The State Senate later today will vote to table legislation to legalize gambling on slot machines at racetracks and resorts.
Supporters admit they came up around two votes shy of getting the 12-11 support needed to send a bill (SB 169) to the House of Representatives.
Several senators said they were reluctant to support gaming that could raise up to $200 million a year without knowing how much revenue they could need to write their own two-year state budget.
Procedurally, the move means that a week from now it will take a two-thirds vote or the support of 16 state senators to take up the matter.
Of course, there are tactical ways to get around that including slipping an expanded gaming provision into the House budget companion bill (HB 2) when that comes over later this spring.
All that having been said, gaming advocates wanted their cause to get through the much-easier legislative body this week and that clearly will not happen.
The left-leaning, Talking Points Memo charges ex-Sen. John E. Sununu has a conflict of interest with his place on the oversight panel for the federalk bailout money now that he’s taken a bank directorship.
After losing re-election in November, Sununu took the place of NH Sen. Judd Gregg on the panel for the Troubled Asset [...]
CONCORD [-] The 2002 Election Day phone jamming case has taken a startling turn that could prolong it in the public eye much to the dismay of New Hampshire Republican leaders.
The lead federal prosecutor in the case, Andrew Levchuk, told a federal judge in Portland Monday that former GOP strategist James Tobin is not [...]
Newly re-elected, NH Congressman Paul Hodes figures
prominently in a national profile about who will become the next
“bad cop” now that Illinois Congressman Rahm Emmanuel will
become White House chief of staff.
“The Hill” story relates an exchange with Hodes who was feeling
pretty good about having been able to return the dog of a soldier
killed in Iraq to [...]
The fifth-top ranking Democrat in the state House of Representatives has emerged as a contender to be a US marshal in the Barack Obama administration.
Penacook Democratic State Rep. Steve Shurtleff confirmed that he’s interested in replacing former Goffstown Police Chief Steve Monier who was the New Hampshire’s marshal for most of President George [...]
CONCORD [-] The state troopers union endorsed Jeanne Shaheen’s Democratic campaign for the US Senate Monday.
The New Hampshire Troopers Assocaition does not often take part in federal races and even in state ones is not considered a lock for the Democrats every two years.
Most recently, the State Troopers Association supported Republican Gov. [...]
Labor, social and environmental groups weighed in during recent days with independent expenditures for Democrat Jeanne Shaheen or against Republican John Sununu.
The Service Employees International Union dropped the biggest bomb, $53,305 for the printing and mailing costs for a hit Sununu piece.
The League of Conservation Voters reported doing canvassing on Shaheen’s behalf and [...]
Rolling Stone magazine takes the bark of the Republican presidential nominee John McCain with its cover story entitled,“Make Believe Maverick.”
Naturally, there’s a New Hampshire connection since o ne of his former colleagues, ex-NH Sen. Bob Smith joins a trio of GOP senators who suggest McCain lacks the temperament to be commander in chief.
[...]
Democrat Barack Obama’s presidential campaign was anxious Tuesday to send the message that the Illinois senator wants a solution to the stalemate over a Wall Street bailout soon.
That’s why he will dispatch Whittemore School Professor and New England Economy Project chief Ross Gittell to warn New Hampshire citizens that even though the trickle down of [...]
Former Congressman Jeb Bradley, R-NH, recently got some welcome news as he seeks to avenge his 2006 defeat to Democrat Carol Shea-Porter.
After plenty of prodding, the Republican Congressional Campaign Committee is financially weighing in on Bradley’s behalf, helping to finance part of an $84,000 advertising buy on WMUR-TV in the coming week.
Now, [...]
