(Illustration: Sir John Tenniel)
The New Hampshire legislature has overridden Gov. John Lynch's (D) veto of a bill preventing the state's
minimum wage from going above the federal minimum. It has overridden his veto of a
parental notification law for abortion that did not have exceptions for rape, incest, or abuse. A
historically disastrous budget will go into effect
without Lynch's signature, cutting cigarette taxes and
gutting higher education in the state.
On labor, too, New Hampshire stands out for just how aggressive its Republican majority has been:
Lawmakers in about 18 states, including Missouri, Michigan and New Mexico, introduced right-to-work bills this year, saying they help attract businesses and create jobs. Some were introduced but never acted upon, others were assigned to legislative study groups and some died in committee.
New Hampshire was the only state where such legislation received a full House and Senate vote. Passage would have made it the first to adopt a right-to-work law since Oklahoma in 2001. There are 22 right-to-work states, most in the South and West.
But Lynch's veto of that bill has not been overridden. When the vote was initially planned, it became clear that the override would fail and House Speaker Bill O'Brien did not hold the vote. However, this is not a one try and you're done kind of thing—O'Brien can wait until the first time he looks around the chamber and sees that there's low attendance and opponents of the bill are not present, then call the vote.
O'Brien is making it clear he intends to continue intimidating members of his caucus who disagree with him; perhaps the best hope for avoiding this override is that he will have used up his political capital in his caucus through repeated override votes and bullying.