Oge Young is a retired OB-GYN and past president of NH Medical Society.
The vast majority of New Hampshire voters simply do not know about the Executive Council or its power.
Thousands of Granite Staters skip over the council when voting. Our NH Executive Council is unique, a five-member body representing five districts in the state which is a branch serving as a check on the governor’s power.
The council must approve all of the governor’s nominees to the state courts, including the Supreme Court. It must confirm appointments to state agencies like the Department of Education. And, it must approve all state contracts greater than $10,000.
Remarkably, no other state in our country has a governing body like our Executive Council.
The council was formed in 1679 by King Charles II when he separated New Hampshire from Massachusetts and appointed a president (governor) and a council. New Hampshire was the only one of the 13 colonies of the United States who wrote its own constitution. Under the 1784 NH State Constitution, the chief executive (later governor) and the council were granted veto authority against each other.
New Hampshire’s governor and council combination has become one without equal in the nation. This sharing of executive authority, as a curb on autocracy, continues in full force only in our Granite State.
Presently, our Executive Council has four Republicans and one Democrat member. In the last 18 months, the Executive Council (in the absence of any vetoes from Gov. Sununu) has rejected $27 million in federal funds for COVID-19 vaccines (9/15/21), rejected $7.2 million in federal funds for COVID-19 vaccines (12/22/21) and approved $844,000 to use COVID-19 funds for public service announcements benefiting our governor (8/18/21).
It has been well-publicized that our council and governor have chosen four times in the past year to defund Planned Parenthood and other family planning providers on Sept. 15, 2021, Dec. 22, 2021, Jan. 12, and most recently July 27.
These votes have denied hundreds of low-income, uninsured or underinsured New Hampshire residents routine wellness exams, as well as cancer and STI screening.
The reason the council and our governor give for the defunding of these clinics is that they do not want to support abortions, despite reliable audits showing that the grant money to these clinics is not used for abortion care. Ironically, the financial support of these clinics would provide access to safe and reliable contraception, including abstinence counseling which can prevent the need for abortion.
Our Executive Council has re-confirmed Frank Edelbut to serve as Commissioner of the Department of Education and Drew Cline to serve as Chair of the Board of Education on Feb. 17, 2021, and McKenzie Snow to serve as Director of Learner Support in the Department of Education on March 3, 2021.
Subsequently, the council approved funds to implement the voucher “Education Freedom Accounts” on Aug. 4, 2021 with millions of dollars of excessive spending. A contract with Prenda, Inc. was approved by the council (Dec. 8, 2021) to set up “Learning Pods” or “microschools” as a means to siphon millions of dollars away from public schools to private schools.
After the 2020 election, Executive Councilor CindeWarmington, the lone Democrat on the council, formed the Executive Council Campaign Committee (ECCC) with a mission to recruit, train and support strong Democratic candidates in all five districts across the state.
This year’s slate of Democratic candidates for Executive Council is strong in wanting to uphold what is best for New Hampshire citizens.
If you are appalled by the actions of our NH Executive Council and Governor Sununu over the past 18 months, I encourage you to canvass, write letters to the editors of your local newspapers, send postcards supporting these candidates and donate to the ECCC.
The vast majority of New Hampshire voters simply do not know about the Executive Council or its power.
Thousands of Granite Staters skip over the council when voting. Our NH Executive Council is unique, a five-member body representing five districts in the state which is a branch serving as a check on the governor’s power.
The council must approve all of the governor’s nominees to the state courts, including the Supreme Court. It must confirm appointments to state agencies like the Department of Education. And, it must approve all state contracts greater than $10,000.
Remarkably, no other state in our country has a governing body like our Executive Council.
The council was formed in 1679 by King Charles II when he separated New Hampshire from Massachusetts and appointed a president (governor) and a council. New Hampshire was the only one of the 13 colonies of the United States who wrote its own constitution. Under the 1784 NH State Constitution, the chief executive (later governor) and the council were granted veto authority against each other.
New Hampshire’s governor and council combination has become one without equal in the nation. This sharing of executive authority, as a curb on autocracy, continues in full force only in our Granite State.
Presently, our Executive Council has four Republicans and one Democrat member. In the last 18 months, the Executive Council (in the absence of any vetoes from Gov. Sununu) has rejected $27 million in federal funds for COVID-19 vaccines (9/15/21), rejected $7.2 million in federal funds for COVID-19 vaccines (12/22/21) and approved $844,000 to use COVID-19 funds for public advertisements benefiting our governor (8/18/21).
It has been well-publicized that our council and governor have chosen four times in the past year to defund Planned Parenthood and other family planning providers on Sept. 15, 2021, Dec. 22, 2021, Jan. 12, and most recently July 27.
These votes have denied hundreds of low-income, uninsured or underinsured New Hampshire residents routine wellness exams, as well as cancer and STI screening.
The reason the council and our governor give for the defunding of these clinics is that they do not want to support abortions, despite reliable audits showing that the grant money to these clinics is not used for abortion care. Ironically, the financial support of these clinics would provide access to safe and reliable contraception, including abstinence counseling which can prevent the need for abortion.
Our Executive Council has confirmed Frank Edelbut to serve as Commissioner of the Department of Education and Drew Cline to serve as Chair of the Board of Education on Feb. 17, 2021, and McKenzie Snow to serve as Director of Learner Support in the Department of Education on March 3, 2021.
Subsequently, the council approved funds to implement the voucher “Education Freedom Accounts” on Aug. 4, 2021 with millions of dollars of excessive spending. A contract with Prenda, Inc. was approved by the council (Dec. 8, 2021) to set up “Learning Pods” or “microschools” as a means to siphon millions of dollars away from public schools to private schools.
After the 2020 election, Executive Councilor Cinde Warmington, the lone Democrat on the council, formed the Executive Council Campaign Committee (ECCC) with a mission to recruit, train and support strong Democratic candidates in all five districts across the state.
This year’s slate of Democratic candidates for Executive Council is strong in wanting to uphold what is best for New Hampshire citizens.
If you are appalled by the actions of our NH Executive Council and Governor Sununu over the past 18 months, I encourage you to canvass, write letters to the editors of your local newspapers, send postcards supporting these candidates and donate to the ECCC.