The Claremont school district has been aware since earlier this year that they faced imminent financial difficulty. According to SAU #6, schools were scheduled to open Aug. 28th, but with a warning that the opening could still be delayed or that schools may close if the district cannot make their financial obligations, one being payroll.

In the meantime, local and state officials continue to work towards understanding the full extent of the district’s financial problems. Gov. Kelly Ayotte called the multimillion-dollar deficit for Claremont schools "unacceptable" and criticized local officials. The governor recently stated: "This is exactly why the Dept. of Education is working so closely right now with Claremont on this situation, because we need to make sure that the kids can start school. And this is unacceptable, that local mismanagement has happened. And so, we're working with them through the Dept. of Education to do what the state can do."

What the state can do. 

Well, for starters how about complying with yet another court order to fairly fund the public school system? How about restoring the Interest and Dividends Tax which brought in revenue for fiscal year 2024 at $184.3 million? And the hated school vouchers that will cost millions of taxpayer dollars rerouted from public schools to private, religious schools or homeschool families. And we haven’t even touched upon what the governor and the Republican majority has done to the University System of New Hampshire with that $35 million cut in the budget. 

But that is what the state can do. For starters . . .

Rep. Michael Cahill D-Newmarket, recently gave a statement pertaining to the woes of Claremont, “You may be weary of the School Building Aid issue, but Claremont's Stevens High School was the first victim of the moratorium on funding the program that since the 40's had helped build and renovate public schools.

Claremont's Stevens High School renovation funding is another factor in this current issue. The high school was placed on probation in 2012, two years after voters defeated a proposal for a $23 million renovation project for the school. The bond article failed by 1 vote, but there would have been 60% ($13.8M) in state funding because this was prior to the moratorium on School Building Aid.

A smaller bond was approved by voters in 2013, and the $12.6 million renovation was completed in the spring of 2015. The high school building had not had a major renovation for about 50 years. The community rallied around the project because they knew the school’s accreditation hinged on it.

Had the voters passed the $23M, they would have paid their $9.2M share which is $3.4 less than the $12.6 they took on with $0.00 in state funding.

HB366 is scheduled for a work session on September 9th. This is my most recent effort to recoup for each school project denied funding due to the moratorium 50% of the state grant they should have received. For Claremont's Stevens High School that would be $3,780,000 a sum that could be found if Fiscal wanted to do so.

No doubt the $9.2M the state failed to contribute had long lasting impact on property taxpayers. They had to cover the entire $12.6M plus interest.”

In 2011, legislators placed a moratorium on school building aid funding, putting a stop to all future building projects statewide until 2013, except for emergency funding authorized by legislators on a case-by-case basis. The majority party? Republicans.

In 2017, the Republican majority killed a bill that would have lifted the school building aid. To this day the moratorium has never been lifted. The building aid program issues payments on old awards that were approved before 2011, with a total balance of about $260 million. The state is scheduled to make payments until 2041.

There is only so much burden the average property owner can withstand. The courts have repeatedly ruled, fix the funding formula. Will the governor and her Republican majority continue to ignore the rulings?

Claremont.

Again.

The Claremont School District was the lead plaintiff in the historic case that resulted in the NH Supreme Court’s recognition of a constitutional right to a state-funded quality education and a finding that NH’s system of funding schools was unconstitutional. Claremont undertook the litigation after losing its high school’s accreditation in 1989. I was the lead lawyer representing Claremont.

Those in power in Concord will use Claremont’s desperate financial circumstances as an excuse to further undermine public education but NH has never complied with the principles laid down by the Supreme Court and is largely the cause of Claremont’s problem.

Questions swirled at the Claremont School Board meeting on August 20th which was made more complicated by last minute curve balls. The board planned to share updated financials and provide the community with the board’s recovery plan but couldn’t because up-to-date financial information wasn’t available from the public auditor.

Would the school district open schools this week? If Claremont schools open on time, would they remain open for more than a month or two? What cuts would be made to balance the district’s budget? What should employees expect? What do seniors tell colleges? Would there be fall sports? How did this happen? Who’s to blame?

