State union asks Worsman for any records pertaining to GOP budget caucus

Published Date

LACONIA — The State Employees' Association of New Hampshire (SEA) has asked Rep. Colette Worsman (R-Meredith), who chairs the Belknap County Convention, to provide copies of any and all records of her meetings with members of the convention about the 2013 county budget that were held without public notice.
The SEA represents employees of the Belknap County Sheriff's Department, Corrections Department and Nursing Home in contract negotiations currently underway and has followed the convention's public deliberations of the county budget proposed by the County Commission.
Brian Hawkins, government relations coordinator of the SEA, said yesterday that the request under the "Right-To-Know" law was filled out of concern that decisions about how to conduct the budget process and deal with specific appropriations were discussed and reached out of the public eye.
Worsman said that she had not seen the request and could not comment about it.
Worsman and other Republicans have acknowledged they held one private caucus to discuss county budget matters but point out that the Right-To-Know law specifically exempts caucuses held by members of the same political party, if the office holders were elected on a partisan basis.