Here in New Hampshire, MAGA Republicans have had complete control of the Governor’s office, Executive Council, New Hampshire Senate, and New Hampshire House of Representatives since 2020.
Instead of focusing on the challenges facing Granite Staters like rising costs, higher taxes, and attacks on our freedoms, they have focused on a radical agenda. This includes their enactment of a restrictive abortion ban and attempts to pass an even more radical 15-day abortion ban, their party-line vote for a bill to ban books in New Hampshire schools, which received the support of every Republican in the New Hampshire Senate, and tax cuts that disproportionately favor the ultra-wealthy while failing to give New Hampshire working families a tax break.
As Granite Staters prepare to cast their votes on November 5, let’s take a closer look at these efforts by MAGA NH Republicans to take us down the wrong path:
Attacks on Women’s Rights
A pair of abortion bans, most notably the infamous 15-day abortion ban sponsored by a close political ally of Kelly Ayotte – dominated headlines across the nation earlier this year at the start of the legislative session. Leading the effort was North Country State Senator Carrie Gendreau in the upper chamber, who is a key ally of Kelly Ayotte. Ayotte announced Gendreau’s support at the launch of her campaign for Governor, and the two later hit the campaign trail together.
Ayotte’s connection to the proposed 15-day ban represents yet another check on her anti-abortion track record.Throughout her campaign, Ayotte has sought to cover up her past actions against women’s reproductive care, including when she released a video this summer claiming that those who criticized her stance were simply “politicizing” her record.
However, this video conveniently neglects to mention her legislative record in the U.S. Senate, where in 2014, she demanded a vote on legislation that would have enacted a national abortion ban. It also excludes her vote in favor of the Blunt amendment, which would have allowed insurers and employers to deny coverage of IVF treatments, birth control, and more.
Ayotte’s hypocrisy only serves to emphasize that she, like the majority of the NHGOP, is more interested in her personal political goals than listening to the concerns and needs of Granite Staters, and she isn’t afraid to bend the truth to achieve it.
The continued hypocrisy from the NHGOP only serves as further proof that Granite Staters can’t trust the NHGOP or candidates like Kelly Ayotte with their reproductive freedoms. As New Hampshire is the only state in New England that does not proactively protect abortion rights and with the lack of protections at the national level, the threat of further reproductive health care restrictions looms large.
Raising Costs for Granite Staters
Granite Staters deserve to have an economy that rewards hard work and honors hardworking people, where big corporations pay their fair share and the ultra-rich can't bend the rules to get richer And while NH Republicans failed to act to drive down costs, they have been incredibly active in increasing the tax burden on hardworking Granite Staters.
According to the NH Fiscal Policy Institute, over the last 10 years, NH Republicans have cut taxes for the wealthy and big corporations by almost $500 million. Instead of prioritizing property tax cuts for hardworking Granite Staters, NH Republicans have increased the tax burden on them.
For too many Granite Staters, rising housing prices have priced them out of the market. New Hampshire continues to face an unprecedented affordable housing crisis, with home affordability hitting an all time low this June. Housing prices across our state continue to skyrocket, as availability of rental housing remains below 1%.
The lack of housing availability and affordability is not helped by the fact that New Hampshire has the lowest minimum wage in New England, which already has one of the highest costs of living in the country. According to a report from the non-partisan New Hampshire Fiscal Policy Institute (NHFPI), in 2021, 47% of households in New Hampshire were paying more than 30% of their income on rent and utilities. These price points are pushing Granite Staters to their financial breaking points.
We have seen the impacts on our economy when Republicans control the State House. With increasing costs of living for Granite Staters, it is critical that we elect leaders who recognize and understand the daily worries of our hardworking families and ensure that we build a state where our children and grandchildren can afford to live and thrive when they are grown.
Jeopardizing Our Children’s Education
Instead of supporting policies to strengthen our public schools, Republicans in the State House brought forward multiple bills aimed at diverting taxpayer money away from public schools toward selective private and religious schools including HB1665, HB1561, and HB1634.
All three would have increased the amount of taxpayer money being diverted away from public schools toward exclusive private or religious schools. This voucher program operated by Frank Edelblut is spending far more than projected and has drawn concern from mayors and school board members across the state. Nearly 75% of students participating in the program were already either homeschooled or not attending public schools previously, according to New Hampshire Bulletin. In order to make up for the loss in state funding as a result of this program, public school districts may have to resort to raising local property taxes to continue to fund non negotiable expenses such as teacher salaries, overhead costs, and even buses. The result of this widely unpopular program is a drain on public education funding of $4,000 and $5,000 per pupil and increased property taxes for Granite Staters all in order to fund the private or religious education of students who were never enrolled in public schools to begin with.
Despite the widespread unpopularity of Edulbut and his voucher program, Kelly Ayotte has spoken in favor of the program and refused to commit to firing Edulbut if elected.
This reckless scheme to weaken public schools is bad news for students. That it has the support of Betsy DeVos, Frank Edelblut and Kelly Ayotte, should tell you exactly how wrong it is for New Hampshire.
Granite Post’s Voter Guide is Now Live!
For the last 9 months, the Granite Post has been delivering factual, relevant, pro-democracy, local news to New Hampshire. Just in time for the fall election season, Granite Post has launched their Voter Guide, which will provide information on how to register and to vote, as well as information on the candidates in key races across the state. Please make sure you check out the Voter Guide before you head to the polls! And if you haven’t signed up for Granite Post newsletter, please sign-up here. They are also on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter/X, and TikTok.
Thank you,
Ryan Mahoney
Executive Director