A funny thing has started happening to me recently. An old picture of my kids popped up on my phone which, by itself, is nothing notable. But now, when my phone delivers delightful photo memories from years past, they have become true reminders of things that are no longer at the front of my mind. They’re the things that I don’t think about constantly, but still vividly remember. They’re special ones that bring back not only the memory of when that picture was taken, but also how I felt. They’re nostalgic, and it’s hard to believe that I’ve already reached this point in parenthood.

The New Hampshire Democratic Party will be meeting at its State Convention tomorrow, and the subject of much debate and advocacy leading up to it has been a slate of amendments to the party’s constitution. The amendments were proposed by the NHDP’s Rules Committee and, among the proposed changes, the amendments receiving the most attention would add every Democratic town chair and every Democratic state representative to the State Committee, which is the body of people who vote on state party leadership.

After the kids went to bed recently, my wife and I were sitting on the couch when she came across an article with a headline that said that big families are the new status symbol. When I tried to find the article later, I discovered that this was the subject of more than a few thought pieces and social posts. She joked that this would be the next attack ad from “them.” Of all the lies contained in opposition ads during my state senate campaign, being labeled an out-of-touch millionaire was on a scale of offensiveness, somewhere between the ones aimed at stoking fears of immigrant Latinos, and this truly bizarre one from the NH Senate Republicans.

I was leaving Staples yesterday, having finished back-to-school shopping with my kids, and I was thinking about something I haven’t been able to get out of my head all week; the tragedy in Madbury, NH. This is not the place for conjecture, but the fact that a mom has taken her life after taking the life of her husband and two kids, is all I need to hear to know that the community is hurting.

I’ve run for public office three times over the past five years. Each time, I was asked to run by people in #NHPolitics who I respect and admire. These are people I’ve had the great fortune to work with towards the shared goal of making our state a better place for everyone to live in. I always told them “yes” because there’s a vanishingly small number of people in our state during any given year that have the personal and professional stability to give their lives up for the good of the people.

If anybody missed the recent news in state educational funding last week, the New Hampshire Supreme Court issued its opinion in the case of Contoocook Valley School District v. State of New Hampshire, more commonly known as the ConVal case. This appeal from an earlier trial court ruling is the latest chapter of a decades-long discourse over how we pay for schooling in New Hampshire.

The current volume of news is overwhelming. Every day brings a constant stream of stories that seek our attention at an unsustainable pace, but in that spirit, there's a bill of great significance to our community being voted on by the NH House of Representatives this Thursday, sandwiched between Town Elections on Tuesday, Hollis School District Annual Meeting and Brookline Town Meeting on Wednesday, and Hollis Town Meeting on Saturday.

New legislation is being offered this year to expand the State's school voucher program. On a related note, you may have seen last week that there will be an open house on Wednesday, Jan. 29th @ 6pm at HPS regarding a warrant article to address increased enrollment. There will also be a warrant article this year to address whether or not Hollis will request the New Hampshire legislature to eliminate the use of local property taxes to pay for private school education and funding school vouchers/EFAs.

Educational funding and property taxes are persistent concerns for the Hollis-Brookline community, as we try to accommodate the high demand to live here with smart financial choices that will keep our schools at the top of the list of best schools in the state.

Thank you, Hollis. It has been my honor to represent you in the New Hampshire House of Representatives. Thank you to everyone in Senate District 12 that took the time to consider voting for me this year. There's no doubt about it, we have our political differences in Hollis and across Senate District 12, but I'm proud of the campaign that we ran, and I was thankful to be a part of a group of legislators that prioritized voting for the people that elected us, over voting with our political party.

While I served on the Judiciary Committee and the Fish and Game Committee, we were able to move many good bills through the legislative process. I was also able to pass one bill of my own into law (HB 240), as well as another bill that came at the request of the NH Attorney General's Office (HB 1220). I didn't enter the NH House with the intent to prime-sponsor two marriage freedom bills, but I'm happy that I was able to do my small part in reducing government involvement in personal rights.

As for what's next...I'll spend more time with my family, who gave a lot of themselves to make my time at the State House and on the campaign trail possible. There's a lot to fix in politics right now, and it won't happen overnight. I'll continue to serve on the Hollis Planning Board, and you can see what I think of the upcoming legislation on my socials. Until next time.