Five hundred people showed up expecting answers.

Audits have only recently been completed through 2022. Intervening years must be completed before tackling the audit for 2024-2025. Caitlin Davis, the new commissioner of education, weighed in with a letter offering only moral support. The Commissioner and Governor Kelly Ayotte made it clear that the Claremont School District is on its own financially. Not a cent for Claremont but tens of millions for vouchers for the wealthiest families in the state.

What happened?

It appears that expenses and liabilities were not properly accounted for in the 2019 to 2022 timeframe. This resulted in the Claremont School Board reporting to the state that it had a budget surplus that it did not have. The state then lowered Claremont’s local education property tax rates reducing revenues. Claremont relied on future local appropriations to pay last year’s bills until the music stopped.

The Claremont superintendent and business manager were placed on paid leave pending further investigation but neither administrator was in place when the erroneous surpluses were reported. Board members and the auditor publicly claim the business manager refused to cooperate with the audit process but she has been out on a medical leave for most of the summer after surgery.

A Valley News article from May indicates that the school board knew of the problem at least as early as May 21 when the business manager publicly advised the board the phantom surpluses caused deficits of $765,000 in 2020 and $1.27 million in 2021.

Living Paycheck to Paycheck

How did a two million dollar error four or five years ago turn into a catastrophic cash flow problem today when Claremont’s annual school budget is about $40 million? Claremont being off by 5 percent over five years is not good but how is this a catastrophe that might result in 1600 Claremont children not having a public school to attend?

The problem can only be understood in the context of Claremont’s overall school funding challenges caused by decades of constitutionally deficient funding by the state, a point raised by Claremont businessman Andy Lafreniere at the school board’s August 25th meeting. Lafreniere colorfully referred to Claremont’s structural problem as a “turd sandwich” and expressed his deep concern that the state refused to help yet spent millions of dollars defending an inequitable school funding system. He warned that Claremont is likely only the first school district to fail.

Think of Claremont like a working class family living paycheck to paycheck and mum and dad get COVID. They can’t pay rent and are subject to eviction so they miss a couple of car payments and they lose their means of transportation which makes getting to work nearly impossible. Ultimately, the family spirals to bankruptcy. The Claremont School District is the family living paycheck to paycheck.

Claremont’s School Finances in Context

Here's a chart that shows Claremont’s difficult financial circumstances.

Start with the local education tax rates in Column 2. Claremont’s local property taxes for education were almost twice the state average except for the 2022-23 tax year. That year, Claremont’s local property taxes for education were only 56 percent more than the state average. This likely was the year when the erroneous surpluses hit home.

Why are Claremont’s school taxes so high? Look at Columns 5 and 6. Claremont has 40 percent of the property wealth of the average community in NH. In a school funding system like NH’s that depends almost exclusively on local property wealth, not having local property wealth means your district can never keep up. There are ways to fix this, but NH’s elected leaders, Republicans and Democrats, have avoided doing so for the last thirty years.

The problem is also not related to Claremont’s spending levels. Look at Columns 7 and 8. Claremont spends 6 percent higher than the state average cost per pupil but Claremont teachers are paid much less than the state average; $57,714 versus $69,532. Claremont’s costs are higher than average because it has a higher proportion of kids eligible for expensive special ed services than the average NH school district and because 45 percent of Claremont’s school children live in poverty and cost more to educate.

1.        2.           3.       4.           5.          6.        7.         8.

Fiscal  Clarem.  State  Number  Clarem.  State  Clarem.  State

Year     Tax         Tax   Students Eq Val   Eq Val  Cost      Cost

23-24  $14.15   $7.31  1513     $870,000  $2,100,000    $23,288       
                                                                                     $21,545

22-23  $11.73   $7.50  1615     $840,000   $1,900,000   $21,590 
                                                                                     $20,323

21-22  $15.53   $8.30  1628     $630,000   $1,600,000   $19,789 
                                                                                     $19,400

20-21  $18.66   $9.63  1609     $520,000   $1,300,000   $20,452 
                                                                                     $18,434

19-20  $19.64   $10.08 1681    $470,000   $1,200,000   $17,084 
                                                                                     $16,824

Claremont compared to the state, average over five years:

Tax Rates: 185.40%, Property Value per Pupil: 40.6%, Cost per Pupil: 105.80%

Who is responsible for fixing this problem?

