Thank you for the report, RG; like you said, it WAS nice putting some faces to the names and it was also a pleasure meeting you!
I agree with you, it did seem like both sides were well represented, at least for the first 2 hours that I was there. Not knowing how long a committee hearing like that would last, I hadn't planned on being there more than a couple of hours so I couldn't return for the afternoon session. I was very surprised when I read that it went almost to 4:30pm! I never signed up to speak because I am a horrible public speaker; I get very nervous and tongue-tied!
I'm sure Sen. Fuller-Clark's mind is already made up since she was the first person to testify and did so in favor of SB464. It seemed to me that she had a strong personal interest though I'm not sure why. Listening to her testimony, she said she was a boater and it sounded like she boated on Winni. But after I checked her info at the
state's website, I found out she's from Portsmouth and represents cities/towns on or near the seacoast. I would've expected the bill's
primary sponsor to have closer ties to the Lakes Region than the Seacoast.
BUT, whatever, everyone's entitled to their own opinion. I'm hoping the other 4 senators on the committee will keep an open mind to the testimony they heard and/or will review. The committee chairman, Sen. Letourneau, certainly seemed interested in both sides as he asked pointed questions to both supporters and opponents of the bill. And it was nice to see the testimony was emotion free, with no one taking shots at the other side.
All in all, it was a pretty good experience. The hard part will be waiting to hear their decision!
P.S. Is 'DoTheMath' the high school teacher that took the day off to testify?
