N.H. Senate hits national milestone for gender

Article published Dec 21, 2008 in Fosters Daily DemocratWomen rule!
N.H. Senate hits national milestone for gender
Granted, the words "all men are born equally" were penned June 2, 1784, and since then changes were made to the New Hampshire Constitution to prohibit discrimination, and the section on the Legislature describes the role of its "members."

But maybe, lawmakers say, it's time to update some of the wording nonetheless. After all, it's women running the show now in Concord, marking the first time in United States history women make up the majority of a legislative body, in this case the 24-member Senate.

"I've been talking about that with a couple other folks so that it is gender neutral," Sen. Kathleen Sgambati, D-Tilton, said of tweaking the document's language. But "all of us have filed our bills this session so I think it may have to wait until next time around when we're not so focused on the budget."

Senate Majority Leader Maggie Hassan, D-Exeter, had a similar opinion.

For the full article visit our Inspirational Women page at www.applaudwomen.com. Find more articles and information of interest to women in NH and MA

New Hampshire Senate Makes History as the First Majority Female Legislative Body in the Country

I've recently begun looking for information to blog about and found some very interesting and informative articles that relate to women anywhere. I'm sure they have been helpful to local women here in NH and MA. But the last couple of days I was really hoping to find something that directly relates to the women here that I want to reach and especially if it's celebratory in nature. So imagine my excitement when I found a blog by a Tennessee woman making the following positive comments about the recent Boston.com article about the progressive strides made by our newly, female majority run legislative body in NH.

TENNESSEE GUERILLA WOMEN
Friday, May 01, 2009
The Matriarchy Of New Hampshire

The first female dominated legislature in the country is making some kickass progressive changes.

Forget moving to Canada, let's just head for New Hampshire! Renee Loth at the Boston Globe has the glowing details:

First, the New Hampshire House of Representatives voted to raise the state's gasoline tax by 15 cents over three years. Then the House approved a bill allowing the use of medical marijuana, by a vote of 234-138. Next, it voted to repeal the state's capital punishment statute. The House wrapped up March with a vote to legalize same-sex marriage, and the Senate followed suit yesterday.
What could be causing this unprecedented turn in Granite State politics? Here's one idea: women.
Since January, the New Hampshire Senate has been making history as the first majority female legislative body in the country: Thirteen of its 24 members are women. Overall, the New Hampshire Legislature is 37.7 percent female, just a fraction behind Vermont (37.8 percent) and Colorado (38 percent). But New Hampshire also has women in leadership: a woman House speaker, a woman Senate president, and a woman majority whip. The congressional delegation is 50 percent female, including one of only 17 women in the US Senate. It's as if there was a bloodless coup of the state's political establishment in November, and women were the avatars of change.
What's the matter with New Hampshire? Nothing. They've just seen the future up there.
For the full article from Boston.com link to http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2009/04/30/the_matriarchy_up_north/
We at Applaud Women applaud you!! For more articles written by NH & MA writers and professionals and resource information go to our website at www.applaudwomen.com.