Dear Kent Streeters, We are entering into the final round at the State House where things are now moving at lightning speed. Most bills that crossed over from one legislative chamber to the other have now had their hearings. Only a few are still awaiting committee votes. Most are headed for floor votes, with some bills already scheduled for this week. A good number of bills have already been sent to the Governor’s desk, with two dozen already being signed into law. To add yet another layer of process, any bill that was amended by the receiving chamber will require either a vote of concurrence by the original sending chamber, or a committee of conference to work out the differences in language. The biggest example of that is, of course, the budget which the House sent to the Senate and which the Senate Finance Committee is now in the process of amending. The Senate is required to vote on its version of the budget by June 5th. The House will then have to decide: Concurrence or Committee of Conference? Most likely a committee of conference will happen with the two chambers voting toward the end of June. Stay tuned for visibility plans! Our dear friend and legislative Rep. David Meuse (Portsmouth) gives a concise and helpful update that I encourage everyone to read. It should help to clarify a lot in terms of what has already happened and what is coming up in the weeks ahead. And join the Youth Movement and Our Economy, Our Future for a one-hour zoom briefing on the budget this Wednesday. Sign up here. Whew! It gets confusing and a bit hard to know how best to direct our advocacy efforts. What’s clear is that our work is far from done. It just means that is has gotten a little more complicated than simply signing in on bills:We need to be contacting our senators and representatives on those bills awaiting votes in committee or on the floor.We need to be contacting the governor once bills are sent to her desk. We need to be letting our friends, our neighbors and our communities know just what is happening under the State House Dome.And we need to be ready to show up at the State House for a giant visibility on the budget!This weekend I had the joy and good fortune to join our newly formed Kent Street Players group in a bit of street theater. Our goal is to bring what’s happening at the State House out from under the dome and into our communities. It’s a project you’ll be hearing more about, but for now I will just drop a picture of Vanna Voucher and the Millionaires for Vouchers here. Consider joining us or starting a troupe in your community. It’s not just about vouchers…it can be about anything that Trump and his GOP state minions are up to.

Our big task is to shine a bright light on all that the GOP majority, led by the Free Staters, are doing to diminish our freedoms, our well being and our way of life – while giving handouts and tax breaks to the wealthy. We can’t and we won’t let them get away with it…we might lose some battles in the coming months, but in the end, we won’t stop fighting until we fulfill the promise of a more just and compassionate New Hampshire, a more just and compassionate America.  With eyes on the prize, Louise