Josh Rogers

Governor Chris Sununu is in Dubai this week, but his office is keeping the details of what he is doing there under wraps for now.

California Congressman Adam Schiff, one of President Trump's most prominent critics on Capitol Hill, spoke at Politics and Eggs at Bedford Village Inn.

Schiff spoke at length about the dangers of authoritarianism, and the effect social media has on politics. But when the question about his plans for 2020 was put to the congressman, he was blunt.

"I'm not running."

In Manchester, New Hampshire, former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg told a packed room at St. Anselm College that President Trump was a failure in business and is a failure in government.

Top state house Democrats want Governor Sununu to take executive action to supply unemployment benefits to N.H. workers affected by the federal shutdown. But the Governor's office says that would be risky.

Democratic leaders says passing laws to help federal workers would take weeks, but the Governor can act now.

"We urge Governor Sununu to leverage his close relationship with the current administration and to obtain clearance for New Hampshire to issue unemployment insurance to our own residents," said N.H. Senate President Donna Soucy.

About 2,400 local workers are affected by the shutdown, and 1,600 have been working without pay since the federal shutdown started in late December.

Senate President Donna Soucy and House Speaker Steve Shurtleff are eyeing legislation to pay such workers unemployment benefits. But Employment Security Commissioner George Copadis says states have been told not to do that.

"We've been advised by the feds, that if you pay these workers you will not be reimbursed. In addition, we'd be out of compliance, and I’m not sure what other ramifications would happen at that point."

Governor Chris Sununu says he'll likely unveil his plan to establish a secure psychiatric unit outside of the state prison when he proposes his state budget next month. 

For 30 years the state's only secure psychiatric unit has been at the state prison, which means patients needing secure treatment from the state, have had to get it, behind prison walls.

Bills to boost mental health services at local hospitals and hire staff at the state's child protection agency went before state senate committees Tuesday.

Democrats are prioritizing the bills, which spend about $13 million in state money. 

State lawmakers are considering a bill that would bar candidates for secretary of state and treasurer from forming political committees.

The proposal is backed by the Secretary of State's office.

Democrat Julian Castro used a speech at St. Anselm College Wednesday to call for sweeping changes in areas ranging from health care to the criminal justice system. It was Castro's first visit to New Hampshire since getting into the race for president.

The former San Antonio mayor and Obama administration official said one of his goals in running is restore the idea that all Americans count.

With overall state tax collections up $106 million over estimates, Legislative Budget Assistant Michael Kane told the New Hampshire lawmakers who will write the state's next two-year spending plan that they will start the process with a $95.8 million cushion.

As Governor Chris Sununu gets ready to deliver his second inaugural address, the Democrats who lead the New Hampshire Senate are challenging him to adopt some of their priorities.

The Democrats talked up what they call the "Granite State Opportunity Plan" as they campaigned and say now's the time to start enacting policies like paid family leave, hiring more staff at the state’s child protection agency, lifting the state minimum wage, and putting the brakes on further business tax cuts.

Donna Soucy is the new Democratic Senate President.

Owen Labrie is now in custody at Merrimack County Jail.  The St. Paul's School graduate will serve 10 months for sexually assaulting a 15-year old fellow student in 2014.

Owen Labrie was found guilty of sexual assault and a related computer crime more than 3 years ago. But apart from serving two months behind bars for violating bail, he'd remained free while appealing his conviction.

This month, a judge rejected Labrie's request to reduce his sentence and ordered him back to jail.

Labrie's conviction had already been upheld by the state Supreme Court.

The New Hampshire House will be slightly younger when the new legislative session starts next month. But the chamber remains dominated by members above the age of 60.

According to the new numbers released by the House Clerk this week, about one of 4 members of the New Hampshire House is over the age of 70, but even so the legislature's average age is dropping.

It will be 61 this session, a year younger that it was last session, and 5 years younger than it was the session before that.

The New Hampshire Attorney General's office has picked Keene State College's director of campus safety to oversee St. Paul's school's compliance with the settlement it reached with the state over its handling of sexual misconduct by faculty and students. 

Jeffrey T. Maher holds a law degree, and spent 20 years working for the Nashua Police Department, retiring as a Captain.

Deputy Attorney General Jane Young says starting Feb. 9, Maher will be at St. Paul's School, and reporting back to prosecutors for at least three years and possibly as long as five.

Governor Chris Sununu is defending payouts from his inaugural fundraising committee to family members and staff. But the governor also says he'd welcome tighter standards on inaugural committees.

In the wake of his first election in 2016, Sununu's inaugural committee raised $450,000, much of it from corporations and lobbyists. It also paid out about $165,000 to people with close ties to the governor, including members of his family and administration.

The Democrats who lead the New Hampshire House are moving closer to outlawing firearms from Representatives Hall.

The policy on allowing guns to be carried onto the House floor and into the gallery has toggled back and forth over the past decade depending on which party holds the majority. And the committee vote to restore the ban was party line.

Prior to the vote, Walpole Democrat Lucy Weber told colleagues guns have made schools leery of making class trips to the State House.

Democracts in charge of the state legislature have made key legislative appointments.

House speaker Steve Shurtleff has tapped Karen Ebel of New London to serve as deputy speaker, and made Doug Ley of Jaffrey house majority leader.

Senate President Donna Soucy has, meanwhile, made her committee assignments.

Lou D'Allesandro, the Senate's longest serving member, will again lead the powerful Finance Committee.

Senate Majority Leader Dan Feltes, will run the Ways and Means Committee, which is in charge of tax policy.

New Hampshire has collected $2.9 million in rooms and meals tax revenue directly from Airbnb  in the year since the state reached a deal with the vacation rental site. 

The revenue from Airbnb comprises less than 1% of rooms and meals tax collections over the same period, but they are the first under the agreement that put Airbnb - and not property owners - in charge of sending the state the 9% tax charged in rooms and meals.

According to Airbnb's Liz Debold Fusco, the new approach is serving everybody's interests.

New data compiled by the Chronicle of Higher Education show salaries continue to rise for leaders of New Hampshire colleges and universities. 

Will his total compensation of more than $1.1 million dollars, Dartmouth's Phil Hanlon is the highest paid college administrator in New Hampshire, the 44th best paid private college president in the country.

The new legislature will be sworn in and pick a Secretary of State on Wednesday. Bill Gardner has been Secretary of State for 42 years, and for most of that time his re-election has been inevitable.

Not this year. 

The state is ramping up efforts to get drivers to obtain licenses that comply with the federal standard known as REAL-ID. Relatively few people in New Hampshire now have such licenses.

New Hampshire was among the few states that fought the 9/11-inspired federal standard that became law in 2005.