of advocacy with New Futures; Frank Knaack, policy director with ACLU New Hampshire; Emily Lawrence, deputy advocacy director with Waypoint; Susan Stearns, executive director with NAMI New Hampshire; and Dr. Cynthia Whitaker, president of Greater Nashua Mental Health.

Speaker wins top conservative honor

House Speaker Sherman Packard, R-Londonderry, will be honored with the Tom Thomson Defending Liberty Award by the state chapter of the fiscally conservative Americans for Prosperity.

Packard got high marks for legislative accomplishments in a closely divided House of Representatives, including a state budget deal and quicker repeal of New Hampshire’s “income tax,” the 5% levy on interest and dividend income over $2,400 annually for individuals or $4,800 for married couples.

The award will be presented at AFP’s Christmas Party Dec. 19 at Murphy’s Carriage House in Bedford.

Christie coming to SEA

The State Employees Association, for the first time in its history, will welcome a Republican presidential candidate to its Concord headquarters for a union town hall forum.

Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie accepted the union’s invitation.

The move is a further sign the state’s largest union representing government employees is reaching out more to satisfy its Republican members.

The SEA recently announced that it was going to interview both Democratic and Republican candidates for governor in 2024.

The National Education Association of New Hampshire that represents teachers is the largest union in the public sector.

RFK Jr. lets NH state rep go

Now that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is lodging a third party rather than Democratic bid for president, he’s making some key staff changes.

Close to home, he recently let go of state Rep. Aidan Ankarberg, R-Rochester, who had played a major role in Kennedy’s New Hampshire campaign.

Ankarberg said he could not comment on the matter as he signed a nondisclosure agreement.

It’s clear that Kennedy’s campaign has been spending money at a pretty high rate, burning through $7 million over the three-month period that ended last Sept. 30.

The Ankarberg decision also comes about a month after Kennedy sacked his campaign manager, former Ohio congressman and two-time Democratic presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich.

Kennedy’s daughter-in-law, Amaryllis Fox Kennedy, was named to replace Kucinich.

Another federal appeals court opening

While President Joe Biden seeks support for a New Hampshire federal prosecutor to serve on the First Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston, he will have another opening.

Judge William J. Kayatta Jr. will step down from his role as an active judge, which gives Biden a fifth seat to fill on the court.

Kayatta is an Obama appointee who presides in Maine and has served roughly a decade on the court.

The Senate has already confirmed three of Biden’s picks to the court.

There’s been no public opposition yet to the nomination of Seth Aframe, who has headed up the criminal and appellate divisions for U.S. Attorney Jane Young in New Hampshire.

Morse hires a campaign chief

Republican candidate for governor and former Senate President Chuck Morse has turned to a trusted aide to lead his 2024 effort.

Maya Harvey recently left as Senate communications director to become Morse’s campaign manager.

Sununu could drop news this week

Sununu told Jack Heath with “Good Morning New Hampshire” that his endorsement of a GOP presidential hopeful could come this week.

The choice is between Christie, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.

Advisers to Sununu have urged the four-term governor to weigh in early enough for his decision to have some impact.

They remind him that he waited until the closing days of the 2022 U.S. Senate primary to get behind then-Senate President Morse.

Retired Brig. Gen. Don Bolduc of Stratham defeated Morse and then lost badly to Sen. Maggie Hassan.

“Nine weeks (before the Jan. 23 presidential primary) is a lifetime in presidential politics. There is plenty of time for this race to close and it will,” Sununu said.

He pointed out this race was late in coming together and as a result many voters here will not make up their minds until “December if not into January.”

“No one has put the needed ground game fully together here, but that will happen as well,” Sununu said.

The decision could also come around the time DeSantis will be debating California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom on Fox News on Thursday night.

“This whole debate, this Newsom-DeSantis debate is going to be great. I love that he’s doing it. There is no bigger jackass in America than Gavin Newsom,” Sununu said.

Sununu did offer one amusing compliment for Christie.

“He doesn’t complain about our cold weather, which I love,” Sununu joked.

