Recently, Keene City Councilor and State Representative Phil Jones submitted to the city and the state of New Hampshire a resolution “requesting termination of state of New Hampshire policies and downshifts that burden local property taxpayers.”

Perhaps other city and town governments could do something similar as we work towards easing that unsustainable position we have all been placed in. The full text is as follows:

“In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand and Twenty Six

A RESOLUTION REQUESTING TERMINATION OF STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE POLICIES AND DOWNSHIFTS THAT BURDEN LOCAL PROPERTY TAXPAYERS.

Resolved by the City Council of the City of Keene, as follows:

WHEREAS, Recent New Hampshire state budgets have reduced or eliminated key revenue sources, forcing the City of Keene along with other municipalities, school districts, and counties to raise property taxes to maintain education, healthcare, county nursing homes, public safety, and infrastructure; and

WHEREAS, the erosion and unpredictability of state funding to municipalities has further shifted financial responsibility to local governments, increasing reliance on property taxes to sustain essential programs and services; and

WHEREAS, the State created a statewide retirement system intended to support municipal, county, school, police, and fire employees and slowly reduced its share of contributions, resulting in more than a million dollars a year in additional costs to the City. (total additional costs of approximately $13 million);

WHEREAS, the State created a broader revenue sharing program in 1969 to return a portion of state revenue back to municipalities as a result of the elimination of towns’ and cities’ ability to tax part of the agricultural economy. The City of Keene in 2008 had been receiving approximately $992,000 per year; this was reduced by the State in 2010 to $550,000 and subsequently eliminated. (To date, the City has lost approximately $15.8 million as a result of this change.);

WHEREAS, The Meals and Rooms Tax, was enacted in 1967 as a statewide tax tied to tourism and economic activity. At the time, the intent was for the State to retain 60% of the revenue and distribute 40% to municipalities, recognizing that local roads, infrastructure, police and fire protection, utilities, and other municipal services support tourism and economic development. Over time, the State reduced the municipal share, and although a 1993 catch-up formula was created to work back toward the 60/40 split, that formula was later suspended repeatedly. As a result, communities have received substantially less than the original 40% municipal share contemplated under the original framework. Based on historical distribution percentages since 2001 – all below 30% - the City estimates Keene has received approximately $15-$20 million less than it would have under the original 40% formula. At current distribution levels, the annual difference for Keene is estimated at approximately $700,000 per year.

WHEREAS, these downshifts burden working families, strain local budgets, limit flexibility and undermine long-term community prosperity; and

WHEREAS, a state budget that prevents cost-shifting and restores municipal revenue-sharing eases the tax burden on local property taxpayers and strengthens communities.

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF KEENE, AS FOLLOWS: We the governing body of the City of Keene call upon Governor Kelly Ayotte, the State of New Hampshire Executive Council, and the New Hampshire State Senate and House of Representatives to protect local tax payers by ensuring adequate state revenues for essential services, and by avoiding policies that downshift costs onto local property taxpayers.”

Thank you, Rep. Jones!

“The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much it is whether we provide enough for those who have little.”         Franklin D. Roosevelt

Born: Oct. 2, 1967 – grew up in Philadelphia
Business: Palantir Technologies
Headquartered: recently moved earlier this year from Denver, Colorado to Aventura, a Miami-area suburb
Current Net Worth: $14.3 billion (according to Forbes)
Resides: Lyman, New Hampshire

Alex Karp is the CEO of Palantir Technologies, a controversial big data analytics company. Founded in 2003 by Karp, Stephen Cohen, Nathan Gettings, Joe Lonsdale and libertarian tech billionaire Peter Thiel (connected to JD Vance), Palantir develops data analysis software for large companies and government agencies. Agencies such as ICE, US Dept of Defense and the Israeli military. Its software connects and transforms all kinds of data collected by government agencies, Fortune 500 companies and large corporations. Even the Trump regime, in a March 2025 Executive Order, enlisted Palantir to collect data on all Americans.

Creepy . . .

Also in 2025, Palantir joined with Nvidia and CenterPoint Energy to develop a new software platform to speed up building new artificial intelligence (AI) data centers. The new software system, called Chain Reaction, helps firms looking to build AI data centers, (which can consume as much electricity as a small city, by the way, not to mention what it can do to local water supply), with permitting, supply chain and construction challenges. Those involved with this project said Chain Reaction will use AI tools to assist its customers.

