The Crier

In light of these events however, Poznanski has had many interesting experiences in his first year as representative.

He sits on the Environment and Agriculture Committee in the House. The Committee meets on Tuesdays and Thursdays and in the last general session, which begins in January and ends in June, the committee tried to pass a "Bottle Bill" which would give New Hampshire the same refund for returned plastic and glass bottles as Massachusetts and Maine do.

Poznanski appreciates the uniqueness of New Hampshire's legislative system because he says after a committee bill goes to a hearing "any citizen can come in" to listen to the bill or testify for or against it making it "truly a citizens legislature."

He explains also that it is "unusual how political it is."

"It's a little different [than I expected], I didn't expect a high level of partisanship," Poznanski said. "There are many party votes and cooperation between parties."

He also explains that once a bill reaches the house floor, all members of the House can speak regarding the bill that is on floor for a vote.

"It is good to hear everything but it does slow down the process," he explained, but "eventually people leave or it can sway the vote."

Poznanski says also that sometimes each member of a party speaks, saying the same thing and it "gets really annoying" because the committee members are trying to either make the bill go to the next session, or to truly change the minds of other members of the House.

This held true when it came time for New Hampshire Representatives to vote on the gay marriage bill. He remembers that it took "four separate days-the same debate. People have a reason to be upset, especially when people don't have jobs [in the state (due to the recession)] and the [state] budget was put on the last day, which deserves time to be heard." The bill eventually passed in the state.

There was another bill "on transgendered people," which requires employers to not discriminate on the basis of "gender identity which needs to be added to protect people from discrimination."

He says that the Republican Party diverted from the issue and says the Republicans are "good as publicizing, talking to the press and influencing the media. They called it the 'Bathroom Bill'."

With the bill being called the "Bathroom Bill" many became upset when in fact, it had nothing to do with bathrooms but instead discrimination in jobs and housing. Poznanski says "it came to a point where people actually believed it [that the bill had to do with transgender people and bathrooms]."

"I really enjoy it [working as a representative]," he said. But citing academics and post-graduation plans, explained that "I don't know if I'll run again."

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This article was published on 12/11/09 in the News section.