The NH Supreme Court wrote in Claremont II (1997):

“We recognize that local control plays a valuable role in public education; however, the State cannot use local control as a justification for allowing the existence of educational services below the level of constitutional adequacy. The responsibility for ensuring the provision of an adequate public education and an adequate level of resources for all students in New Hampshire lies with the State.”

As a matter of NH constitutional law, if Claremont closes schools or slashes services to stay afloat, the state of NH must ensure the school system provides a basic quality education and the state must pay for it.

Also, RSA 186:5 is the statute that created the state board of education in 1919. It provides:

“The state board shall have the same powers of management, supervision, and direction over all public schools in this state as the directors of a business corporation have over its business, except as otherwise limited by law . . . .”

The board of directors of a business would be considered derelict and subject to suit by shareholders if it sat idly by as the business it supervised failed.

What should be done?

The cavalry is not coming. Claremont plans to triage its problems with a loan from the local Claremont Savings Bank while the school district slashes all possible expenses. Nineteen teachers will not be hired. There will be $1.4 million cuts to custodial, secretarial, and para-professional staff. $1.2 million will be “saved” by bringing children who received special ed services out of district back into the district; and they’ll staff up and find facilities to do this virtually over night. The school district will also cut all extra curricular activities, including sports, and try to locally fundraise to bring these programs back.

Claremont is not going to sue the state to force compliance with court orders to increase state funding because they appreciate the state’s technical help. Claremont won’t go into bankruptcy because the state blocked that effort.

The board expects to realize significant savings from terminations and restructuring of programs. This means class sizes will increase and multi-grade classrooms will be introduced. The district, like Franklin before it, will be forced to assign students to multiple study halls each day for lack of faculty. Let’s be honest, Claremont is already in the bottom 25 percent on all assessment scores. The proposed cuts aren’t likely to improve student outcomes.

Residents also cannot afford the $2.50 tax hike necessary to repay the two million dollars lent to them by Claremont Savings Bank. Local businesses and concerned alumni will undoubtedly help but you can’t discharge an important government function like educating children with a Go-Fund-Me page. Claremont should not have to do so in the 9th wealthiest state in the nation.

Claremont’s failure is our collective failure.

Governor Ayotte should call the legislature back into session to begin the difficult process of crafting a sustainable funding plan for NH’s schools that complies with recent court orders. The state should also require school districts to be audited annually.

One final point, shame on Claremont voters if they vote for any politician who doesn’t come with a check and a plan to sustainably fix NH’s school funding problem.

Contribute to Claremont by sending a check to the Claremont School District, 165 Broad Street, Claremont, NH 03743.

Mr. Volinsky was the lead lawyer in the Claremont School Funding case for 20 years. He has also written the book “The Last Bake Sale. The fight for fair school funding.”  His next book talk will be at the Manchester Public Library at noon on Saturday, Sept. 6th.

On Sun. Aug. 31st, the Monadnock Overdose Awareness Day Candlelight Vigil will be held at 7:30 pm in Keene’s Central Square. This event is being held in honor of International Overdose Awareness Day which was first started in 2001 by Sally J. Finn at the Salvation Army in St. Kilda, Melbourne, Australia. The movement gained momentum quickly and became an important global campaign. Their goal is to educate people on the risks of overdose, provide support for those affected, and advocate for better policies to address substance misuse.

Bring a photo, a story, your grief and your hope. Join others in a safe space, honoring the loved ones lost while shining a light for those who are continually supported.