What could possibly go wrong? 

Well, people thought enough could go wrong where last year alone 25 nationally proposed data centers were halted due to local opposition, with an additional 16 being blocked or delayed. According to Data Center Watch, so far this year alone, 75 proposed centers were disrupted, nine of them in Virginia. Here in NH, the proposed data center for Nottingham was withdrawn at the end of May due to intense public outcry. 

This is another issue, just like proposed ICE detention centers, that We, the People must remain steadfast and vigilant about.

Now, about that Palantir CEO Alex Karp who resides in NH . . .

The town of Lyman, (population just under 600) began as a farm and logging town in Grafton County and remains pretty rural. In 2019, Karp, who is also an avid cross-country skier, bought a 500-acre estate there. But he has other places around the country. . .

Last Dec., Karp purchased a 3,700-acre ranch, St. Benedict's Monastery in a private mountain valley for $120 million. He also owns two mansions next door to each other on Miami's exclusive San Marino Island worth nearly $75 million.

On Sept. 9, 2025, Forbes released their annual top 100 list of the richest people in America. I looked, but I didn’t make the list. However, Karp scored a 74. He received a “Forbes Philanthropy Score” of 1, on a scale of 1-5. This score measures how much of the money that goes into a company’s charitable foundation actually goes out to fund charitable causes. One is not only the loneliest number it’s also the lowest score.

Put another way, less than 1% of Karp’s personal wealth (in the billions) went to charitable causes. 

Fun fact: Putting money into a charitable foundation shields it from taxes, but the IRS requires that only 5% of a private charitable foundation’s money must be disbursed.

Now, do we REALLY think Karp moved to NH for the great skiing areas, or because he can continue to “game the system,” in this case, property taxes, knowing he has a Free Stater legislature helping him and others like him, along?

Sick of it? Do something about it on Nov. 3rd.

Blackstone Inc. is an American “alternative investment” management company headquartered in New York City. (Would that be like “alternative facts”? Asking for a friend.)
~Alternative investment: any asset class outside traditional investments such as stocks, bonds and cash. Includes assets like private equity, hedge funds, real estate, commodities, venture capital and collectibles, often used to diversify portfolios and improve risk-adjusted returns.

Got that? Yeah, me, too . . .

Founded in 1985 as a “mergers and acquisitions” firm by Peter Peterson and Stephen Schwarzman, who are formerly of the now defunct Lehman Brothers. For many decades, Blackstone's private equity business has been one of the largest investors in leveraged buyouts while its real estate business has actively acquired commercial real estate across the globe. 
~Private equity: an investment class where firms raise capital from investors to acquire and manage private companies or make public companies private, with the goal of selling them later for a profit. Such investments are generally in non‑publicly traded companies (not listed on a stock exchange) and are held for several years before being exited.
~Leveraged buyout: acquisition of a company mainly using borrowed funds, with the acquired company’s assets and cash flows serving as collateral to boost potential returns on equity.

Got that? Yeah, me, too . . .

Blackstone is also active in credit, hedge funds, infrastructure, insurance solutions and growth equity. As of Sept. 2025, they’ve accrued $1.2 trillion in total assets under management, making them the world's largest “alternative investment” firm.

Wow! Now for the Kelly connection . . .

Did you know Kelly Ayotte joined the corporate board of Blackstone in 2019? (She was already on several other corporate boards such as Caterpillar, which is a heavy equipment manufacturer and News Corp. owned by the Murdoch’s, to name two). 
Did you know she made more than $2.5 million in total compensations from all the boards she sat on? As of 2024, in Blackstone stock alone, Ayotte owned more than $3 million.

Let’s revisit what Blackstone’s real estate part of the business does, they acquire real estate. They own more than 300,000 single-family homes across the country. Here in New Hampshire, Blackstone owns properties, hidden under partnerships and subsidiaries. They own student housing near the University of New Hampshire and Dartmouth College. They own an apartment complex in Nashua. 

