REDDER WAS BETTER:

Lynch Calls for Amendment to ‘Target' Aid to Needy Schools (John P. Gregg, 1/04/07, Valley News)

Facing a Legislature suddenly dominated by members of his own party, Gov. John Lynch yesterday won easy applause for his calls to increase the minimum wage and expand environmental funding.

But on what could be the defining issue of his second term -- finally resolving New Hampshire's long-running battle over equitable funding for education -- Lynch enjoyed far more support from Republicans than he did fellow Democrats on a central plank of his campaign.

In his second inaugural address yesterday, the 54-year-old Democrat called for a constitutional amendment to allow Concord to “target” school aid to the neediest communities, a practice called into question by a prior state Supreme Court ruling.

“To implement the best education policy for our state, I strongly believe that we must be open to considering a narrow amendment to our constitution,” Lynch said. “Not an amendment that allows the state to walk away from its responsibility for education. Not an amendment to take the courts out of education.

“But instead, an amendment that affirms the state's responsibilities for education, and allows us to direct education aid to the children and to the communities that need it the most.”

Most Republicans stood to applaud. But Democrats, who now control both chambers, were less supportive.

“You were in the audience, you saw who stood and who didn't,” said state Sen. Ted Gatsas, the Senate Republican leader. “I was the first one up.”

“I was more amused that most of the Democrats refused to stand up for that,” added House Republican leader Michael Whalley, an Alton Republican, who also rose to his feet. “In order for us to pass a constitutional amendment, we need 60 percent of the Legislature. I didn't see 60 percent of the legislators sitting in the hall today standing up for changing the constitution, and that's a problem for the governor.”

The governor became popular by governing like a Republican--now the other party controls the legislature.

Posted by Orrin Judd at January 5, 2007 10:48 AM