State reps in the anteroom, March 31, 2011: I recognize Fred Rice and William O'Connor.
HB 1183: "AN ACT relative to access to the galleries in the general court."
additional commentary by Timothy Horrigan; January 13, 2012 & January 17, 2012 & February 15, 2012
I am introducing two bills this session (2012). This is the more interesting of the two. It clarifies the circumstances under which the Speaker or the Senate President can close the galleries. There have been two especially significant disruptions in the gallery during my two terms. On March 4, 2009, when the Democrats still held the majority, a group of liberty activists booed the failure of HCR 6, an interesting but ultimately meaningless "Jeffersonian Democracy" resolution, a little bit louder and longer than they needed to. Many of them were wearing guns, which at the time was a violation of State House rules. (It is still a violation in the Senate chamber.) The guns scared people. Speaker Terie Norelli threatened to clear the gallery, but the demonstrators left peacefully, and the proceedings were delayed for a few minutes.
On March 31, 2011, when the Republicans held a 3-1 margin, some men who may or may not have been actual union members began chanting "Don't Harrass the Middle Class" just before the Democrats presented a series of inevitably doomed amendments to the budget. Speaker Bill O'Brien closed the gallery and kept it closed for several hours. He reopened it just in time for the last vote on the budget. (In the meantime, over 5000 progressive patriots held the biggest rally in living memory on the State House lawn, and one or more injunctions were sought by various parties.)
My bill clarifies what is already in the state constitution. Since September 5, 1792, Part Second, Article 8 has read:
[Art.] 8. [Open Sessions of Legislature.] The doors of the galleries, of each house of the legislature, shall be kept open to all persons who behave decently, except when the welfare of the state, in the opinion of either branch, shall require secrecy.
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HB 1183 – AS INTRODUCED
2012 SESSION 12-2520 01/09 HOUSE BILL 1183 AN ACT relative to access to the galleries in the general court. SPONSORS: Rep. Horrigan, Straf 7 COMMITTEE: Legislative Administration ANALYSIS This bill codifies part 2, article 8 of the New Hampshire constitution requiring the galleries of each house to be open to all persons except in certain circumstances.
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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.
Matter
removed from current law appears [ Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type. 12-2520 01/09 STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Twelve AN ACT relative to access to the galleries in the general court. Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened: 1 New Section; Open Sessions of Legislature. Amend RSA 14 by inserting after section 14-c the following new section: 14:14-d Open Sessions of Legislature. Pursuant to part 2, article 8 of the New Hampshire constitution, the galleries of each house shall be open at all times during legislative sessions except when the welfare of the state requires secrecy. In the case of a disruption, disturbance, emergency, or other condition which makes it unsafe to keep the gallery open, the house or senate shall go into recess until it is safe to continue. Such a recess shall be as short as possible. The availability of live streaming video, television broadcast, or other audiovisual presentation shall not be deemed a substitute for opening the galleries. Nothing in this section shall be construed as preventing law enforcement officers or the sergeant at arms from excluding dangerous or disruptive individuals, or from preventing entrance to the galleries when they are filled to capacity. 2 Effective Date. This act shall take effect 60 days after its passage. |
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Bill Title: relative to access to the galleries in the general court. |
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State reps in the
anteroom, March 31, 2011: I recognize Fred Rice and William O'Connor.
On January 17, 2012, I submitted the following written testimony to the Legislative Affairs Committee:
Testimony in favor of HB 1183"AN ACT relative to access to the galleries in the general court"Rep. Timothy Horrigan; January 17, 2012 |
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HB 1183 is a simple bill which if passed would make sure that future House Speakers and Senate Presidents continue to follow Part 2nd, article 8 of the State Constitution. That article states:
Many— probably most— articles of the Constitution are also embodied in statute law. Part 2nd Article 8 isn't, even though RSA 91-A covers much the same territory. The framers of the State Constitution knew that it is important to keep the galleries open when the General Court is in session: that's why they gave the galleries their own article in the constitution. Our current State House didn't open till 1819, 27 years after Part 2nd Article 8 was enacted. The building as we currently know it is largely the product of a 1903 renovation. This doesn't in any way negate the importance of Part 2nd, Article 8. The reason the House and Senate galleries were built in the first place was because (in the past, at least) our state's leaders valued the constitution and understood the importance of an open legislature.
My bill is inspired by the events of March 31, 2011. There was a disturbance in the gallery after the first major vote of a budget debate. Speaker O'Brien immediately recessed the proceedings, which was appropriate. His next action, however, was both inappropriate and unconstitutional: he closed the gallery for several hours and continued the day's business, reopening the hall only for Majority Leader Bettencourt's final speech and the decisive votes. I myself was one of many representatives who spoke before an empty gallery during those several hours. There was a similar incident on March 6, 2009, after the vote on a resolution about Jeffersonian Democracy. Speaker Norelli did the right thing: she recessed the House long enough for the disturbance to calm down, and then she resumed the people's business with the gallery open.