According to the 2024 NH Fiscal Policy Institute, rents for a two-bedroom apartment went up 30% since 2019. Nashua saw increases of more than 50%. That’s not helpful news for a state whose needs for affordable housing is estimated to require about 90,000 new housing units by 2040. It also doesn’t help that the state’s median price of a single-family home has increased by more than 75%.

Throw in the ever-unsustainable rising property taxes due to repealed sources of revenue for the state and the hated school voucher program that benefits wealthy families to the detriment of public schools, one has to wonder, how exactly are Gov. Kelly Ayotte and her Free Stater cronies in the legislature going to address the affordable housing crisis in the state? Especially with behemoth corporations such as Blackstone surreptitiously buying up single family homes and apartment complexes, turning them into overpriced money makers for themselves.

A good place to start would be a ban on corporate landlords.

“The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little."    Pres. Franklin Delano Roosevelt

The Declaration of Independence, (formally “The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen United States of America” in the original printing) is America’s founding document. On July 4, 1776, it was unanimously adopted by the Second Continental Congress, convened in Philadelphia at Pennsylvania State House. These delegates became known as the nation's Founding Fathers. The document explained why the original thirteen colonies viewed themselves as independent sovereign states no longer under British rule. The Declaration of Independence is now one of the most circulated, reprinted, and influential documents in history.

This year the nation acknowledges 250 years of independence and there are all manner of celebrations taking place. Here is a list of events for New Hampshire:

Fireworks (what is the 4th of July without fireworks?):
~July 2, Amherst: 9:30pm at Souhegan High School
Dover: 9:15pm at Garrison Hill
Salem: 9:00pm at Tuscan Village
~July 3, Ashland: 9:30pm at Ashland Ballpark
Claremont: 9:30pm at Monadnock Park; rain date 7.5
Greenville: 11:20pm at Town Field
Jefferson: Dusk at Couture Field
Laconia: 10:00pm at Weirs Beach
Lincoln: Dusk along Main Street, at Hobo Railroad
Keene: 9:30pm at Alumni Field, after the Swamp Bats game
Manchester: 7:30pm at Arms Park
Manchester: (after the Fisher Cats game) at Delta Dental Stadium
Portsmouth: 9:15pm at South Mill Pond
Sandwich: Dusk at Sandwich Fairgrounds. More info
~July 4, Bretton Woods: 9:45pm at Omni Mt. Washington Resort (fireworks open only to guests)
Brookline: 9:15pm at Grove Beach, Lake Potanipo
Center Harbor: 9:15pm at Center Harbor Bay
Concord: 9:30pm at Memorial Field
Conway: 9:45pm at Schouler Park
Gorham: 10pm at Town Common (fireworks go off at Promenade Field)
Hampton: 9:30pm at the beach, near B, C Streets
Laconia: Dusk at Opechee Park
Meredith: 9:30pm at Meredith Bay; rain date 7.5
Merrimack: 9:15pm at Kollsman Athletic Fields
New Boston: 9:30pm at Fairgrounds
North Conway: 9:45pm
Salem: 9:15pm at Canobie Lake Park
Wolfeboro: Dusk at Wolfeboro Bay
~July 5, Jackson: 9:00pm at Jackson Village Park; rain date 7.12
Tamworth: Dusk at Brett School
Waterville Valley: 9:30pm at Waterville Valley Resort.
~July 11, Bristol: Dusk at Newfound Lake; rain date 7.10
Exeter: 9:00pm at Swasey Parkway
Grafton: Dusk at Recreation Field on Prescott Road
Rochester: 9:00pm at Lilac Family Fun Festival, Spaulding High School & James W. Foley Community Center; rain date 7.12
~July 12, Franconia: 9:30pm at Dow Field and Dow Field Pavilion

Parades – July 4:
~Concord, from 8-11:00am the following streets will be closed:
Storrs St.; Pleasant St. Extension from Storrs St. to North Main St.; Hills Ave. from Storrs St. to South Main St.; South/North Main St. from Hills Ave. to Storrs St.
At 10:00 am, a ceremony will be held at the State House.
~Gorham, 11:00am Kiddies Parade; 2:00pm Main Parade more info
~Hanover, 10:00am at Hanover High School, ends at the Dartmouth Green.
~Keene, 11:00am from Wyman Tavern on Main St., ends at Railroad Square. A reading of the Declaration of Independence and historical demonstrations on the law will be held outside the historic house. Monadnock 250 for more information.
~Lincoln, 2:00pm starts at Alpine Village Resort, ends behind Lincoln Town Hall (traveling along Rte. 112).
~Newbury, 10-12:00pm parade in South Newbury. Refreshments and presentations at the South Newbury Town Hall where colonial children’s toys will be displayed. Children will have the opportunity to test their abilities with these colonial toys.
~North Conway, 1:15pm in Conway Village.
~Waterville Valley, 11:00am at Waterville Valley Town Square.

