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House Speaker George Roberts (from 1975-1980) has a lot to look back on. Under his leadership the state built the Legislative office building where public hearings are held. Prior to this the state, and the House committees rented or squatted in various spaces around the city of Concord because there were very few spaces for a growing state legislature within the Statehouse. Speaker Roberts credits Peterborough icon Rob Trowbridge, among others with the vision to make it all possible.
Yet while George Roberts is proud of the "LOB", he is most proud of the ways in which he worked to bring women into the mainstream of leadership in the House, a tradition continued by John Tucker.
Roberts was also convinced that creating civility among the political parties was often a matter of small things; like seating. He alternated R & D members so that each had two people from the opposite party on their left and right on the theory that if they saw the humanity in members of the other party they would be more civil even when they disagreed.
Moving to an electronic roll-call voting system reduced the time required for a roll-call vote from 45-60 minutes to 3 minutes or so and cooled down a lot of tempers as well as created greater transparency.
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| Spring's Dance of Form |
Former House Speaker George Roberts
Portrait Dedication
A portrait of former NH House Speaker George B. Roberts, Jr., R-Gilmanton, was unveiled during ceremonies at the Legislative Office building across from the State House on October 25, 2019. Among those present were Gov- ernor Chris Sununu, Lee Marden, chair of Friends of George Roberts, sponsor of the portrait by Stoddard artist Richard Whitney, many friends, former and current legislators and staff, including past speakers, and family. As Speaker (1975-1980) and before, Roberts was the key figure in rescuing the building, the former US Federal Courthouse and Post Office, from demolition and the space becoming a municipal parking in the early 1970s. Roberts directed the transformation of the building into an elegant facility housing legislative hearing rooms and offices. The painting now hangs in the building's lobby, christened "George B. Roberts Hall" by legislation passed in the 2016 session.
Legislator, House Majority Leader and Speaker of the House 1975-1980
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