On Mon. Sept. 1st, again on Central Square in Keene from 12:00-2:00 pm, come participate in a National Labor Day Rally. We all know what’s going on from Washington, DC to Concord, the rights and futures of workers are under attack:

• Funding cuts to the VA, Medicaid, and other important services
• A four trillion-dollar tax cut for billionaires (another one!)
• Rising healthcare costs
• Skyrocketing rent and home prices (still!)
• Inflation and unpredictable tariffs (which are taxes on us!)
• An increasingly difficult job market
• Rising child care costs
• Attacks on labor rights and unions
• Wage inequality

In addition to the Keene event, similar protests will be held in Walpole from 1:00 to 3:00 and in Concord from 12:00 to 4:00.

Let’s recognize this Labor Day by showing solidarity with everyone who struggles to make ends meet, everyone concerned about what kind of country will be left for our children and grandchildren and everyone who sees how our political system has become corrupted and perverted by the endless greed of a handful of billionaires.

There are 800 billionaires in America worth $7 TRILLION!! Food and rent are up 30% and 25% of Americans are using buy now, pay later means to purchase groceries. Eight hundred billionaires refusing to pay their fair share!

We can stand together and fight back. The power and solidarity of working people has been the greatest force for economic justice in history. We did it before, we can do it again. Join us on Sept. 1st and bring your signs, your voices, and your strength.

“Labor Day symbolizes our determination to achieve an economic freedom for the average man, which will give his political freedom reality.” - Franklin D. Roosevelt

The New Hampshire State Constitution mandates that every child in the state has access to an adequate education. With over 30 years of litigation on this topic, finally in 2023 Superior Court Judge David Ruoff ruled in favor of the plaintiffs who claimed NH failed to meet that obligation. He ruled the state increase its education spending from $4,100 per student to at least $7,356.01.

In June, 2024, then gubernatorial candidate Kelly Ayotte (R-Nashua) took part in a candidate forum stating she hoped the US Supreme Court would reverse Ruoff’s decision. Claiming, “When it comes to education funding, I personally think that that Superior Court decision was wrong. I’m glad that the governor (Sununu) has appealed that to the Supreme Court.”

Ayotte’s long-held opposition to school funding goes back to when she was in the US Senate from 2011 to 2017 (if not before) and includes opposing funding higher education. In 2012 and 2015, she supported a congressional budget which would have cut Pell Grant funding. If passed, then one million college students would not have been able to access that federal financial funding. In both years, those efforts failed.

Instead, Ayotte has long been in support of school “choice” policies that hurt public school funding. Advocates of school choice usually support public funds following a student to whichever school they attend, including private and/or religious schools. This generally happens through vouchers that covers a portion of a private school tuition. 

In 2021, Ayotte was in support of the NH legislature’s approval of a voucher program known as Education Freedom Accounts (EFAs). These school vouchers, initially with an income cap, allowed families the use of state funds for private schools, homeschooling, online courses, and tutoring. It wasn’t long before EFAs quickly became controversial due to a continuous lack of accountability concerning their use. This past June, Gov. Ayotte signed into law a bill eliminating the income cap for families looking to avail themselves of public monies for private schools. A direct violation of the NH Constitution’s Article 83. A veritable free-for-all at the expense of property owners, with still no accountability.

Sharon Osborne (no relation to the late Ozzy) is the director and an instructor at Latitude Learning Resources, a nonprofit in Derry offering cross-curricular classes for homeschoolers and other students. “Cross-curricular” learning involves more than one area of learning. For example, art and math might be blended together, or science and vocabulary. 

Sharon is very happy to receive the school vouchers.

Now where does the potential conflict come in?

Joseph Daley is a math teacher at St. Christopher Academy, a Catholic school in Nashua. Joseph Daley is the husband of Gov. Ayotte.

Sharon Osborne is the wife of Free Stater and Republican Majority Leader Jason Osborne.

Conflict? Oh, surely not . . .

Fun fact: there are over 800 educational programs approved to receive school vouchers. For example, the St. Benedict Center, a regular fixture on the Southern Poverty Law Center’s Hate Map and faux Catholic group in Richmond, NH, are more than happy to feed at the voucher trough. 