The comment came several hours after Haley had opened her own town hall forum, admitting the cold temperatures here were tough to take.

By all accounts, Haley has the fewest ground troops in the state while DeSantis and Vivek Ramaswamy are the two major candidates who have invested in a field organization.

Pappas pleased by IRS rule delay

U.S. Rep. Chris Pappas praised the Biden administration’s Internal Revenue Service for delaying a big change that would subject many people to having to file a new tax form.

The change was going to lower the reporting threshold for those who sell their personal goods online from $20,000 down to $600.

This new announcement uses a $5,000 threshold for the 2024 tax year.

“It’s clear after two years of delays by the IRS that this new threshold is overly burdensome for both taxpayers and the IRS. Congress must fix this now,” the 1st District Democrat said.

“We should permanently raise the reporting threshold to ensure small sellers are not subject to burdensome or confusing reporting requirements,” he added.

Forum to focus on high health care costs

AFP will host its next Pints & Politics events on health care reform solutions Tuesday night at Great North Aleworks in Manchester.

Panelists will include state Rep. Erica Layon, AFP State Director Greg Moore and Jared Rhoads, instructor at the Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice.

The discussion will center on what legislative efforts should be made to reduce what are among the highest health care costs of any state in the country.

Burgum returns

North Dakota Gov. and GOP hopeful Doug Burgum returns to campaign in the state next Thursday night at a fundraiser for the Stratham Town Republican Committee.

The event will be at the Stratham Municipal Center.

Burgum has spent very little time in the state over the past few months and is struggling to get any traction in the polls here and in other key early states.

Kuster goes to bat for Israel

U.S. Rep. Annie Kuster, D-N.H., has drawn criticism from Granite State Jewish circles for her decision to oppose the censure of Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., who critics maintain has uttered many antisemitic remarks.

Last week, Kuster — chairman of the New Democrats Coalition — led a lobbying effort to urge the Congress to support Biden’s original, $105 billion package of humanitarian aid relief to Israel, Ukraine, Taiwan and Gaza.

“The action Congress takes — or fails to take — in this moment will have implications for years,” Kuster said.

The U.S. House narrowly approved an aid package that only helped Israel. The Senate is expected later this fall to take up Biden’s comprehensive proposal.

Top US House Democrat headed to NH

The entire state congressional delegation and Democratic legislative leaders will join House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries for the annual Eleanor Roosevelt Dinner this Friday night at the DoubleTree Downtown Manchester Hotel.

Tickets are $150 apiece with sponsorships of up to $5,000.

Manchester rep warns of Craig’s negatives

Following the city election, State Rep. Jane Beaulieu, D-Manchester, authored an op-ed declaring her support for Cinde Warmington’s Democratic primary bid for governor and insisted Manchester Mayor Joyce Craig would be a weaker nominee.

“Fairly or not, voters already hold Joyce Craig responsible for their perception of Manchester’s challenges. That is why, in a recent poll conducted by the University of New Hampshire, 31% of voters — or more than half the people that recognize her name — already view Joyce Craig unfavorably,” Beaulieu said.

“In the history of UNH conducting this research, no one has ever started out with those kinds of unfavorable numbers and gone on to win the corner office. These municipal election results support that.”

It’s worth noting, however, that Craig has led Warmington in several early polls.

Windham selectmen protest colleague’s move

The Windham Board of Selectmen accused one of its members, Bruce Breton, of misusing the town seal to make it appear his condemnation of the town and school district moderators was a town-endorsed move.

Upset by irregularities in the count during the 2020 presidential election and 2022 primary, Breton called for both moderators to resign their offices.

“The Board of Selectmen is compelled to issue this press release to clarify that the town seal was misappropriated for an unauthorized act in the conveyance of Selectman Breton’s personal views,” the selectmen said in a Nov. 21 statement.

Quote of the Week:

“Suck it, South Carolina; nice try DNC.” – Gov. Chris Sununu’s taunt at the Democratic National Committee’s attempt to force New Hampshire to give up its first-in-the-nation presidential primary perch and hand it to the Palmetto State.