Protect our Freedoms
Live Free or Die!
Those words have defined New Hampshire since General John Stark – NH’s native son hero of the American Revolution - first spoke them in 1809.
Granite Staters take great pride in the freedoms we enjoy. As a state – and as a country - we have made tremendous strides forward in our nearly 250-year journey to create a “more perfect union.”
Lately, however some of the freedoms we most cherish have been under attack.
Freedom to Know Our Children Will Be Safe at School
Let’s start with the freedom to be safe; more specifically the freedom to know that when your child or grandchild leaves for school in the morning, they will come home in the afternoon.
In 2022, Governor Sununu signed a bill (HB 1178) passed by Republicans that prohibits state, county and local law enforcement from enforcing or cooperating with any federal law, rule, regulation, or executive order that is inconsistent with any New Hampshire law regarding the regulation of firearms.
The Gun Free School Zones Act is a federal law which makes it unlawful to possess a firearm within 1000 feet of a school. However, since New Hampshire has no state laws outlawing the use of firearms on school grounds, the bill signed by Governor Sununu prevents our local police from enforcing that federal law, putting our children and grandchildren at great risk.
While we have had no school shooting in New Hampshire, as the parents of students in Sandy Hook, Connecticut; Parkland, Florida; and Uvalde, Texas can attest, it’s not a question of if, but when.
Freedom to Learn and Think For Ourselves
Another freedom we enjoy and have always taken for granted is the right to check out a book, to help us learn and understand our history, expand our horizons, prepare ourselves for the future and to think critically.
It is ironic, that while Republicans in Concord have been UNWILLING to ban guns from our schools, they have been more than willing to ban BOOKS from our schools. Currently, local school boards have oversight of book complaints, which are often handled by school administrators under local school district policies. This bill would have given ANY INDIVIDUAL the right to appeal those decisions to the state board of education.
While parents have a responsibility to consider what is appropriate for their children, this bill was an attempt to give any SINGLE parent or individual the right to decide what they believe is appropriate for ALL children. Luckily, this bill was defeated by Democrats in the House of Representatives
Freedom to Vote
Perhaps the MOST IMPORTANT freedom we have is the right to vote.
When Benjamin Franklin was asked on the last day of the constitutional convention in 1787 whether our government was to be a republic or a monarchy, he replied: “A republic, if you can keep it.”
The way – the only way –we keep our republic and affect the change we want is if those of us who are eligible to do so get out there and VOTE. It’s the way we ensure that “we the people” get the government we want and are entitled to.
It’s important therefore that we do everything we can to make it as easy as possible for anyone who is eligible to vote to be able to register and to cast their ballot.
The Cost of Voting Index examines election laws and policies and calculates a single measure of the relative difficulty of voting for each state. Sadly, New Hampshire ranks 49th in the country; the only state where it is more difficult to vote is Mississippi; MISSISSIPPI!
So based on that poor ranking, you’d like to think we would be trying to pass legislation to make it easier to vote. Unfortunately, we are doing exactly the opposite, we are making it harder! Just this month, Governor Sununu signed a bill (HB 1569) introduced and pushed through the legislature by Republicans that requires voters to produce a photo ID on Election Day or be barred entirely from voting, thereby disenfranchising anyone who does not possess a valid driver’s license, passport or other acceptable photo ID, regardless of how many times they may have voted previously. It also makes it more difficult for first time voters to register.
Freedom to Prosper
We pride ourselves on our strong “Yankee Work Ethic”. Granite Staters are hard workers and want to provide for their families. Anyone who works 40 hours a week (or more) not only deserves to earn a living wage, but the opportunity to provide long term security for themselves and their family. That’s why it is so disappointing that our minimum wage is the lowest in New England; even West Virginia and Arkansas have a higher minimum wage than we do.
And that’s not even the worst of it.
In 2021, 11,000 New Hampshire residents (about 1% of the workforce) made minimum wage or less. BUT approximately 144,000 employees (21% of the workforce) made less than $15/hr.