Who needs accountability?

Did you know New Hampshire ranked dead last out of the 50 states in the 2022 Cost of Voting Index? Yup. The index compares 10 areas of voting laws and the personal costs related with the time and effort it takes to cast a ballot. We also have no early voting or on-line registration. And thanks to further voter suppression legislation that was passed by extremists earlier this year, our ranking is kept safe and secure! 

National Voter Registration Day, Sept. 16th, is non-partisan and has helped more than 6 million Americans register to vote! No matter what party you support or what issues are important to you, National Voter Registration Day is the perfect time to get registered to vote or assist others to do so. 

This fall these NH cities will hold elections: Berlin, Claremont, Concord, Dover, Franklin, Keene, Laconia, Manchester, Nashua, Portsmouth, Rochester, and Somersworth. 

• Primaries: Laconia (Sept. 9), Manchester (Sept. 16) and Keene (Oct. 7)
• General election: Nov. 4 in all cities except Franklin, which votes Oct. 7.

On Sept. 30th, new restrictions on both absentee voter registration and absentee ballot use go into effect. Don’t be caught unawares when you go out to vote or register to do so. 

These are the documents you’ll need to register to vote.
Unsure of your current registration status? Click here to check. 

In today’s political climate, NH voters are feeling the weight of a political system that doesn’t seem to be working for them. Property taxes keep rising. Public schools are being defunded. Decisions made in Concord often feel disconnected from the day-to-day lives of Granite Staters. In this environment, political listening sessions aren’t just helpful, they’re absolutely necessary.

Voter Frustration Is Real and Growing

NH residents are proud of our independence and civic engagement. We show up at town meetings, speak our minds, and value accountability. But over the past few years, that faith and trust has eroded. Voters have lost trust in their elected officials and we have given them every right to be frustrated. Many voters, especially in smaller towns and rural areas, feel ignored by state leaders.

Property taxes have gone through the roof while the state refuses to adequately fund public education. The Republican-backed school voucher program has drained millions of dollars from our local school districts, putting more of the burden on homeowners to fund basic services throughout the state.

Meanwhile, decisions about energy policy, housing, and healthcare are being made with little input from the people they affect most. It’s no wonder many voters are frustrated, disengaged, or downright angry.

We reps, at the state level, are trying to fix that.

On February 23rd, I sent out an email to our Democratic caucus.

“Have you been paying attention to the turnouts at town halls being held all around the country?
People are terrified, angry, and want to be heard. They are showing up.
Mostly they are being held by members of Congress, however, would it be effective for NH Dem State Reps to organize town halls in our districts? Should we start holding them and then getting word (media, videos, and quotes) out as they are held?”

At the time it was a glimmer, just something that I had noticed was happening and I was seeing the responses from the public. People were beyond angry and they were showing up for both Democrats and Republicans, mostly to give them a “piece of my mind.” I also noticed that the Republicans who are in the majority on the federal and state level quickly stopped holding listening sessions when the heat started to be turned up by voters.

What started off as a “what if we did this?”-suggestion quickly became a movement within the NH Democratic caucus. “Let’s do this,” said many of the reps and a group of committed Dem Reps worked together to come up with a format for holding the sessions.

We had to make considerations for security, for disruptors, should we include food, how long should the event be, was it better to have them on weeknights or the weekend?

And how would we control what could be a crowd that while generally supportive of our efforts wanted us to HEAR their frustration.

Ultimately, the way we hear our constituents is to listen to our constituents and so that’s what we ended up doing.

Bringing the Conversation Back to the Community

Our listening sessions have helped fix that disconnect. They’re simple, honest conversations where constituents can speak directly to their elected officials, not through filtered news reports or party talking points, but face to face. 

In district after district, voters want to talk about how hard it is to afford to stay in their homes. They want to share their concerns about the impact of school cuts on their children and grandchildren. They want to ask why massive tax breaks go to out-of-state corporations while local businesses struggle to stay afloat.

