Club for Growth ♥ Kelly Ayotte

New Hampshire Sen. Kelly Ayotte earned a 98% score from Club for Growth on its annual Congressional Scorecard and was recognized with a “Defender of Economic Freedom” award.

Ayotte’s near-perfect score was based on her roll call votes favoring tax reduction, government spending cuts, free trade, tort reform, school choice and industry deregulation. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen received a 10% score. She did not receive an award.

Club for Growth raises money for “pro-growth” candidates. During the 2010 election cycle, the exceptionally well-funded conservative advocacy group spent more then $8.2 million in independent expenditures primarily advocating for Republican candidates or against Democrats. John Nichols notes the organization has been a key player in the orchestrated attacks on labor unions and public workers.

Shaheen 1, Perry 0

During Gov. Rick Perry’s “colorful” speech to the Cornerstone Action Dinner last month, he attacked New Hampshire Sen. Jeanne Shaheen over a bill she sponsored to promote energy efficiency.

“Instead of relieving the economic burden … you have your counterpart in the United States Senate who is working on a bill that would make things worse for home builders.” Perry said to great applause at the Cornerstone Action Dinner, October 28, 2011 in Manchester, N.H.

“Under her scheme, federal bureaucrats could take over the local building code enforcement in your city if so-called green mandates are not complied with quickly enough,” Perry said. “It is just simply bureaucratic overkill.”

Perry was referring to the Energy Savings and Industrial Competitiveness Act of 2011, a bill Shaheen introduced with Republican co-sponsor Sen. Rob Portman. The bill proposes numerous changes to national energy policies and practices with the goal of increasing the use of energy efficiency technologies and fostering job creation.

The Pulitzer Prize-winning researchers at Politifact reviewed the details of the proposed legislation. Would it potentially allow the federal government to take over local building code enforcement as Perry alleged? In a word, no.

Under Shaheen’s energy legislation, states would be required to report whether they plan to meet the model building codes. Those states that agree to the standards and accept federal dollars would be subject to a certification process to ensure they meet the regulations. But there is nothing in the bill that requires states to take part, nor are there any penalties for non-compliance. The bill is voluntary, not mandatory. We rate Perry’s claim False.

DOD: Same-Sex Spouses May Attend Family Events

Chief Warrant Officer Charlie Morgan, the New Hampshire National Guard soldier who recently returned from deployment in Kuwait, will be bringing her same-sex partner of 11 years to a yellow ribbon family reintegration event in North Conway this weekend.

Federal military regulations had previously banned same-sex spouses of National Guard Members from participating in official National Guard family events. The rules were based on an interpretation of the Defense of Marriage Act, which prohibits the extension of military benefits to same sex couples. Tuesday, Sen. Jeanne Shaheen sent a letter to Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta urging the Department of Defense “in the strongest terms” to end the discriminatory policy.

“We made the decision as a nation that it was time to allow gay and lesbian soldiers to serve openly in our military,” Shaheen said. “It makes no sense to ask them for the same sacrifice we ask of straight soldiers while denying them the same benefits. We are better than this.”

Yesterday, the Department of Defense ruled that Chief Morgan may take advantage of a regulation that allows service members to designate any one person, regardless of relationship, to join her at a yellow ribbon event.

“This is terrific news for Charlie Morgan and her family,” said Shaheen. “But this is just one small part of a much larger problem. We have a fundamental inequity in our policy, which has created two classes of soldiers. It isn’t fair and it has to end.” 

“Ultimately, this conflict in our military policy is not sustainable,” Shaheen said. “We cannot ask the members of our military to live under different standards depending on whether they are gay or straight. I urge the military to do all it can under the law to promote equality in their regulations, and I urge Congress to join me in the fight to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act.”

Ayotte Missing from Bipartisan Heating Aid Request

A bipartisan group of 33 senators, including every New England senator EXCEPT Sen. Kelly Ayotte, sent a letter to U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) Kathleen Sebelius calling on HHS to release Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) funds as quickly as possible. The senators requested the funds be released now to allow state agencies to begin preparing their LIHEAP programs for the winter.

Excerpts from the letter to Secretary Sebelius:

The Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) is an indispensable lifeline for low-income households.  As state agencies prepare their LIHEAP programs for the winter, we request that the Department of Health and Human Services release LIHEAP funds as quickly and at as high of a level as possible under the current continuing resolution.