Understand that if someone making $15/HR works 40 hours a week, 52 weeks a year, their gross pay for the year will be $31,200. Given the high price of housing and childcare in our state, let alone the lack of adequate public transportation and the reliance most people have on their automobile, it is no wonder that many individuals have to work more than one job, just to make ends meet.
A bill – that I supported – to gradually increase the minimum wage to $17 an hour by 2029 was defeated in the House of Representatives, 187 in favor to 192 opposed. Most Republicans opposed the bill.
In addition to keeping wages low, many Republicans in Concord have fought to make it harder for workers to organize.
It has become a “Rite of Passage” for nearly every new state legislator that one of the first votes they will cast is on a bill to make New Hampshire a so-called “Right to Work” state. Nearly every year since the 1980’s Republicans have introduced legislation to limit the ability of labor unions to organize and represent workers in our state. Luckily those measures have all been defeated.
There is no evidence to suggest that these so-called right-to-work laws benefit the employees they are supposed to protect. Quite the contrary. On average, workers in states that do not have right-to-work laws on the books are paid 3.2% MORE than workers with similar characteristics in right-to-work states, which translates to about $1,670 more per year for a full-time worker.
Freedom to Identify and Express Ourselves
My parents emigrated to the United States from The Netherlands in 1953. I’m proud of the fact that I can call myself a Dutch-American. Some of you may identify as Irish-American, or African-American or Arab-American and you no doubt just as proud of who you are as I am. Others of you may identify as someone who is gay, bi-sexual or trans; and here as well you have every right to be as proud of who you are as I am.
These descriptions are more than titles and they are certainly NOT an attempt to provoke or threaten anyone. They are simple statements of WHO WE ARE.
Not only should we ALL be able to identify who we are; but we should also be free to express ourselves as much – or as little – as we wish. There is nothing more fundamental to “Life, Liberty and Pursuit of Happiness” than that!
That is why it has been so disappointing that so many bills attacking transgender individuals – particularly – children have been introduced in the New Hampshire legislature.
New Hampshire is now rated as a moderate risk state; in the same category of states as Alaska, Georgia, Kentucky, North Carolina, South Dakota and Wyoming and the only such state in New England. These states have either passed one or two laws aimed at transgender adults or have enacted multiple laws targeting transgender youth or are advancing negative laws quickly.
Unfortunately, this year Republicans in the legislature passed and Governor Sununu signed law bills specifically targeting young people; barring trans girls from participating on girls’ sports teams (HB 1205) and requiring advance warning for classroom discussions of sexual orientation and gender identity (HB 1312).
We have had a law on the books (RSA 354-A:29) for some time now banning discrimination against anyone because of gender identity. We cannot - on the one hand - reject discrimination and then use the full force of the government to further threaten young people who are already marginalized, ostracized and challenged continually. We are better than that as a state.
Freedom to Have As Many Children As We Want
WeWhile the composition and look of families has changed over the years, taking care of our families and doing all that we can to see that they are safe and successful is something we all share.
Just as we should all have the right to love who we love and marry who we want, we should also have the right to decide if, when and/or how many children we wish to have. Women should have the right to decide whether to continue a pregnancy, particularly when there are medical complications.
As a result of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision, my daughter now has fewer rights than my wife did; the only time the Supreme Court has taken away a right. My wife and daughter are not second-class citizens, and they should have the same rights to make their own healthcare decisions as my son and I do.
New Hampshire is the only state in New England to not have the right of access to an abortion protected in state law and we continue to see threats to restrict further or ban those rights. Just this year the NH House of Representatives debated a bill to ban all abortions after 15 DAYS!.
I support codifying into New Hampshire law the guidelines established by the Supreme Court in the Roe vs. Wade decision:
In the first trimester, abortion may not be regulated by anyone besides a pregnant person and their doctor;
In the second trimester, a state may regulate abortion if such a regulation is “reasonably related to maternal health.”
Finally, in the third trimester, once a fetus is “viable”—in other words, can survive outside the womb—states may regulate or prohibit abortion altogether, except in cases where the act is medically necessary to save a life.
