I am a Democrat in my first term in the New Hampshire House of Representatives, representing Grafton District 15, also known as Lebanon Ward 3.
My page on the NH House website. I’m on the Science, Technology and Energy Committee. Based on the bills before us, a more accurate name would be the Energy, Energy and Energy Committee.
I worked with four committees on bills related to artificial intelligence (AI) and deepfakes:
I am the prime sponsor for HB 1688-FN, which limits what state agencies are allowed to do with AI, and a co-sponsor for HB 1500-FN (which will go to Interim Study and not be passed by the House) and HB 1596-FN. I helped the four committees coordinate their definitions of AI and deepfakes, and I also worked with the committees to ensure that the bills did not interfere with each other.
The current makeup of the House gives a slight edge to the Republicans. Attendance is key. Depending on who is in the room and who is not, the minority party can temporarily become the majority party, and it has happened.
In the New Hampshire House, every bill gets a hearing in at least one committee. Committees do not have the power to kill bills; they can recommend that a bill pass or not, or if the vote in a committee is tied, then the bill comes out of the committee with no recommendation. Since committees can only recommend, every bill goes to the floor of the House.
Although I am a Democrat, I try to have good relationships with legislators from both parties. I am on the steering committee of the Granite Bridge Legislative Alliance, which uses the Braver Angels model to get people from opposing parties to see each other as just that—people. Not only does that make me a more effective legislator, but it also makes my own experience more pleasant. I also bear in mind that (so far) none of the distasteful moves that I’ve seen are personal—it’s just politics. If Tip O’Neill and Ronald Reagan could hang out together, I can keep things in perspective as well.