Low-income families spend a higher proportion of their income on energy, and this is particularly true during times of extreme temperatures and increased energy prices. … [T]he Energy Information Administration projects that the price of heating oil will be 10 percent higher this winter than last, the highest average winter price ever predicted. While these prices would be challenging under the best of times, elevated levels of unemployment across our states will make this year’s heating season an even greater struggle.

Last year, LIHEAP provided 47,215 of New Hampshire’s most vulnerable households with financial assistance. 32% of the recipients were elderly, 28% disabled and 22% were children under age five.

ICYMI: Feds Step In When Executive Council Fails to Act

When the Executive Council voted not to renew the state’s contract with Planned Parenthood to provide Title X family planning services, 16,000 New Hampshire residents were left without health care services ranging from birth control to cancer exams.

This week, the federal Department of Health and Human Services stepped in to protect the health of Granite State families by awarding a replacement grant to Planned Parenthood citing the “urgent need.”

Title X family planning services have not been provided in the areas of the state previously served by PPNNE since the contract between NHDHHS and PPNNE ended on June 30, 2011. There is an urgent need to reinstate services with an experienced provider that is familiar with the provision of Title X family planning services and applicable laws, regulations and administrative requirements, and has a history of successfully providing services in these areas of the state.

Councilor Dan St. Hilaire, one of the three councilors voting against renewing the contract, said he opposed the contract because Planned Parenthood also provides abortion services.

“Actually funding an agency that performs the actual event is something that I would object to, and I have objected to. That’s what I voted against it.”

St. Hilaire was silent on where the 16,000 men, women and teenagers would now turn for vital health care services including cervical cancer screenings, breast exams and sexually transmitted infections. Following the Executive Council’s dereliction of duty, Sen. Jeanne Shaheen stepped in and asked Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius to consider a direct federal contract. She applauded the federal government’s action.

“Women in every part of the state deserve access to affordable reproductive health services, and Planned Parenthood is a critical provider of those services in our state,” Shaheen said. “These clinics also provide vital preventive care, such as screenings for breast and cervical cancer. In some parts of New Hampshire, Planned Parenthood is the only provider of these preventive services to low-income women. I am glad the federal government has stepped up to provide this new contract, so that women in every part of New Hampshire will have somewhere to turn for basic health issues.”

Sen. Shaheen: No One Untouched by Tragedy of 9/11

“More than any episode in recent American history, the events of 9/11 were experienced on a very personal level all across the country. No one was untouched by the tragedy of that day. All of us can remember exactly where we were when we first heard the news. We can remember those frantic hours as we tried to call loved ones. We remember the silence in our skies, as our nation’s entire air system shut down. We remember mourning the loss of family, friends, and neighbors. We remember the fear and uncertainty as we wondered if more attacks were coming. And we remember the sight we all watched on television, again and again, the sickening sight of the falling towers. It is a vision that has been seared – perhaps forever – into every American’s mind.

“[A]s we remember America’s 9/11 story this weekend, we should all reflect on the unity we demonstrated in the face of this terrible attack. On September 11th, we were not Republicans or Democrats, black or white, rich or poor. We were all Americans. The attack focused our attention on our common bonds and on the American ideals we all hold dear. We were determined to prove that despite our differences, the United States of America would persevere and endure. While we have not always maintained that sense of unity in the years since, our memory of it has inspired us and continually reminded us of what is possible when we reach for the best in ourselves.

— Sen. Jeanne Shaheen

Tax Breaks for Yachts & Race Horses Don’t Make Sense

We know that meaningful deficit reform will mean trillions of dollars of changes. And in avoiding revenues, Republicans have instead proposed steep cuts, dangerous to both the health of the American people and the strength of the economy. Eliminating funding for basic women’s health care. Ending Medicare as we know it. Dangerous cuts to nursing home care. Slashing Pell grants that will train the next generation of engineers. Stopping the development of new energy technologies. And halting efforts to retool the economy to compete in the 21st Century. These are the alternatives that Republicans are proposing to save tax breaks for yachts and race horses.

— Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, on the Senate floor

Shaheen Urges Justice Dept to Review Voter Photo ID

Sen. Jeanne Shaheen today signed a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder urging the Justice Department to carefully review the “highly restrictive photo identification requirements” that could disenfranchise “millions of eligible voters.”