Happy 250th Anniversary America and New Hampshire! 

Now go find something fun to do!

The Republican Free Staters ramped up during this year’s House Session, getting one intentionally disastrous bill after another passed, bringing nothing but harm to the state. Summers usually find them at their annual "Porcfest" but this year they are advertising something different. From June 21-28, PorcFest "mini festivals" will be held throughout New Hampshire. These are events portraying NH as some kind of free, Libertarian, dystopian state in order to persuade folks from other states to relocate here. They push the lure of “no income tax” but do they come clean about how high property taxes are burdensome due to cost downshifting? They push the lure of school vouchers but do they come clean about the lack of transparency and constitutional violation surrounding the vouchers? They push the lure of “freedom” and “living free” but do they come clean about meaning only for those who are not LGBTQ or women of childbearing age? They push the lure of “parental choice” but do they come clean about who makes that choice for you by banning books and vaccines?

I’m guessing not . . .

Getting back to those “mini festivals,” according to The Porcupine Post Newsletter, “After declaring their intent to move to New Hampshire, future Free Staters share photos of the “NH Bound: Live Free or Die” bumper stickers we are mailing to all who sign the FSP Statement of Intent. Have you signed yet?”

Ahhh . . . bumper stickers. Now we know what to look for. The stickers are on a blue background with the outline of the state, encasing a porcupine. The words “NH BOUND LIVE FREE OR DIE freestateproject.org” are included. 

The Pledge reads: “I am a Free Stater. My pledge is: “…to live in New Hampshire and exert my fullest practical effort toward the creation of a society in which the maximum role of government is the protection of individual rights to life, liberty, and property.”

“Some run for the legislature.
Some build businesses.
Some pioneer technology.
Some create homeschool networks. As Free Staters, there are many ways we strive to exert our fullest practical efforts, according to our own standards and our talents.”

Thanks to former state senator Jeanne Dietsch, she has compiled a list of where Free Stater events are happening:



Jeanne would like to know of any sightings; town, location, how many. In the meantime, get those signs out there! Don’t have one? Here’s a suggestion!
https://www.signsonthecheap.com/:

• 18"X24" sign graphic; order corrugated plastic, 2-sided, with a regular protective coating. They'll send you a note after you order saying that the image is "lo res." Approve the order anyway. Their quality and customer service is excellent. And they have wire stands you can order, too.
• 4' X 6' sign graphic same instructions

On Tues. June 23, Jeanne will be speaking at 6:30 in Laconia at the UU Society, 172 Pleasant St. “Who are the Free Staters? Wake up, NH” Would you like to schedule a presentation for your area? Click here.

We can still “Live Free or Die” without hurting others.

On Jan. 1, 1863, Pres. Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, declaring all enslaved people in Confederate states were free. Unfortunately, the proclamation had very little immediate effect in areas still under Confederate control. Texas was the most remote state and during the Civil War, many slaveholders relocated there. Now, the Union military was dispatched to ensure enforcement.

On June 19, 1865, Union Major Gen. Gordon Granger and 2,000 federal troops arrived in Galveston, Texas. It was there he read General Order #3, "The people of Texas are informed that, in accordance with a proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free. This involves an absolute equality of personal rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves, and the connection heretofore existing between them becomes that between employer and hired labor."

What took so long? There were some slave owners who deliberately withheld the information. There were no telegraph lines. And until the end of the war, there weren’t many Union troops in Texas.

This year, is the 161st anniversary of the end of slavery in the United States. This federal holiday commemorates June 19, 1865, when those Union soldiers arrived in Texas, bringing news that the Civil War had ended and all enslaved people were now free, two and a half years after the Emancipation Proclamation. 