These sessions were not about grandstanding, campaigning, or even asking for donations, they were about rebuilding trust and demonstrating that elected officials are accountable to the people, not the party.

Turning Feedback into Campaign Strategy

What’s said in a listening session doesn’t stay there — it becomes the backbone of strong, responsive campaigning. When we hear from a homeowner in Wolfeboro who’s worried about losing their home due to rising taxes, that story helps shape the messaging for the next election. When a teacher in Conway talks about missing resources in their classroom, that becomes a rallying point for restoring public school funding.

Listening sessions reveal not just what people care about, but how they talk about it. That language, those personal stories, are far more powerful than generic policy points. They help us craft messages that actually connect with voters, especially those who have tuned out traditional political rhetoric.

What have we learned from these sessions?

What started off as a suggestion to our caucus has become a state-wide movement.

To date we have held 29 listening sessions around NH. We’ve held them in bright sapphire-blue districts and we’ve even held them in the belly-of-the-beast-red districts. At every single event, we’ve gotten engagement, questions, and comments.

We have gathered a list of topics and concerns raised by each district, county, and by the state into a spreadsheet. We know what is on our voters’ minds.

Somewhat surprisingly topics that were not raised were abortion and LGBTQ+ rights (with the exception of two parents of trans children). It’s not that people weren’t concerned about these topics but they knew where we stood on the issues and they wanted to move onto other issues.

The topics that were raised at EVERY SINGLE session, however, were the school voucher program (many people didn’t understand exactly what it was and how it impacted them), rising property taxes, and housing (our children can’t afford to live in NH.)

We’ve also heard a fair amount of justified criticism. Voters want to know what our messaging is and what our plan is for the next election. Some have even said that they are going to hold off on donations until they hear that we have a plan going forward.

We Democrats reps are listening to our voters, we are collecting stories, comments, and suggestions, and from this information we are developing a strategy with messaging for the 2026 campaign.

A Path Forward for New Hampshire

We can’t wait for another crisis or another election to reconnect with voters. The time to listen is now. Listening sessions create space for real conversations and real solutions. They help elected leaders understand the full impact of policies, like education underfunding or energy infrastructure on the communities they serve.

Most importantly, they remind voters that their voice matters. That they’re not alone. And that there are people in government who are still willing to listen and act.

The NH Dem Caucus is going to continue holding our listening sessions. There are plans for evolution, some future sessions will focus on a specific topic, some will continue a general discussion, and some will be educational in nature - explaining how things work and how people can get involved in local and state politics. The common thread throughout all of the future sessions is that we will continue to listen to our voters, really hearing what they have to say.

In a state where “Live Free or Die” is more than a motto, listening to one another is how we preserve both freedom and community. Let’s make sure we’re doing it often, honestly, and with the intention to make NH work for everyone.

Wendy Thomas is a state rep for the town of Merrimack. In her third term, she sits on Science, Technology and Energy where she speaks up for renewable energy, while continuing to advocate for PFAS accountability and regulations. As a cancer survivor she also advocates for health issues and protections to the NH Therapeutic Cannabis program. Wendy can be reached at wethomas@gmail.com

We all know what happened on Nov. 6th, 2024. The country woke up to the horror of a second Trump regime, four years being thrust back into the Twilight Zone. 

So this is a follow-up to previous articles pertaining to the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 and the Solar for All program that was bringing millions of federal dollars into the state by way of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Act and the Inflation Reduction Act, brought to us by the Biden Administration.

In late 2023, New Hampshire’s Dept. of Energy had put in a request for a $70 million federal grant to widen these community solar programs for low and moderate income households. The funding was to help lower utility bills, speed up decarbonization (reducing carbon dioxide emissions), and possibly bring about more desperately needed, affordable housing. In the end, NH was set to receive $43 million through that program to help build solar arrays in low-income communities. Federal records report that out of $43.5 million pledged to NH through Solar for All, a little over $103,000 had already been handed out.

