ONE MUST WONDER whether former Gov. Chris Sununu got a heads-up that U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., was going to suddenly announce that she wasn’t seeking reelection to the U.S. Senate.
Or was it just a coincidence that Sununu, on the eve of Shaheen’s big reveal, would abandon more than two years of declining any interest in seeking to be in the Club of 100?
When Sununu decided in the summer of 2021 that he would pass on opposing Sen. Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., he dismissed serving in Congress because for years under Republican or Democratic control it hasn’t accomplished very much.
Yet last week, Sununu claimed Trump’s work to try and get the nation’s fiscal house in order has energized him to seriously consider a Senate run.
For those who think Sununu has good intel, it’s worth noting that key aides on Shaheen’s staff in recent weeks were making moves to seek or obtain other employment on Capitol Hill.
In politics, staff from both political parties talk to one another.
It’s possible Shaheen chose to time her announcement before definitive word leaked out in Washington.
Perhaps Sununu heard the whispers.
Shaheen targeted with hit piece
On the day that Shaheen said she’s not running, Daily Caller chose to jump off on that announcement with its story last week that Shaheen’s husband, Bill Shaheen, invested in and then upgraded a luxury condominium overlooking Florida’s Sarasota Bay.
According to that story, a trust under Mr. Shaheen’s name known as Old Parchment Revocable Trust bought the building in March 2024 for $2.2 million.
Then a different trust three days later under the name A1 Bill Reliable Revocable Trust of 2019 listed a villa in a “peaceful, quiet retirement community” as for sale.
This property remained on the market for about eight months and then was taken off the market three weeks after the Nov. 5 presidential election.
Daily Caller reported the A1 Bill Trust bought this second parcel in August 2019 for $399,000 and it underwent renovations four years later.
The conservative news website also claimed Bill Shaheen purchased a second property in this Longboat Key, Florida development in 2024 for nearly $1.4 million.
Here’s the problem with this “scoop.” Bill Shaheen, a retired lawyer, was acting as a registered agent for the actual buyer of these properties.
Democratic Party Chairman Ray Buckley debunked the story as untrue.
“Unsurprisingly, the Daily Caller story is false. The Shaheens do not own those properties, making the entire piece absurd from start to finish,” Buckley said.
House budget chair’s comments draw criticism
Advocates for public education, health care and services for disabled people dominated testimony during the first and only public hearing on the two-year state budget before the House Finance Committee last Wednesday.
House Democratic Leader Alexis Simpson of Exeter chastised Finance Chairman Ken Weyler, R-Kingston, for bemoaning the repetitive testimony in support of more state aid to public schools.
“It seems like we have heard a lot about school funding, really more than we need to know. We know that it’s a problem. We don’t need to hear it 50 times. Thank you,” Weyler said at one point.
Simpson said these residents traveled from across the state to offer their views.
“Their voices deserve to be heard, not dismissed,” she said.
National Guard controversy
quietly goes away
With little public comment, Executive Councilor David Wheeler, R-Milford, dropped his objection to granting a promotion to National Guard officer Nathaniel Richter because Richter is a transgender woman.
Richter is listed as Nathaniel in official documents and the council agenda but has gone by Nathalie Richter when speaking with media outlets.
Wheeler maintained that the promotion could have been in legal jeopardy given that President Donald Trump signed an executive order that banned transgender people from serving in the military.
Trouble is, Wheeler and the rest of the Executive Council learned in a closed-door session that the promotion had already been granted prior to Trump taking office in January.
The council item was merely a formality since Richter was a member of the National Guard under federal control.
With the Executive Council, New Hampshire is the only state in the country that votes on National Guard promotions and pay bumps.
Councilor Karen Liot Hill, D-Lebanon, and Wheeler both said they could not comment on what Attorney General John Formella had advised them on the topic during a closed-door meeting.
That’s because the entire council refused to release that information.
Formella said at a council meeting earlier this month that his commentary came under attorney/client privilege and would remain secret unless every councilor waived that cloak of secrecy and agreed to publicly discuss it.
“My informed opinion is that denying a promotion based on gender identity would have created significant legal exposure for the state due to both state and federal law, including Title VII of the Civil Rights Act,” Liot Hill said.
“I was very pleased that the council decisions to advance all of the National Guard promotions were unanimous.”
Outside the council meeting, Democratic activists held signs urging the promotions to go through.
Technically, Richter’s final promotion item will be voted on at the next council meeting; last week it voted unanimously to move the item forward.
Anti-abortion forces seeing red at promotion
Leaders in the anti-abortion movement reacted angrily when state Rep. Katy Peternel, R-Wolfeboro, decided to withdraw her legislation to create a ban on abortion 15 weeks after conception.
At the time, Peternel said the bill had technical flaws that could not be easily fixed.
Now these same activists smell conspiracy with House Speaker Sherman Packard’s promotion of Peternel to serve as his adviser.