Juneteenth 2026 falls on a Friday. Since it’s a weekday, many celebrations will go throughout the weekend of June 19-21, 2026, giving families and communities multiple days to honor this historic occasion. Here’s a few on June 19th:

Keene – The Historical Society of Cheshire County presents “Patriots of Color in the Monadnock Region.” 6:30-7:30 at 246 Main St. 
Juneteenth Celebration, 5:00 at Fuller Park, 312 Washington St. Hosted by the City of Keene and co-hosted by W.S. Badger and the Keene Family YMCA this free, family-friendly community event will feature live musical performances, good vibes, and family fun!
Featuring performances by Jazzlyn Mota, Samir Evans, and JohnLu Devo.

Nashua – Juneteenth Celebration Freedom Day 1865-2026, from 2-6:00. Downtown Riverwalk, 36 Marshall St. An afternoon full of music, culture, creativity, and connection. The event will feature live performances, art, food, and community engagement in a fun, family-friendly atmosphere!

Portsmouth -The Black Heritage Trail has plenty to see and do from June 19, 21, 27 and 28th. Click the above link to see what’s listed. 

Happy Freedom Day, New Hampshire!

What are the top concerns for most people in New Hampshire? 
Skyrocketing property taxes, the relentless efforts to destroy public education, lack of affordable housing and day care. While a lot of these other rising cost issues such as gas, food and heating oil have been brought upon us by the Trump regime, (did you know the average cost of gas has risen 60% between Feb. through May) the Republican Free Staters have been doing their part to add to people’s financial and quality of life misery. 

Let’s break it down.

Housing:  A majority of NH residents ranked housing as the most important issue facing the state right now. Eighty percent of NH voters say there aren’t enough homes that the average person can afford to buy or rent and 76% say housing costs have had negative personal impacts on their lives or their loved ones.  
The Housing Champion and Grant Program was adopted in 2023, in order to address the housing shortage. The program encouraged municipalities to develop pro-housing zoning and land use regulations. Free Staters voted to repeal it, 185-166. Luckily, the Senate killed the bill when it came to them and the program lived to see another day of helping others. How did your representative vote? Click here, scroll down to “Roll Calls” and click on OTP 185-166.

Health Care Costs: Due to the Trump regime’s $1 trillion cuts from Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act (ACA), as many as 29,000 people in NH face losing their health care. The state itself will lose tens of millions of dollars in funding for hospitals every year due to these cuts. Out of pocket costs for a NH family of four is alreadyroughly $10,500 a year and nearly one-third of residents say someone in their household has postponed getting health care due to cost. Over 17,400 NH small business owners depended on the ACA for coverage in 2025 and 87% of these small business owners wanted Republicans in Congress to permanently extend ACA tax credits. This past Jan. only 17 Republicans joined with Democrats in Congress to extend the program for three more years, 230–196.
The NH Office of Health Equity focuses on public health outreach, particularly to low-income communities and refugees, playing an important role during the COVID pandemic by enabling vaccine access in disadvantaged neighborhoods. So, of course Free Staters voted to repeal this office, but when the Senate got the bill, they killed it. To see how your representative voted click here, scroll down to “Roll Calls” and click on OTP 192-159.

Energy Costs: The Trump regime’s tariffs and unprovoked wars of choice have created higher energy costs nationally. The regime cancelled roughly $5 million in NH clean energy investments. In the NH House proposed bills for off shore wind projects were voted down. A bill to establish a climate change and damage division in the Dept. of Environmental Services was voted down. Free Stater Len Turcotte proposed repealing the solar energy systems tax exemption. That got tabled 187-157. To see if your representative wanted this nonsense to move forward, click here and scroll down to “Roll Call” votes, click on Table 187-157.
Fun fact: NH ranks the eighth highest in the country for electricity rates (26.52¢).

Food Assistance: The Trump regime cut $187 billion in food assistance, some of which helped nearly 75,000 NH residents get access to food. These cuts put thousands of people at risk of losing their food aid and leaves the state without $63 million in annual federal funds, a 38% reduction. 

(Source for most of this information: Defend America Action.)

