The Culture Wars Have Come to New Hampshire

Legislation moving from the House to the Senate includes further expansion of the school voucher program, attacking health care via reproductive rights, outright discrimination toward gay and transgender communities, and eliminating any attempt at encouraging renewable energy, energy efficiency, and reducing carbon emissions, not to mention the common sense bill to reduce gun violence or blocking raising tipped workers’ wages.

To quote InDepthNH reporter Garry Rayno, “the culture wars have come to New Hampshire,” and says “much of what has been passed in the last three years is unpopular, some very unpopular with the general public if you read the polls.”

Party registration here is nearly evenly split among Democratic, Republican and undeclared voters, but a small group of New Hampshire residents who associate with the Free State Movement and other anti-government and anti-tax organizations have managed to move our state ever closer to a “Libertarian Shangri-La” to quote Rayno.

Those of us who believe that our service in the legislature, as school teachers, health care workers, law enforcement officers, or town, city and state officials is important and needed, will keep working hard to fight this tide of fundamentally changing the institutions and norms that we’ve lived by for our lifetimes.

I agree when Mr. Rayno says the media is complicit in stoking the rancor and division within our state and country today. When I hear this complaint I simply ask if one can be more specific. In other words, what media, which media, is there a source that one believes is creating this chaos and unrest? The misinformation, disinformation and outright lies that catch our collective attention is alarming, and I try to remind my friends and family members that we must process this “media” problem by understanding that our sources of information today are driven by commercial interests who just want to sell something to us. I want people to understand that the content is commercially driven, designed to grab our attention.

I understand we aren’t going to agree with each other on myriad issues but when a difference of opinion hurts our fellow citizens, makes us less safe, and creates a lack of faith and trust in established and cherished institutions we as individuals must work harder to gather the facts and form educated opinions. This is hard work and it’s not acceptable to relegate our thinking into soundbites that falsely and conveniently rationalize the divisiveness in our society.

A link to Mr. Rayno’s recent piece in InDepthNH is below and I believe it’s a must read. I thank him for his ability to articulate what is happening in NH today.

NH’s School Program Has Just Become More Expensive

The NH House voted to expand the NH school voucher program, thereby draining even more dollars from the general fund and resulting in both business and private property owners paying higher property taxes. Most of the families taking advantage of this subsidy were already enrolled in private or parochial schools and could afford a private education for their children. Within two years this program will cost business and private property owners $60 million dollars while providing no oversight or accountability.

NH House Legalizes Cannabis Without My Support

In a bi-partisan vote the NH House passed the legalization of Cannabis and once again I voted against this becoming law in the final division vote. Sometimes a division vote is used to provide anonymity for members of the House on controversial issues. The following is a statement released by our caucus, with which I don’t agree. I provide it here for information purposes only and repeat that this was not my preference.

I’ve been called by law enforcement agencies, health agencies and private citizens who agree that NH should not go down this road. In my opinion this is a community and individual health issue, and I don’t believe the tax revenue generated outweighs these. I am heartend that previous attempts to legalize cannabis have been killed by the Senate and the Governor and I expect that will occur again.

This bill will go to the House Ways and Means Committee, the committee on which I sit, to study the actual revenue this will generate for NH. In the past, our work has shown the revenue estimates are far below what the bill sponsors believe will occur.

A Win for Democrats in Overturning HB 430

While NH Democrats are a minority in the NH House by only a few votes, we were able to prevail on some key education and energy policy bills during our session on February 23, because for several hours in the afternoon we became the majority after many Republicans left for the day.

We were able to reconsider a tabled bill from the previous week that prevented students in private, religious or home school programs from accessing Education Freedom Account money for at least one year. Democrats were opposed to this bill because the Education Freedom Account (EFA) takes public tax dollars and helps pay the tuition for students in private programs and is a deliberate effort to continue to weaken public education in NH.

The program has been much more expensive than anticipated with Education Commissioner Frank Edelblut predicting the program costing about $3.2 million this biennium but to date has cost about $25 million, and he asked for $30 million in each of the two years of the next biennium. The Governor wants to appropriate $56 million from the Education Trust Fund over the next two years.

On Thursday February 23, 2023 this bill HB 430 was taken off the table by the Democrats and passed by a 176-169 vote. This bill now goes to the Finance Committee and will come back to the full house for another vote but there is no guarantee that it will pass again.

It is important to point out that showing up and doing our job is important and effective.

Affordable Health Care and Medicaid Expansion

Providing affordable health care to everyone in NH is a priority of mine, and the Democratic Party. We were fortunate to prevail on two bills that provide access to health care for young immigrant families and expand the length of Medicaid coverage for post-natal moms.

A Revenue Boost for Public Education

In a rare showing of bi-partisan unity, the NH House passed an increase in funding to public schools and public charter schools. The money will come from funds other that what is raised by local property taxes insuring that this increase is not “down shifted” to private property owners.

Education Funding Hits the Legislature

There will be continued discussions in the NH House and Senate about the unsustainable school voucher program and how New Hampshire has chosen to manage our Education Freedom Accounts (EFA’s). Here are updates on how we are faring so far.

Both of these issues are major concerns for how NH manages its education funding situation. There will be more legislation forthcoming and serious discussion in a closely divided NH House and a Senate that will likely go along with the decisions coming out of the House regarding this matter.

A Stronger New Hampshire

New Hampshire Democrats have a blueprint that includes supporting public education, health care, protecting long-held rights and freedoms, growing the economy and lowering the cost to live here in New Hampshire. These five priorities chart a course based upon our core principals and a committment to making New Hampshire stronger. Voters throughout the state validated this plan by growing our numbers in the NH House. These voters expect results and a committment to making NH stronger.

The 2023 New Hampshire Democrats Blueprint for a Stronger New Hampshire

The 2023 Property Tax Relief Act

NH House Democrats are bringing back a bill that directly affects property tax payers. For years Republicans have prioritized cutting the Business Profits and Business Enterprise taxes, while paying no attention to the needs of property tax payers and creating a housing crisis and a labor shortage. While businesses have enjoyed paying a few less dollars in business taxes, these same businesses are punished by the same increase in property taxes that homeowners face.

House Bill 50 is just one part of providing some property tax relief. It’s designed to restore the state’s contribution toward municipal retirement benefits. It was instituted last year, but was amended to make it a one-time relief package. The 2023 version makes that a permanent contribution.

With state revenues coming in at $200 million over budget, the state can afford to get started on helping homeowners get a break on their property taxes.

New Hampshire Democrats Have a Plan

House Democrats unveiled their Blueprint For a Stronger New Hampshire, a plan detailing the caucus’s legislative priorities for the 2023-2024 biennium.

After thousands of conversations on our neighbors’ doorsteps last fall, we’ve heard the call from our communities, and stand ready to address their concerns. Across the state, our neighbors are struggling to afford the high cost of energy, rent, and childcare, with many working multiple jobs to make ends meet.

All the while, we know that Republicans have vowed to limit the reproductive freedom of Granite Staters, give big corporations a tax cut for the 10th time in less than a decade, continue to siphon tax dollars for private schools, and oppose real property tax relief for our municipalities.

With our Democratic blueprint as a guide for our legislative work, we know that we can lower costs for Granite State households, grow our economy, protect individual rights and freedoms, maintain healthy and safe communities, and properly fund our public schools for a stronger New Hampshire.”