This bill basically clarifies what's already in the Constitution. When there is an event in the gallery which makes it unsafe to continue, the House must go into recess. This would also apply to emergencies, although in practice any emergency which makes the gallery unsafe will make the chamber unsafe as well. (There is nothing in the Constitution, by the way, which requires the General Court to meet only at the State House: if the State House is unsafe for whatever reason, the legislature could meet somewhere else— as long as they provide a gallery for the public.) My bill clarifies that streaming video is not a substitute for allowing people to be there in the gallery. Streaming video simply isn't an adequate substitute: you can see more from the gallery than you could see on a computer monitor. Streaming video is also unreliable: on March 31, 2011, the servers reportedly crashed.
Rep. Timothy Horrigan 7A Faculty Rd; Durham, NH 03824; ph: 603-868-3342; email: Timothy.Horrigan@alumni.usc.edu |
And finally here are my prepared remarks for my February 15, 2012 floor speech (which differs from what actually ended up being said.) The bill went down to defeat, 243-81, but my speech went well— and I was amused by the fact that Speaker O'Brien fled the room when my bill came up. Former Speaker Gene Chandler did the honors in his stead:
Rep. Timothy Horrigan; February 15, 2012
Thank you, Mr. Speaker:
HB 1183 is a simple bill which if passed would make sure that future House Speakers and Senate Presidents continue to follow Part 2nd, article 8 of the State Constitution. That article states:
[Art.] 8. [Open Sessions of Legislature.] The doors of the galleries, of each house of the legislature, shall be kept open to all persons who behave decently, except when the welfare of the state, in the opinion of either branch, shall require secrecy. September 5, 1792
The framers of the State Constitution knew that it is important to keep the galleries open when the General Court is in session: that's why they gave the galleries their own article in the constitution. This bill basically clarifies what's already in the Constitution. When there is an event in the gallery which makes it unsafe to continue, the House would have to go into recess. This would also apply to emergencies, although in practice any emergency which makes the gallery unsafe will make the chamber unsafe as well.
There is nothing in the Constitution, by the way, which requires the General Court to meet only at the State House. Indeed, we didn't have a permanent home until 1819. The reason the House and Senate galleries were built in the first place was because 200 years ago our state's leaders valued the constitution and understood the importance of an open legislature.
My bill is inspired by two recent events, one from each of my two terms in this House.
On March 6, 2009, after the vote on HCR 6, a resolution about Jeffersonian Democracy, there was a disturbance in the gallery. The gentlewoman from Portsmouth, who was the Speaker at that time, did the right thing. She recessed the House long enough for the disturbance to calm down, and then she resumed the people's business with the gallery open.
On March 31, 2011, there was another disturbance in the gallery, after the first major vote of a budget debate. Mr. Speaker, you immediately recessed the proceedings, which was the right thing to do. What happened next, however, was unconstitutional: you closed the gallery for several hours while debate continued. I myself was one of many representatives who spoke before an empty gallery during those several hours. The gallery was reopened only for the Majority Leader's final speech and the last few decisive votes on the budget. It is a good thing the gallery was open at the end, because otherwise the budget vote would have been illegal and our state would have had no budget. Even though I personally hate that budget, it was still better than no budget at all.
My bill also clarifies that streaming video is not a substitute for allowing people to be there in person. Streaming video simply isn't an adequate substitute: you can see more from the gallery than you can see on a computer monitor. Streaming video is also unreliable: on March 31, 2011, the servers reportedly crashed. There were also problems on January 18, 2012, when we were debating redistricting plans. There were no disturbances in the gallery that day: the debate was so boring that we put the few diehards in the gallery to sleep. However, at one point the Democrats and the spectators were excluded for about half an hour from Reps Hall because the Republicans held a brief caucus. The streaming media feeds were shut down during the caucus, as they should have been. However, I have heard reports that the feeds did not come back up immediately when the full house reconvened after the caucus. Even if those reports were false, it is easy to see how such a glitch could have happened— and that incident also shows the importance of keeping the galleries open.
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See Also:
My 2013 Legislative Page (this bill is coming back!)
NHLiberty.org page on HB 1183: "Relative to access to the galleries in the general court."
October 19, 2011 Foster's Daily Democrat op-ed; "Part Time Citizen Legislature"
Ed Mosca's December 31, 2012 Concord Monitor op-ed "Democrats Seek to Legalize Mob Rule"
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