Does any of this reflect your values? Do you care about the health, safety and well-being of fellow human beings? Do you want to see something better left for your children and grandchildren? If so, spend these last few months finding out whatever information you can about those seeking your vote in November. Ask questions. Then take that information to your voting booth and vote accordingly. 

This year marks America’s 250th anniversary celebrating our country’s independence from England. There are nationwide plans for huge events, parades and the all-American backyard barbeque. One “event” in particular is the Freedom Truck Mobile Museums, a display of AI slop travelling across America on tractor-trailers. 

Wait, what? Who is doing this? 

Prager U is a major participant in the America 250 celebration. Their display is designed to educate and inspire Americans of all ages about the nation’s history, values, and greatness through videos, exhibits, and family-friendly resources. 
That sounds nice.

Founded by conservative radio host Dennis Prager about 20 years ago, their website states: “We promote American values through the creative use of educational videos that reach millions of people online. As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, Prager University Foundation (“PragerU”) offers a free alternative to the dominant left-wing ideology in culture, media, and education. Whether you’re searching for a deeper understanding, a new perspective, or a way to get involved, PragerU helps people of all ages think and live better.”

According to Prager U, their friends at The Daily Wire put together a documentary praising their first ten years in the “mind changing business.” They promote themselves as an “educational, media platform” dedicated to advancing pro-American values. Their website states their “videos educate, inspire, and entertain millions of online viewers. Serving audiences of all ages, our informative content offers a free alternative to the dominant left-wing ideology in culture, media, and education.” Their political mission is a desire to produce kid-oriented “edutainment” that combats so-called “woke agendas” in the classroom.

Oh.

PragerU is similar to other rightwing groups interested in American education, Moms for Liberty (NH has a chapter in Hillsborough County) and Turning Point USA. Last June, the Trump regime partnered with PragerU in celebrating the US’s 250th anniversary.

But they are not doing this alone. PragerU and Hillsdale College are directly involved as co‑creators of the Freedom 250 Mobile Museum tour. Hillsdale College, along with mostly Christian Nationalist groups, has been on the advisory board of Project 2025, that extreme conservative manifesto favored by Christian Nationalist groups and which has been implemented by the Trump regime.

Whooo boy! How does this tie in with New Hampshire? I’m glad you asked . . .

In Sept. 2023, under then-Governor Chris Sununu and school voucher aficionado Frank Edleblut, former commissioner of the state’s Dept. of Education, PragerU came to NH. More info about that here. One year later, in 2024, the State Board of Education voted unanimously to approve a five-year renewal with PragerU Kids for its online personal finance course, titled Cash Course, allowing students to earn high school credits through state-approved extracurricular programs. The format consists of 15 five-minute videos and by completing the course (which is non-mandatory) a NH high school student fulfills the state’s financial literacy requirement. Now, here’s where that Free Stater hard fought for “parental choice” comes in, they get to watch these videos with their kids.
If they want to . . .

Dots are connected – America’s 250th – PragerU – New Hampshire. 

Prefer democracy and transparency? Be sure to vote in November!

Yesterday Health & Human Services “Secretary” Robert F. Kennedy Jr. came to New Hampshire to talk about the importance of protecting people from getting Lyme disease. According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC)“Lyme disease is an infectious disease transmitted to humans through the bite of infected ticks. Common symptoms include a bullseye rash, flu-like symptoms, and fatigue. It is most prevalent in grassy, brushy, or wooded areas, especially during spring and early summer. To prevent Lyme disease, it is essential to take safety measures in tick-prone areas, such as wearing protective clothing and using insect repellent.” 

To put it into perspective, some people experience these debilitating symptoms for months or years before being correctly diagnosed and treated. A worse case scenario is infections in the brain or spinal cord. Not a disease to trifle with. 

Speaking at the State House and accompanied by Republican Free Staters Jason Osborne and Sherman Packard, Senators Dan Innis and Sharon Carson, Kennedy announced millions of dollars for research, Lyme disease tests, and ways to eliminate ticks on wildlife before they breed. It should be noted there is no current vaccine for Lyme disease. However, there is one in late-stage clinical trials which could reach the market within the next few years, something Kennedy did not acknowledge. 

Of course he didn’t.

