LTE In the Suncook Sun:
Having read recent letters regarding the special election for state representative I needed to respond. The contest is between former state representative Maureen Mann of Deerfield and a newcomer, Northwood’s Yvonne Dean-Bailey, a soon to be full-time student at UNH.
The most recent letter by Ms. Dean-Bailey talks about ‘the
success of the NH House passed budget’. One of the successes she claims is that
there are no new taxes or fees imposed at the state level. However, she fails
to mention that the House passed budget and related bills downshifts new taxes
and expenses onto local property taxpayers. NH already has the third highest
property tax rate in the country behind New Jersey and Illinois. Putting NH on
the road to being #1 in property taxes should not be considered a successful
budget.
The House passed budget makes sweeping cuts to state
agencies that provide services to the elderly, disabled, the homeless, and the
working poor. Their passed budget also discontinues New Hampshire’s expansion
of Medicaid where 37,000 people will no longer have affordable access to
healthcare. One would think that cutting these programs that are a lifeline for
so many of our vulnerable citizens would be a difficult decision to make. Not
so for the majority of House Republicans in Concord.
In a recent order issued by the NH Public Utilities
Commission on April 17, it mentions that ‘the average retail price of
electricity in New England is the highest in the continental US’. The House
Republications voted to raid the dedicated funds which were earmarked for
renewable energy projects for $50 million. They also voted to empty the state’s
rainy day fund for $10 million. These actions were ill-conceived and
short-sighted. Not considered successful by any means.
Please vote for Maureen Mann, a voice of
reason.
Jim Hadley
Northwood
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