Now NH’s Dept. of Energy has been notified by the federal government they are ending grant awards from the nationwide Solar for All program. One of the long-term plans for the grant money was to build large-scale community solar farms meant to benefit low-income households. Collaborating with NH Community Loan Fund (Neighbors Investing in Neighbors) and NH Housing Finance Authority, the state’s energy department was looking to bring about solar projects in low-income multifamily homes, manufactured housing parks, and on established public housing properties.

According to Environmental Protection Agency “administrator” Lee Zeldin, the entire nationwide Solar for All program has been eliminated as part of the federal “Big, Ugly, Brutal” bill passed last month. There will be a fight for the promised funding because the “Big, Ugly, Brutal” new law only canceled funding that had not been previously pledged. 

Let’s see how the party of “let them eat lead” felt about addressing extreme weather and/or climate change here in the NH legislature:
HB 106 was to establish a commission to determine the monetary costs of climate damage to NH and the best means of recouping such costs. Voted down, 207-149
HB 526 was to establish a climate change and damage division in the dept. of environmental services. Rep. Jason Osborne, Free Stater from Auburn, made the motion to “table” the bill, which passed by voice vote.
HB 537 was for electric rates to be approved by the public utilities commission for residential condominium property. Rep. Joe Sweeney made the motion to “table” the bill, which passed, 212-140.
HB 599 was to establish a committee to examine weatherization initiatives for homes in NH. Rep. Michael Vose made the motion to “table” the bill, which passed, 198-148.
HB 654 was meant to allow small customer-generators the ability to participate in group-net metering. Osborne made the motion to “table” the bill, which passed by voice vote.
HB 692 was for utility companies to adopt advanced meters. Vose
made the motion to “table” the bill, which passed by voice vote.
HB 761 provides that the dept. of energy shall adopt rules relative to installation and use of energy storage systems. Vose
made the motion to “table” the bill, which passed by voice vote.

This is just several examples of Democrat sponsored bills that were meant to either help NH residents, home owners, business owners or to study ways in which to improve energy efficiency. Notice the pattern? The Republican majority in NH will do as much as the federal government to address the very real issue of extreme weather/climate change. 

Which is nothing . . .

Democrat Senator Jeanne Shaheen is retiring at the end of her term next year and will not be running again. Democrat Congressman Chris Pappas announced in April that he was going to run for that Senate seat.

Which leaves his Congressional seat open.

Chris Bright, a veteran and businessman from Derry and Melissa Bailey, vice-chair of the Bedford Republican Committee and a former CPA have already announced their run for the Congressional open seat. Now a third contender has announced that he too, has his sights set on that seat.

Trump supporter and State Representative Brian Cole of Manchester, is the latest to announce. “Under President Trump’s leadership, America’s officially back. But if we want to keep it that way, we need allies in Washington who won’t fold under pressure, who will stand up and fight alongside him. NH needs a representative who puts family, faith, and freedom first. That’s why I’m running.”

He wants to lower the cost of living (did nothing to achieve that here in NH), secure the border to stop illegal immigration (because NH is so over run, NOT!) and grow the state's industrial base. Let’s check out some of his votes . . .

HB 726 would incrementally raise the minimum wage, Rep. Cole voted to “table” it. For House Bill 2 (the State Budget) he limited the floor debate and voted to approve it, which will not help lower the cost of living for most NH citizens.

Voted against “establishing a commission to determine the monetary costs of climate damage to the state of NH and the best means of recouping such costs” HB 106. Voted to table “establishing a climate change and damage division in the department of environmental services” HB 526. Voted against “increasing penalties for violations of the shoreland and water quality protection act” HB 422. Then we had HCR 4 which “rejects all offshore wind energy projects in the waters off the coast of NH and the Gulf of Maine.” He voted in favor of rejecting off shore wind projects. Nope, no help from this climate change/extreme weather denier. We have no reason to think he wouldn’t vote the same way in Congress.

