Sen. Molly Kelly provides insight on NH legislature

Keene senator opposed to university system cuts

Kaitlyn Coogan

Equinox Staff

On Monday, Feb. 20, 2012 Senator Molly Kelly visited the college to discuss the relationship between the State Legislature and the colleges in New Hampshire as well as how the Senate and the House of Representatives work.

Kelly explained that the New Hampshire State House is very unique. There are 400 members in the House of Representatives and 24 in the Senate and both can bring in bills to be discussed. According to Kelly, the House of Representatives will bring a bill, vote on it, bring it to the Senate, vote on it, then bring it to the governor and he/she will vote on it.

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Although, Kelly says this process rarely happens that easily.  Usually, the bill needs changing and a committee from both the House of Representatives and the Senate will discuss what the final bill should say. They then will vote and send it to the governor for final say.

“Obviously, we don’t always agree. So the House could kill a bill and it could never make it to the Senate,” Kelly said.

According to Kelly, something that happens every other year is a budget. The governor will come up with what he/she thinks should be the budget which will be looking at two years ahead. The governor proposes a bill and then the House of Representatives proposes a bill. Then there are hearings and committees to figure out the final budget. Then it goes to the Senate and goes through more hearings and when both the Senate and the House of Representatives agree on it, the bill is sent to the governor for a final say.

Kelly then went on to explain the relationship between this process and how it effects education. The House of Representatives and the Senate, according to Kelly, agreed upon affordability for higher education. The House of Representatives and the Senate cut 50 percent of what they had been giving to the university system.

“I did not support the budget. Education has always been my primary focus, that’s one of the reasons why I ran. Obviously education made a huge difference in my life and I believe that everybody should have an equal opportunity to a quality education. Education is an investment,” Kelly said.

Kelly attempted to pass a bill that would put in an additional $10 million to the university system and $5 million into the community colleges but it did not make it past budget.

According to Kelly, the special program that was like financial aid for the college called College Savings 529, where parents put away money for their children and if it was used for college no taxes where paid on it, was cut completely. New Hampshire today, according to Kelly, has students graduating with the second highest average debt in the nation.

“So then just what happened to the premise that we have about providing an opportunity to everyone if your university in your own state isn’t committed to providing an education and they’re going to depend on students from another state. What happens then to the state of New Hampshire? We lose our work force, we don’t have an educated work force,” said Kelly.

Audience members thought Kelly conveyed the concepts of the New Hampshire legislature well. “I thought she was very informative. I like it when Molly Kelly comes and I think she gives back a lot,” KSC student Jordan Posner said.

KSC student Samantha Massahos agreed. “I think she’s really relatable and easy to understand which is hard with politics because a lot of the time you don’t know what they are talking about,” she said.

Students were not the only ones impressed. Karen House, associate vice president for finance, said, “I thought she was fabulous. I think that it’s a really wonderful experience for the students to hear directly from a state senator, not only the theory but the day to day.”

Dean of the Library Irene Herold said, “I was thrilled to have the opportunity to thank her in person for her sponsorship of the Granny D bill. She has just been a very enthusiastic supporter of the college achieves.”

Kelly said that she wished this budget bill did not pass and that she wished she could have heard more from the community. She added that she hopes people know how much of a difference they can make if they speak up and vote.

Kaitlyn Coogan can be contacted at kcoogan@ksc.mailcruiser.com.