With the pandemic still surging, state lawmakers have had to figure out new ways to meet and vote, let alone how to vote on the substance of hundreds of bills -- addressing education funding, taxes, voting issues, energy and the environment, and more. Also on the agenda: crafting a new two-year budget. Last week, about 400 House members met in a UNH parking lot, voting from their cars to elect Rep. Sherman Packard, a Republican from Londonderry, Speaker of the House. The same day, In Washington D.C., a mob of pro-Trump extremists attacked the U.S. Capitol, leading to to the deaths of several people, including a Capitol police officer. In the aftermath, state capitols have been at heightened alert, including in Concord. We get a preview of what's likely to dominate discussion at the Statehouse in the upcoming months.
Air date: Monday, Jan. 11, 2021.