Fellow extremist Rep. Joe Sweeney made a motion to table HB 724 having to do with “lead paint poisoning prevention and remediation.” Cole voted in favor of tabling the bill. Voted against HB 646“requiring school districts to establish an online application for participation in the free and reduced price meal program” (That would have made it a little easier for families to apply.) Voted against HB 703.“prohibiting school districts from denying meals to students with unpaid meal balances, and making an appropriation therefor” These bills were meant to help children from low-income families, but the party of “let them eat lead” felt otherwise, including Rep. Cole.

HB 207 “repeals the prohibition on the possession or sale of blackjacks, slung shots, and metallic knuckles except by or to minors.” Voted in favor of this bill because, why not? HB 511“prohibits state and local government entities from adopting sanctuary policies to prohibit or impede the enforcement of federal immigration law.” He voted in favor of this bill. SB 62“relative to law enforcement participation in a federal immigration program and relative to cooperation with federal immigration authorities.” This, of course, would be ICE and Rep. Cole voted in favor of it. 

Those who vote in the First Congressional District need to educate themselves as to who is seeking to fill the seat, what good (if any) they would bring not just to the state of NH but also the nation as a whole and in the case of Liberty Alliance member Rep. Brian Cole, how he has voted in the State House. For the good of the people or to hurt us?

Did you know August 3rd is “National Watermelon Day”?

Or that August 8th is “National sneak some zucchini onto your neighbor’s porch Day”? (I could go for that.)

Or that August 10th is “National S’Mores Day”? (This, too!)

How about August 11th marking the end of the “Dog Days of Summer” which began on July 3rd?

August 13th is “International Left-Handers Day.”

August 17th is when the “Cat Nights” begin, going back to a vague Irish legend concerning witches. This wee bit of folklore gave way to the idea that a cat has nine lives.

August 19th is “National Aviation Day”, the birthday of Orville Wright, who piloted the first recorded flight of a powered heavier-than-air machine in 1903. Along with his brother Wilbur, the brothers are recognized for inventing, building and flying the world’s first successful airplane. A presidential proclamation first made by Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1939, National Aviation Day celebrates the history and development of aviation.

August 20th is “International Geocaching Day” and “World Honeybee Day.”

August 25th is “Kiss-and-Make-Up Day.”

August 26 is “Women’s Equality Day”, which celebrates the 1920 ratification of the 19th Amendment and, with it, women’s right to vote in the United States. Suffragist Carrie Chapman Catt stated, “Never in the history of politics has there been such a nefarious lobby as labored to block the ratification.” Catt then went on to found the League of women voters, an organization dedicated to giving impartial, in-depth information about candidates, platforms and ballot issues.

And finally, August 31st is “National Trail Mix Day.”

“If the first week of August is unusually warm, the winter will be white and long.”
Weather folklore

Yup! There’s another nationwide peaceful rally planned for Sat. Aug. 2nd to direct our shared rage against the Trump regime for its weaponization of ICE against our communities, the continuing cover up of the Epstein Files, the continuing attacks on transgender rights and the removal of LGBTQ+ from our history. Let’s not forget the cruelty by gutting Medicaid, SNAP, USAID and the construction of concentration camps. Destroying the Dept. of Education, NOAA, the National Weather Service and the threats to cut Social Security. These rallies are inclusive, nonviolent, community-led and New Hampshire will be joining in again as we stand up for the Constitution, human rights, and the rule of law.

Here is a list of scheduled rallies: 

Colebrook
9am-11am
Municipal Drive Details Here.

Concord
2pm – 6pm
NH State House
107 N Main Street Details Here

Dover
3pm-4pm
238 Indian Brook Rd. Details Here

Keene
12pm – 1pm
Central Square Details Here

Nashua
10am – 12pm
Need to sign up for location. Details Here.

Pelham
10 am – 1 pm
Meetinghouse Park Details here

Portsmouth
Market Square
2 Congress St. Details Here

For those in the Dublin/Peterborough area on Aug. 2nd, there is also the 16th annual Granny D Memorial Walk. Click on the link for all details.

We will not comply, we will not be silent, and we will not stand down!!