Rep. Bedrick on Decriminalization - CCTV
Posted on May 19th, 2008
Jason Bedrick on “Capital Access”, Denis Goddard’s Public Access TV Show
Jason Bedrick on “Capital Access”, Denis Goddard’s Public Access TV Show
Jason Bedrick on Marijuana Decriminalization
National Public Radio [Real Player at 17:35]
This series of articles was published in the Eagle-Tribune in December of 2006 when Jason Bedrick was first elected to the House of Representatives.
Freshman legislator Jason Bedrick takes his seat in historical Representatives Hall for an auspicious occasion - the swearing in of 400 House members.
The Windham Republican is one of three young, conservative representatives from his district. They’re nicknamed “the three lions” by a fellow representative.
Bedrick falls somewhere between Dennis Abbott of Newmarket and Charles Yeaton of Epsom on the roster of the House of Representatives, the third largest parliamentary body in English-speaking parts of the world.
But when it comes time for roll-call votes in the legislative session that starts in January, the 23-year-old will be pressing yea or nea buttons for bills crafted by any legislator but himself.
That’s because Bedrick has decided to pen no legislation as a freshman, opting instead to first soak up legislative experience. For now, he will rely on fellow representatives from his district to propose bills on behalf of their Windham and Salem constituents.
Bedrick’s approach is in line with the thoughts of many House veterans, including outgoing Speaker Douglas Scamman. Scamman recommends that freshmen ask lots of questions and gain experience before taking the lead at the House.
Scamman’s father, who also served as House Speaker, instructed his son to listen much more than he talked when he took legislative office for the first time.
“If you get up and speak three times in the first term, that’s enough,” Doug Scamman Sr. told his son. The son took his father’s advice, especially considering he had to work all day with his father on the family farm in Stratham.
As Bedrick prepared for his big day on Wednesday, his mother had one question for him: Was he nervous?
“No, I’ve already won the election,” he answered.
Several hours later, as he walks in new shoes and a borrowed tie to the Capitol’s granite steps, Bedrick appears calm and inquisitive. He glances at the statue of famous New Hampshire statesman Daniel Webster and makes a mental note to read about him.
Bedrick, who works in sales part time, and plans to attend law school in a few years, is a student of history and fond of quoting influential political thinkers.
They include Thomas Jefferson, the third president of the United States, and his quote: “In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock.”
Inside the Statehouse, in a room called the Hall of Flags, footsteps clap over the gleaming marble floor.
Bedrick greets fellow legislators, some of whom he met at the House orientation at the end of November - three days of training on House procedure and protocol.
At 6 feet 3 inches tall with a big black beard and a yarmulke on his head - he’s an observant Jew - Bedrick stands out in a crowd. But he is not at all self-conscious, neither timid nor overly friendly.
Getting situated
Bedrick finds the tunnel connecting the Statehouse to the Legislative Office Building and heads for the Republican Party caucus, a closed-door meeting for the 161 Republicans to discuss political strategy.
He walks with Joe Guthrie, a second-term Hampstead representative. Guthrie says that relationships are very important in Concord.
“You don’t get anything done by yourself,” he says. “You have people who assist you.”
House members rely on advice from fellow members and the professional assistance of paid researchers and lawyers who put proposed statutes into the appropriate form. Unless they head a committee, they have no office.
Legislators are paid $200 - minus taxes - for their two-year term, plus a weekly mileage reimbursement. Other than that, all they get is a locker, a license plate and a name tag, Bedrick says.
There’s a bit of a hubbub after the GOP caucus. New York Gov. George Pataki, a potential presidential candidate, is hosting lunch for the Republican lawmakers.
Bedrick lines up with another representative from his district, David Bettencourt, but Bedrick forgoes the catered sandwich wraps and bags of chips. In keeping with his religious beliefs, he has brought with him a kosher lunch of pasta and peanut sauce and homemade mushroom and wild rice bisque.
Asked earlier if his beliefs will inform his decisions in Concord, he said his religion instilled a sense of civic responsibility in him, but will not dictate his policy decisions.
He joked that he is not about to outlaw pork, unless it’s pork-barrel spending.
Bedrick first ran for the House, unsuccessfully, in 2004 to raise awareness about an issue he felt and continues to feel strongly about - school choice, including support for charter schools and vouchers.
