Principles for Legislative Positions & Procedures for Submission of Testimony
The City Council has adopted Principles for Legislative Positions listed below in order for the Mayor and City Staff to be able to offer testimony to the Legislature in a timely manner on bills of interest to the City.
The Legislative Subcommittee has also adopted these Approved Procedures for Submission of Testimony.
The Principles for Legislative Positions are as follows:
- Advocate to maintain local authority
- Authorize local options
- Support revenue streams to aid municipalities, specifically those that name Portsmouth or will directly support Portsmouth
- Advocate for municipal representation on state committees
- Support incentives for regional cooperation
- Support plans to fund/support infrastructure
- Support incentives for sustainability and increasing energy efficiency and increasing renewable energy production.
- Support directing revenues to the purposes for which they are raised
- Support measures that increase the efficiency of local government operations
- Maintain and improve health, life and safety issues including protecting the safety of our First Responders
- Encourage citizens to vote and support eliminating barriers to voting
- Rely on locally generated financial data for decisions relating to local taxes and assessments
- Protect local decision making about local zoning
- Require the State to honor existing financial commitments to communities before new financial commitments are awarded, e.g. infrastructure reimbursements
- Support the civil rights of individuals and oppose discrimination against any individual because of age, sex, race, creed, color, marital status, familial status, physical or mental disability, national origin, sexual orientation or gender identity
- Use expertise and research in decision making
- Support policies that create affordable housing as well as incentives for the construction of affordable housing and oppose any policies that block efforts to create affordable housing
- Support lobbying efforts of organizations and associations to which the City belongs and supports as a municipality, unless contrary to other city policies
- Oppose legislation that does not apply scientific and technical standards that are broadly accepted by peer reviewed scientific study and can reasonably be achieved by sustainable best management practices and technology
- Support legislation that provides education funding based on an equitable and sustainable framework and oppose the return of the donor town concept
As approved by vote of the City Council on February 7, 2022.