The Governor and Executive Council form of government is unique to the state of New Hampshire. New Hampshire's Governor and Executive Council, elected by the people, has become the most Representative form of executive government in the nation, or elsewhere in the world. All state business, as ordered and ordained by the Legislature, is voted on in public, and no other state enjoys such open accountability between its Executive Department and its citizenry. No other state in the nation has a two-part executive branch as accountable to its citizens as New Hampshire with its Council's 3-2 veto power.

The New Hampshire form of government holds the distinction of being the first and the last of its kind in the nation. This sharing of executive authority as a curb on autocracy now continues in full force only in the Granite State. It is a vestige of the Colonial era and a public reminder of the continuing indication of the basic distrust Granite State citizens have for dictatorial government.

The five Councilors are elected separately from the Governor, though their terms are for the same two years. Each Councilor represents one fifth of the state population, which was 1,235,786 in the 2000 census.

The Executive Council, more commonly known as the Governor's Council, has the authority and responsibility along with the Governor to administer the affairs of the state as defined in the New Hampshire Constitution, the New Hampshire statutes, the advisory opinions of the New Hampshire Supreme Court and the Attorney General.

All state departments and agencies must seek approval of receipts and expenditures of state and federal funds, budgetary transfers within the departments and all contracts with a value of $5,000 or more. The Executive Council approves the spending of a major portion of the billions of dollars that are appropriated annually by the legislature.

Executive Councilors make certain those persons they appoint to state government, whether Commissioners, Department heads, or regulatory board members, are responsible to the citizens of New Hampshire and not to special interests.

The Executive Council must approve the appointments of judges, notaries public, and justices of the peace as well as all requests for pardons.

More importantly, Executive Councilors are the constituents' eyes and ears in Concord. They ensure the executive branch of state government is fiscally responsible and above reproach by conducting all meetings in public with the press present.

richmond

peterborough

new ipswich

new boston

nashua

mont vernon

milford