Listen and learn
The Pataki luncheon is filled with legislators, including Al Baldasaro of Londonderry, a Republican who chats with other representatives from his district.
Baldasaro is also a freshman legislator, but is more than twice Bedrick’s age. At 50, he has been involved in politics since he was 5 years old when he first worked the polls on behalf of family members seeking elected office.
“It’s in the blood,” he says.
Baldasaro’s grandfather was once the mayor of Cambridge, Mass. A Democrat, he’d probably turn over in his grave to know that his grandson is a Republican, says Baldasaro, who switched his party allegiance when Ronald Reagan ran for president.
Baldasaro also holds to the adage that it’s best for a freshman lawmaker to pay attention to process and issues and focus on forging relationships.
It’s very important, he says, “to shut your mouth and listen.”
“For me to step in and sponsor a bill, that would be putting the cart before the horse,” Baldasaro says.
Bedrick says it’s not necessary to craft legislation in order to represent your constituents. He’s prone to agree with the political adage that holds that it’s more important to kill a bad bill than pass a good one. He says he will go to bat for his district by understanding its needs and voting accordingly.
What he has learned so far from Salem and Windham residents is that they care about taxes, education and the Interstate 93 widening project, he says.
Taking the oath
At 1 p.m., the entire House of Representatives, barring a few stragglers and people who are sick, is seated for the swearing-in ceremony. Bedrick sits in Section 1, Seat 20, toward the front at the far left, facing the rostrum.
The clerk calls roll. She calls Bedrick’s name twice before she hears his response. “I’m here,” he says, raising his voice.
Gov. John Lynch administers the oath of office. The entire floor, 388 of 400 members present, stands and raises right hands, swearing allegiance to the state and federal constitutions.
The new House of Representatives then approves Terie Norelli of Portsmouth as the new House Speaker.
Looking out on the floor at the many members, Norelli recalls how it’s been said that “if you live long enough you will eventually serve in the New Hampshire House of Representatives.”
Having taken their oath and elected their speaker, Bedrick and the other legislators are ready for their terms.
Bedrick will take it one step at a time.
“I don’t know what I don’t know,” he says.
State House by the numbers
400: Number of members of the New Hampshire House of Representatives
239: Democrats
161: Republicans
55: Average age
143: Women elected in 2006
125: Women who held office in the 2004 session
$200, minus taxes: The check amount state representatives receive in January for their two-year term. They also receive a weekly check for mileage.
Seating arrangements
The practice has been for incumbents to get their old seat in Representatives Hall and newly elected representatives to be assigned to the remaining spots.
Traditionally, Republicans sit on one side and Democrats on the other. However, discussion currently is underway to mix up the seating, forgoing segregation by Party.
Did you know?
* A legislator’s license plate number reflect his or her section and seat number.
* Legislators do not have to pay tolls in New Hampshire.
* Statute says they may not be held up on the way to performing their duties in the Legislature. However, House Clerk Karen Wadsworth knows of representatives who have received speeding tickets on their way to Concord.
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Rookie Windham lawmaker getting his feet wet in Concord
March, 2007
Editor’s Note: This is the second in an occasional series following Jason Bedrick, a new member of the New Hampshire House of Representatives, through his first term.
Two months into his apprenticeship, freshman state Rep. Jason Bedrick says he has learned that unlike some states, New Hampshire’s Legislature truly reflects the thoughts, wants and ways of the people.
And just like those everyday citizens, the state’s legislators learn in both formal and informal settings.
The Republican lawmaker is learning his craft both inside committee meetings and outside of them as well, in the Statehouse’s marble and wood hallways and at tables in the softly lit basement cafeteria.
Before the Windham 23-year-old was sworn into office in December, he promised that in his first year he would sponsor no bills and listen more than he spoke. With the bill proposal deadline now passed, he has kept that promise, proffering no legislation and instead relying on fellow Windham and Salem lawmakers for proposals on behalf of their constituents.
He keeps files on bills that have been heard and those that have yet to be heard, as well as research requests from constituents, including one asking about a visa requirement for marriage and unemployment benefits.
Constituents have been the most vocal about three proposals, filling his e-mail and snail-mail boxes with communications on a bill that would repeal parental notification for abortions, a minimum-wage increase, and a plan to make residents buy decals for their kayaks and canoes.
