As my first term comes to a close and now find myself running for re-election, I thought a review of my previous two years in Concord might be appropriate. Along the left, vertical edge of the literature card I handed out two years ago were three words: Committed, Competent, Common Sense. That seems a good place to begin the review.
Regarding commitment, very few of the 400 House Reps equaled or even came close to my attendance and voting record. During the two-year term, I attended 100% of the House Sessions and 100% of the Labor Committee meetings on which I sit. On House floor votes, 99.5% was my record of voting, missing only a single vote in two years. The vote I missed occurred while I was introducing an amendment to a Senate bill for the benefit of a Barrington constituent. While I found many representatives from both sides of the aisle occasionally took a “walk” (left the House chamber) to avoid voting on tough or controversial issues, I simply did not, nor would I ever.
My previous experience as a negotiator and contractual language drafter allowed me to competently perform as a NH legislator from the get-go. During year two of my first term, I drafted language for and was the prime sponsor of two House bills, as well as several amendments on behalf of the legislation of others. The two bills were for Barrington constituents, each from opposite sides of the political aisle as I believe representing constituents isn’t a “left or right” issue, but that of “right and wrong”. One of the bills passed unanimously at each committee hearing in the House and Senate, as well as on the floor of the House and Senate, and was signed into law this past June. The second, due to its complexity and quantity of language, did not fare as well (some lessons learned!). An amendment to a Senate bill I introduced (and which passed in both the House and Senate), allowed a Barrington business owner to continue his operation without having his hands tied by another potential, adjoining business.
On the Labor Committee, we had numerous bills introduced that were anything but common sense. Most were bad legislation that would have had huge, negative financial effects on small businesses and their employees in our State. Others would have piled on more anti-business regulations. A lot of feel-good legislation without fore-thought, analysis or common sense. And there were a few that actually had the potential for beneficial results. In each case during committee hearings, I spoke in common sense terms as to the upside or downside of the particular legislation. On many of the issues, I spoke on the House floor in favor or against, again using common sense (content of several of the floor speeches can be found on my website).
While I could write for days on all the other first term experiences, time and space do not permit same. Please visit my website at www.LenTurcotte.ORG and review my positions on issues, some actual floor speeches given and a list of endorsements by both State and National associations. And if you reside in Strafford County District 4, Barrington, I ask for your vote on November 8th.
Representative Len Turcotte – Barrington