Importance of Being Local

Recall that Fincher’s failure to register forced him to run as a write-in candidate in the primary. Not only did he neglect this fundamental civic responsibility, he compounded the lapse by blaming Wolfeboro’s supervisor of the checklist for the oversight.

He is now registered, of course, and his name appears on the ballot. He settled in Wolfeboro last year after moving from Exeter — a relocation that seems driven more by Rep. Glenn Cordelli’s departure than a desire to serve the people of Wolfeboro, Tuftonboro and Ossipee in District 7.

Predictably, many of Fincher’s supporters have trotted out the well-worn platform that he will stand firm against broad-based taxes. Here’s some perspective. That old charge may have rung true a few decades ago, but no serious Democratic candidate has advocated for a broad-based tax in at least a generation. With the Legislature, Executive Council and the Corner Office dominated by Republicans, that ship not only sailed long ago, but has sunk.

Democrats, however, do want to restore taxes that were eliminated or reduced, most notably the Interest and Dividends Tax, which costs the state $160 million a year in lost revenue.

No one likes taxes, but with no state income tax, asking wealthy taxpayers to kick in a few dollars is hardly egregious nor unfair. Should you feel empathy for that stratum of taxpayers, keep in mind that only 1,500 people — New Hampshire’s wealthiest — paid half of it. To make up for not having an income tax, however, Republicans regularly jack up regressive fees — everything from driver’s license registrations to fishing licenses — that disproportionately affect lower-wage earners.

And that brings us to Education Freedom Accounts, better known as school vouchers, which now cost the state $50 million a year. This program gives families about $5,000 per student to help pay for tuition to religious and private schools and to homeschool children.

Originally targeted for low-income families, which made sense, there is now no income limit. That means parents of moderate means who can’t afford to send their kids to expensive private schools are subsidizing wealthy families who send their kids to $44,000-a-year tuition schools like Brewster Academy.

Fifty million dollars here, $160 million there, it starts to add up, and it’s becoming increasingly difficult to ignore Democrats who say that it is the goal of the far right in the State House to not only dismantle public education but state government itself.

Boudman will fight to restore those taxes and do away with the voucher system.

Taxes aside, we are grateful that Gov. Kelly Ayotte last session vetoed 12 extreme Republican bills, most of which were sponsored by representatives connected to the Free State movement, the fringe of the GOP who are gradually replacing sensible Republicans in the State House. 

Those bills included legislation that could have led to censorship of books and forced students to view a video of a developing fetus. And this year, variations of many of those bills are again working their way through the House and Senate.

A litmus test for Fincher is to ask him which of those bills he supports. That will tell you whether he’s a traditional, fiscal conservative, socially moderate New Hampshire Republican or one of the new breed of the GOP’s far-right interlopers.