The right-to-work fight is over for this year, but as Yogi Berra once said: “It ain’t over ‘till it’s over.”

When the dust settled on Wednesday’s House session and most of the lawmakers were heading home until January, the House leadership had a rather heated meeting about one of its top priorities going off the rails. Thirty-nine Republicans joined 100 Democrats to sustain Gov. John Lynch’s veto of House Bill 474, which would have prohibited unions from collecting fees from non-members for negotiating and enforcing labor contracts.

Among the 39 Republicans voting to back the veto were three assistant majority whips — the folks in charge of lining up the Republican votes on any given bill — and a House committee chairman.

Fish and Game Committee Chairman Gary Hopper of Weare said he voted for the override because “I don’t buy the arguments for right-to-work as a whole, although I’ve never been in a union. I’m also of the fundamental belief as Ben Franklin said, ‘If all men were gentlemen, there would be no need for government.’ If all employers were gentlemen, there would be no need for unions.”

The leadership made quite clear several months ago that if he voted to sustain the governor’s veto, they would view it as his defacto resignation as committee chair, Hopper noted, and it was.

He said he was disappointed and upset about losing the chairmanship, “but do I understand why? Yes I do. Do I agree with the speaker 95 percent of the time? Yes I do. Am I glad Bill O’Brien’s speaker? Yes I am. Right-to-work was so important to him. I know that; it’s just politics, that’s all.”

In the leadership meeting, House Majority Leader D.J. Bettencourt asked for the resignations of the three assistant whips: longtime House member and former committee Chairman David Welch of Kingston; former Police Chief John Tholl of Whitefield; and International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers member Michael McCarthy of Nashua.

“When I asked for their resignations, I also told them I’d reserve the right to not accept them,” Bettencourt said.

All three turned in their resignations, but the next day, Bettencourt had a change of heart and sent them a letter saying: “As you know, it was a clear public position of House Republican leadership that New Hampshire becoming a Right-to-Work state was a critical tool to job creation. . . . As such I am deeply disappointed in your decision to vote against the vast majority of your Republican colleagues (63%). It is important that you realized that in exchange for responsibility and authority that comes with leadership some independence is sacrificed.”

Bettencourt continued: “Your dissent was respectful and your leadership efforts outside of this vote had been exemplary. Most importantly, I am loathed to declare that a single issue defines what it means to be a ‘good’ Republican. Therefore, while I appreciate your offer to resign, I decline your resignation and would respectfully request that you remain in leadership should you choose to continue in your role.”

Welch said he believed asking for the three resignations was “a knee-jerk reaction’’ from someone in the leadership office.

“I did submit my resignation (Thursday morning), and it was not accepted, so I guess I am OK,” Welch said. “I support everything else, but I do not support (right-to-work) because I just don’t believe in it. And a lot of folks in town agreed with my vote.”

McCarthy said he told leaders when they asked him to join the team that he could not support right-to-work. If that would be a problem, he told them, they should ask someone else. He was told it would not be a problem.

“Obviously, the circumstances changed,” McCarthy said. “As it sits now, it feels like a reprisal rather than serving a constructive purpose.”

O’Brien isn’t giving up. A new right-to-work bill has been filed and will come before the Legislature next year, but whether any votes change is another issue in an election year.

And the Republican Liberty Caucus sent out a news release saying the right-to-work vote would be a litmus test in the 2012 election.

The group said it would not endorse or help any candidate who voted against the bill or to sustain the veto and pledged to actively support primary opponents of those who did.

And O’Brien may also try to find primary opponents more to his liking for many of the Republicans who voted against him on the issue.

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ONE MORE TIME: Another issue that “ain’t over till it’s over” is a constitutional amendment to give lawmakers a greater say in education and remove some of the court’s control.

Last week, House leadership got its wish: Lynch’s proposed constitutional amendment was soundly defeated. Democrats called the leadership’s maneuvering a “political ploy,” but Bettencourt said it was to break the log jam.

A coalition of Democrats and Republicans took it a step further, however, and killed the Senate’s constitutional amendment, which was tabled in the House.

The Senate still has the House’s constitutional amendment, which means something may still be worked out among O’Brien, Lynch and Senate President Peter Bragdon.

Bettencourt wrote Lynch a letter saying House leadership really does hope to reach a bipartisan agreement.

He wrote: “Republican leadership in the House remains committed to accomplish a constitutional amendment on education funding as evidenced by the fact that we stood with you yesterday in support of your proposed legislation.”

Lynch may not quite believe that, but all know this is when the stars are aligned to put an amendment before voters, with large Republicans majorities in the House and Senate and a governor favoring an amendment. Just what the language is and how much the courts remain involved continue to be the sticking points.

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THIS MIGHT BE IT: When Manchester Rep. Will Infantine spoke in support of overriding Lynch’s veto of the right-to-work bill Wednesday, he let it be known this might be his final term in the House.

Infantine said Friday that if the sign-up period were today, he wouldn’t run again.

“At this point, it’s been 10 years. It could be a career. I’ve had a good time, I’ve learned a lot and I would miss it terribly if I left,” Infantine said. But he noted that over Thanksgiving weekend he realized one of his children would be going to college in six years, and he wanted to spend time with her before she went.

He said he tells people he has done his civic duty spending 10 years in the legislature. He said he may decide to run again, but he may not.

“As they say in politics, one week is a lifetime,” Infantine said.

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BRACING FOR THE FALLOUT: The New Hampshire House and Senate budget writing committees will host a two-day Economic Summit Dec. 13 and 15 in Rooms 210-211 of the Legislative Office Building.

Committee members will hear from local and national economists on the current economic state of New Hampshire and the nation and on economic forecasts.

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BACK AGAIN: This is my first “Under the State House Dome” in years. It is an honor and privilege to be taking over “The Dome” from past writers Tom Fahey, John Toole, Donn Tibbetts and D. Frank O’Neil.

Garry Rayno’s State House Dome column will appear every week in the New Hampshire Sunday News. Email him at grayno@unionleader.com.