“Katy has been a trusted adviser, and I look forward to her continued counsel as she steps into this important position,” Packard said. “Her expertise and commitment to our work will be crucial as we navigate the challenges ahead.”
She takes over the position from three-term state Rep. Jim Kofalt, R-Wilton, whom Packard has moved up to speaker pro tem, taking over the post that Rep. Fred Doucette, R-Salem, had until he resigned last week to take a federal job in the Trump administration.
Ambulance firms reject ground transport rate hike
A House Commerce Committee working group voted, 5-2, last week to endorse legislation (HB 316) that would raise ground transport rates for ambulance companies, but industry leaders said it doesn’t go far enough.
“With HB.316 currently recommending payment levels at approximately 200% of Medicare, the resulting reimbursement gap will need to be made up by either cost cuts, service reductions or closures, longer response times or higher property taxes. The costs are not going to change,” said Chris Stawasz, regional director of Global Medical Response Inc.
Ambulance execs are seeking an increase to 325% of Medicare costs.
“This would allow for time to run additional legislation to correct the Medicaid inequity on a state level and for the federal government to address the Medicare inequity and prevent the catastrophic public safety financial crisis that HB.316 would create,” Stawasz said.
Lawmakers in a dozen other states are considering similar legislation and none of them would set rates as “low” as this one, he said.
The full House committee is expected to vote on the measure Wednesday.
Former PSNH exec pulled back in
Ayotte nominated Nick Ashooh of Lyme for an open four-year seat on the state Site Evaluation Committee.
Ashooh’s successful business career really got its jump start as communications director for Public Service Co. of New Hampshire at a pivotal time of the state’s largest utility running into financial difficulty that required the rescue of Northeast Utilities before it became rebranded as Eversource in 2015.
Ashooh went on to take on many corporate PR roles and currently is a senior executive with APCO Worldwide Corp.
Ayotte names two political veterans to state boards
Terry Pfaff of Hooksett, the chief operating officer for the New Hampshire Legislature, secured the nomination from Ayotte to another term on the Compensation Appeals Board.
Ayotte has proposed to trim the size of this board in her budget trailer bill (HB 2) from 33 members down to 27.
In each case, she would reduce from 11 to nine the labor, employer and attorney representatives on the panel.
The governor also agreed to forward for consideration another term for former state Sen. Gary Francoeur, R-Hudson, on the Manufactured Housing Installation Standards Board.
Scanlan finds flaw in state primary date bill
Moving the state primary from September to June could rob third-party candidates of enough time to get the support of residents to get their names on the general election ballot, Secretary of State David Scanlan said last week.
A bipartisan coalition of 10 state senators are jointly sponsoring a bill (SB 222) to make that move, which Scanlan does not support.
“I may be swimming a little bit against the tide. My preference for moving the primary is to go to August rather than all the way to June,” Scanlan said.
During a public hearing, Scanlan told the Senate Election Law and Municipal Affairs Committee he’d offer language that would retain the rights of third-party candidates to collect signatures from registered voters and present them in time to qualify for the final ballot every two years in November.
Under current law, these third-party candidates have from the beginning of the election year until late August to collect these names.
As written, this bill would shorten that signature gathering period by several months.
The solution, Scanlan said, would be to tie the signature gathering deadline to just before the general election rather than the primary.
“There’s a way to get this done if you wish to pass this bill,” Scanlan said.
Scanlan also said moving the primary so far ahead “would force the discussion of whether the term of governor should be four years or not.”
“The campaign season is going to kick in immediately after getting elected if we have such a time frame,” Scanlan said.
HHS commissioner pushes back at Stephen
Health and Human Services Commissioner Lori Weaver came to last week’s meeting armed with tough responses to questioning from Councilor John Stephen, R-Manchester, who had served in that position for a term that ended when he unsuccessfully ran for governor in 2010.
Weaver said if Stephen had succeeded in stopping approval for the continuation of a workforce recruitment and training program in the long-term care field the state stood to lose 20% of a federal grant.
Stephen relented and allowed the item to move forward but you can bet this back-and-forth between them will continue in the coming months.
Pompeo to return
Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s decision to return to New Hampshire this June will surely rekindle talk that he might decide to mount a GOP campaign for president in 2028.
Pompeo seriously explored a run in 2024 before it became clear it would be impossible to deny Donald Trump a third presidential nomination.
Pompeo will speak on restoring American strength and deterrence before the World Affairs Council of New Hampshire at its Global Forum fundraiser on June 25.
Guard to build new operations building up north
The council approved an agreement for the New Hampshire Army National Guard to acquire and build a new aviation operations building on 5.7 acres of undeveloped land at the Berlin Municipal Airport in Milan.
Federal money for this new building relied on the state getting a long-term lease from the Berlin Airport Authority to use the land. Under this 50-year deal, the state pays a nominal $1 annually.