We are writing to express our concerns about highly restrictive photo identification requirements under consideration or already signed into law in several states. These measures have the potential to block millions of eligible American voters without addressing any problem commensurate with this kind of restriction on voting rights. …

Highly restrictive photo identification requirements at the polls can make it more difficult for well-intentioned voters to cast their ballots, and as far as America’s civil rights trajectory is concerned, that sort of effect takes America in the wrong direction. We urge you to exercise your authority to examine these laws so that voting rights are not jeopardized. …

New voter photo ID laws have been enacted in Wisconsin, South Carolina, Alabama, Texas, Kansas and Tennessee. In New Hampshire, Gov. Lynch has vetoed SB 129, a bill passed by the legislature that would require a voter to present photo identification in order to cast a ballot. A vote attempting to override his veto is expected this fall.

In 2008, the Supreme Court ruled Indiana’s state voter photo ID law is constitutional. Indiana provides free IDs to the poor and allows those without IDs to cast provisional ballots. The New Hampshire bill contains similar provisions.

Republicans Vow To Secure Funding They Voted Against

When we last checked in on the Memorial Bridge replacement project, Reps. Frank Guinta and Charlie Bass had voted in favor of the House budget bill that threatened to pull the plug on the project’s $20 million economic recovery grant — all the while expressing their support for the bridge replacement. 

When the action moved to the Senate, the hypocrisy continued.

Senator Kelly Ayotte (R-NH) voted for H.R. 1, and thus to dismantle TIGER II, but is still asking the Department of Transportation to give a Tiger II grant to a bridge refurbishing project in her state, calling it “the No. 1 transportation priority” for New Hampshire.

Both of Maine’s Republican senators — Sens. Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins — also voted for H.R. 1, but are still trying to secure funding for the bridge project. Two other New Hampshire Republicans — Reps. Frank Guinta and Charlie Bass — voted for H.R. 1, but have said that they want the bridge funding. “Clearly, the Memorial Bridge in Portsmouth should be a priority for the New Hampshire delegation to preserve,” Bass said.

Think Progress calls the elimination of the TIGER II grants for high priority infrastructure projects a “destructive and economically counterproductive” measure. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, who voted against H.R.1, blasted the proposed federal cuts as “reckless and irresponsible” and vowed to fight them.

Sen. Shaheen Defends Planned Parenthood

New Hampshire Sen. Jeanne Shaheen today spoke forcefully against cutting off federal funding for Planned Parenthood and Title X aid to community health centers.

“There are thousands of women, and in a lot of cases men in New Hampshire, who get their health care through these clinics who will no longer be able to access them for their care because they will have to reduce their services or they will have to shut their doors,” Shaheen said.

“If they can’t get their care through these community clinics they are going to go to emergency rooms in hospitals that are much more expensive,” she said in a conference call from Washington, D.C.

A cutoff would eventually be paid for by people with insurance, she said, because when hospitals have exhausted their free care they pass on the extra costs to those with health insurance.

“It’s going to have a ripple effect on the communities where the clinics are located, on the businesses where people who get their service work,” Shaheen said. “It’s going to have a ripple effect in many ways.”

The U.S. Senate is expected to vote this week on a Continuing Resolution to fund the government through September. The Senate version does not de-fund Planned Parenthood.

Grownups Step In To Clean Up Guinta’s Mess

New Hampshire Sens. Jeanne Shaheen and Kelly Ayotte and Maine Sens. Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins have written letters to Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood, urging him to expedite the $20 million federal grant to replace the Memorial Bridge connecting Portsmouth, New Hampshire and Kittery, Maine.

“You traveled to the site of the Memorial Bridge to announce the award for this project and you saw the current state of the bridges that connect our two states and the dire need for a new bridge,” the senators wrote. “The governors of both states are committed to funding their share of the project.”

“We ask that you work with Maine and New Hampshire officials, so that the funds for this important project can be released,” they wrote.

New Hampshire Reps. Frank Guinta and Charlie Bass had voted in favor of eliminating economic recovery grants that have been awarded but not yet transferred, including the Memorial Bridge replacement.

Guinta then accused the Department of Transportation of “dragging its feet” on the project — despite the Department’s well established procedures of not releasing funds until construction begins. Work on the $90 million Memorial Bridge replacement is set to begin in mid-2012.

Quote of the Day: Smart Cuts Instead of Reckless Cuts

“This is a chance to make smart cuts, instead of reckless cuts. Today’s GAO report shows us a path forward to responsibly, effectively reduce the deficit without slashing investment in our economy, cutting private sector job growth, or endangering the most vulnerable members of our society.”

— Sen. Jeanne Shaheen on the a new GAO report documenting duplication in federal programs.