Story Archives of 'Jim Splaine'

Tight vote expected as Senate takes up bill that could make NH the fifth state to allow same-sex marriage

House backing of gay marriage comes two years after lawmakers approved civil unions, and divided the chamber mostly along party lines. All but 26 Democrats voted in favor, and all but 12 Republicans voted against.

As Barack Obama and John McCain debate how to raise money in the presidential race, New Hampshire officials are appointing a panel to study how the state could adopt public financing for State Senate and Executive Council races. Advocates say public financing would enrich democracy by enabling low-income candidates to compete with well-funded rivals. Opponents counter that public financing is an attack on free speech that takes money and power away from citizens and gives it to the state. We’ll get the latest on campaign finance and hear about reforms in other states.

Guests

• Shawn Jasper, Republican State Representative from Hudson
• Jim Rubens, former Republican State Senator and member of the Commission to Study the Feasibility of Public Funding of State Election Campaigns

We'll also hear from

• Mal Leary, a reporter for the Capitol News Service in Augusta, Maine
• Jim Splaine, Democratic State Representative from Portsmouth, member of the Election Law Committee, and author of HB 794, which created the Commission

The House has rejected two Senate bills that some say are nothing more than attempts to increase the role of money in politics.

But New Hampshire Public Radio’s Dan Gorenstein reports, a handful of lawmakers will be watching to see if these measures resurface in the next two weeks.

This weekend, the DNC's rules committee meets to put the final touches on its plan for the 2008 nominating calendar. Word is that a western state or Washington DC's caucus will be placed between Iowa's "First in the Nation" caucus and New Hampshire's "First in the Nation" primary, and a southern state's primary will be placed right after New Hampshire's. Still, that's not the end of the story for New Hampshire, only the beginning, as talk of moving New Hampshire's primary up, even before Iowa's "First in the Nation" caucus is being considered. We'll look at the possibilities of the new DNC primary calendar, its effect on our own primary and what Democratic leaders plan to do to save the tradition of our "First in the Nation" status. Laura's guests are Dante Scala, Associate Professor of Politics at Saint Anselm College and author of "Stormy Weather: The New Hampshire Primary and Presidential Politics. He also writes a political blog called GRANITEPROF. Representative Jim Splaine, State Representative of Portsmouth and Newington, who sponsored 1975 and 1999 legislation that required New Hampshire to be First in the Nation Primary. Jim Splaine writes about politics for a blog for the NH Insider. We'll also be joined by Ken Rudin, Political Editor for National Public radio and writer of the Political Junkie column for NPR.org. David Yepsen, Political Columnist for the Des Moines Register and Kari Chisholm, A Political Reporter in Portland, Oregon and Publisher of the WesternDemocrat.com, A website used to promote the Western United State's political influence.