Knowing how Kennedy feels about vaccines this is a good time for a reminder of how our own majority legislators feel about vaccines. HB 357 would phase out required childhood vaccinations for chicken pox, Hepatitis B and influenza type B. It passed in the House, 195-174, but the Senate later killed the bill. To see how your representative voted, click here. But Free Staters stuck it on as a non-germane floor amendment to a Senate bill where it passed anyway. How did your representative vote on this amendment, click here.HB 1449 put a time limit for when vaccine clinics can be at schools and requires a parent or guardian to be present. Which takes away time from work for some. It passed, 172-154, here's the vote. HB 1811 repealed the requirement for childhood vaccinations, which did not pass in the House. Here are the votes.

With somber looking members of the majority party standing by him, Kennedy stated that we are now living in a “science fiction nightmare” (to which I would agree, but for different reasons) and, "Parents have to worry about their children going to the woods."

Okay, but I can think of something else parents of school age kids worry about . . .

According to the majority party, they seem to think parents in NH are overly worried about other issues. To that end the Free Staters have set their sights on libraries and public schools by bringing one book banning bill after another to the House floor. For example, HB 324 passed, 183-148. It was vetoed by the Governor. How does your representative feel about book bans, click here.

It seems the only people with transgender issues are members of the majority party as they brought multiple “bathroom bills” to the House floor. HB 148 did pass in the House, 201-166, but was later vetoed by the Governor. Click here for your representative’s vote.

Big, swarthy legal (or illegal) immigrants seems to be another nightmare for NH parents, or at least Republican Free Staters think so. From invalidating drivers licenses to requiring written driver testing be done in English only to renting an apartment to repealing NH’s refugee resettlement program, the majority party seems to wear their bigotry as a badge of honor. 

While I agree Lyme disease is something to be taken seriously, here in NH rising property taxes, affordable housing and day care, supporting our public schools and teachers along with addressing the issues of renewable energy, (instead of voting against it), the voters in NH have yet to see any Free Stater legislation that addresses any of those pressing issues in a positive way.

The filing period opens in a few days for those who are seeking re-election or to be elected for a first time. Take the time to vet your candidates. Are their values similar to yours? 

Score one for free and fair elections! 

In 2024, Republican Free Stater Bob Lynn introduced HB 1569, making it harder for some people to vote by doing away with voter affidavits as proof of identification and repeal the procedures for affidavit ballots. This was a system that had worked just fine for years and now this legislation was designed to block as many voters as possible the right from even being able to register, let alone cast a ballot. 

HB 1569 was nothing more than a bill in search of a non-existent problem. But it passed anyway, then-Gov. Sununu signed it into law and it took effect five days after the Nov. 2024 election.

Let’s revisit that Nov. election in 2024 where 832,549 New Hampshire voters cast a ballot. Twenty-seven used a (now repealed) affidavit ballot, with 3 voters mailing their required documents within the time frame to their city/town clerk. Out of 832,549 voters only 24 ballots were discarded. The system was not only working, it wasn’t even broken.

Fun fact #1: since 2016 there’s been fifteen voter fraud convictions in NH. These convictions consisted of out-of-state people voting in NH, people with a home in NH and another state but voted in both states and people voting in two different NH towns.
Fun fact #2: this new law is now one of the strictest in the nation.
Fun fact #3: NH still has no online voter registration. Forty-two other states do. 

Lawsuits were promptly filed against this new law by the Coalition for Open Democracy, League of Women Voters of NH, ACLU-NH and the Forward Foundation, along with five individuals. The argument was the new law was unconstitutional under the First and 14th Amendments as it creates barriers for lawful and legal citizens from registering to vote and requires first-time voters to show proof of citizenship. Those who favored the law felt it critical to prevent noncitizens from voting in elections; and those who opposed, feared it would hinder legitimate voters who didn’t readily have the newly required documents. 

According to the Brennan Center for Justice, “. . . noncitizen voting is simply not a widespread or even a significant occurrence. And it’s already illegal.” The focus should be on guaranteeing and protecting the freedom to vote for eligible voters.

Today a federal judge overturned the “proof-of-citizenship” voter registration law. Now a voter can use an affidavit if needed and then follow up with their town/city clerk in a week with the required document(s). Going back to a system that was working just fine already. 

The Attorney General's Office plans to file an appeal.

Of course they do . . .