The part-time data entry worker has listened and observed, learning less through singular moments than through osmosis.
He has learned that the 400-member House is a diverse group of men and women, some students, some retired and others working in jobs with flexible schedules. Most of them are making financial sacrifices to serve, without ambition for higher office.
“It’s the most representative state in the country,” Bedrick said.
Bedrick said his experience in the House has disabused him of his notion of a stereotypical politician as an overly polished and well-heeled person, slightly out of touch with the needs of regular folk.
“I love that we have a citizen Legislature,” he said. “I think the country would be better off if this (form of government) was elsewhere.”
In particular, Bedrick likes New Hampshire’s airing of ideas.
“This is beautiful,” he said, eating a kosher lunch that Elvis would have enjoyed - peanut butter and banana on a bagel. “In other states, a bill can die in committee; a small group can kill it.”
In New Hampshire, regardless of the committee’s recommendation to the full House, any member can argue on its behalf and seek a vote on it. That happened twice following the governor’s budget presentation on Feb. 15. One of those items involved a tuition refund for veterinarians for large animals in the North Country.
While both attempts failed, one of the speakers made a passionate plea that riveted attention, Bedrick said.
What is especially surprising to him, and pleasingly so, is the nonpartisan perspective of members on the committee upon which he sits, the Labor, Industrial and Rehabilitative Services Committee. The committee has often voted close to unanimous on bill recommendations.
Bedrick says he even feels a kinship with those across the aisle.
Not so much so, though, that he can pass up an opportunity for a partisan dig. It’s one that other Republicans have tossed at their political counterparts, saying they have been out of power for so long that they lack the institutional knowledge to move bills along at the pace that Republicans were accustomed to providing.
“Bills are slower,” Bedrick said, noting that there is a crunch to catch up on them, and this frustrates some Republicans, especially those who have been around a long time.
Open to suggestions
Rep. Matt Quandt, R-Exeter, a lawmaker for seven years, said his biggest lesson was to listen to what people said in the hallway, not just what is said in committee hearings.
“That’s where I got most of my education,” he said.
For his part, Bedrick also seeks counsel and listens to others outside of committee meetings, though he is careful not to put too much weight on a particular comment, especially when he hears someone accuse a legislator of being in a special interest group’s pocket.
“I take everything with a grain of salt,” he said.
Bedrick said personal attacks are prevalent among legislators from some parts of the state. Manchester is one of those areas. He said he prefers to debate ideas.
The one time he got angry with another legislator was during a committee debate on a proposed amendment that would have prevented 16- and 17-year-olds from working past 9 on school nights. A proponent said those who opposed the amendment were using arguments similar to those used by child-slavery proponents more than a century ago.
Bedrick said the analogy was ridiculous and wanted the amendment struck down since he could envision instances where a mature and conscientious 16- or 17-year-old may need to work later than 9 p.m. for financial reasons, such as saving money for college.
He said the striking of this provision was the most gratifying moment of his brief legislative career, because parents already have the final say as to whether 16- and 17-year-olds can work, and changing this would have been an example of the state trying to take over the job of the parent.
Getting comfortable
As far as areas he needs to improve upon, Bedrick said he needs to branch out and meet more people. It’s easy to fall into a particular clique, he said.
He feels closest to fellow first-term legislators Robert Elliott and Marilinda Garcia, both Salem Republicans, as well as David Bettencourt, a Salem Republican who has served two terms.
Garcia, a part-time music teacher and freelance harpist, sometimes carpools with Bedrick to Concord. Bedrick’s seat in Representatives Hall is 4048, directly in front of hers, in the middle of a row facing over-sized portraits of venerable New Hampshire political figures Daniel Webster and Franklin Pierce.
Garcia said Bedrick has been conscientious, learning by careful observation.
Like her, he has become more comfortable with the process over time. He is more willing now to let his voice be heard, she said.
“He might, for instance, offer an opinion sooner or become more forthright,” Garcia said.
But for the most part, Bedrick is still learning the ropes.
On Feb. 15, while the House was considering HB 143, which defines “party” for the purpose of dividing damages in civil actions, Bedrick moved to other parts of the room to ask fellow members their opinions, seeking advice before casting his vote.