The Issues
Education
Hope is working vigorously on the House Education Funding Committee to improve state funding of public schools. Quality public schools where all students have equal opportunity to learn are essential to our families, our communities and our businesses. NH continues to be last in the country for state funding of public education, despite constitutional and court-ordered obligations to fund an adequate education. A student’s zip code should not determine the quality of their education – and local taxpayers should not be burdened with excessive property taxes to fund schools adequately. Hope values our credentialed public school teachers, respects their capacity to provide appropriate curriculum and works to improve teacher retention.
Hope believes that all taxpayer-funded education, including the education voucher program, should assess student outcomes and have clear accountability for expenditures. Taxpayer-funded education should welcome all students without discrimination. We need to increase access to high school career & technical education (CTE) programs with greater state support, so students graduate ready for careers in the trades. Drastic funding cuts to our superb public university system have increased tuition and caused NH students to leave for cheaper out-of-state options. Many of these students won’t return, creating a staffing crisis for NH businesses. Hope fights for investments in our community college and university systems.
Housing
New Hampshire faces a critical shortage of housing. We need more affordable, workforce housing, for our neighbors - workers, seniors & young families. Sullivan County Granite Staters don’t have enough housing options to meet their varied needs and budgets. Employers can’t hire the staff they need if people do not have an affordable place to live. Hope has served on the Housing Committee, which worked in a very bipartisan manner to address housing production.
Healthcare & Reproductive Rights
Hope believes everyone deserves comprehensive, affordable health care. After a rewarding career as a kind, no-judgment dietitian, diabetes educator and eating disorders specialist, she appreciates the opportunity to now address healthcare needs more systemically. She votes against restrictions on reproductive freedom, advocates for better and more available mental health care, has introduced legislation to make access to obesity & diabetes medications and supplies always be covered by insurance and works to increase understanding of substance use disorder (addiction) as a disease, not a crime.The premiums and added medication copays for Medicaid recipients that Republicans included in the current state budget are gravely concerning - those with the most need for help to access medical care are effectively denied. This is morally wrong - health care should be a fundamental human right, not a privilege of wealth.
The ability to control one’s own body is an issue of equity and justice. It is about sovereignty over your own body. In the Live Free or Die state, there is no role for government or politicians in personal decisions about reproduction. The same extremists seeking to ban or restrict abortion are also intent on limiting access to birth control, IVF treatment, and gender-affirming health care. Hope has consistently voted against legislation to control what healthcare people can access.
Affordability
New Hampshire needs an economy that works for all of us. Hope works hard to ensure that NH is an affordable place for people to raise their families, go to school and retire. It is essential to increase state funding for community schools to reduce the unreasonable burden of property taxes and to make more municipal resources available for other needs such as roads and safety services. We must urgently address our critical shortage of housing. Hope’s legislation to make conversions of large older homes into several apartments more affordable is now law.
NH is far behind the rest of New England in addressing utility costs effectively. We need to permit and incentivize clean energy to reduce our exorbitant electricity costs. Hope strongly supports a living wage and opposed the anti-union mis-named “right-to-work” legislation. Universal pre-K programs and increased access to affordable, quality child care is both essential to families and the broader economy. Businesses need employees who have reliable child care! Food insecurity is another economic issue – we simply have far too much hunger in our communities. The reliance on our wonderful local food banks and soup kitchens needs to be bolstered by more systemic approaches to preventing hunger.
Democracy
As the granddaughter of a suffragette and the daughter of a social studies teacher, Hope has enormous respect for democracy and the privilege of voting. She will continue to promote voter participation, including convenient same-day voter registration and no-excuse absentee ballots and will oppose restrictive legislation that makes it harder to vote. NH does not experience election fraud! Hope is especially interested in engaging young people as voters. She listens thoughtfully and respectfully to constituent concerns to ensure that everyone has a voice in the State House. Hope believes responding to constituents is a significant responsibility. Hope will continue to work vigorously to defeat the Free State Movement’s efforts to dismantle democracy.
Environment & Energy
District 8 has many beautiful natural spaces, from the Connecticut River to Crescent Lake to Lake Sunapee to Pillsbury State Park. As a hiker, cyclist and gardener, Hope observes the changing climate and works for NH to be proactive to preserve our environment. She voted for environmental protections, including a pause on landfills, restrictions on PFAS, and shoreline protection from wake boating. She sponsored bills to address cyanobacteria and pesticides that harm our bees and other pollinators. Hope successfully opposed creating a transfer station at the Claremont Junction that would bring heavy truck traffic of toxic waste to the city. She advocates for technology that supports clean renewable energy to lower our utility costs, protect the climate and our natural resources, and foster growth in tourism to support our economy.
Firearms Safety & Second Amendment Rights
Hope values Second Amendment rights and respects responsible gun ownership. We must take care of each other with reasonable, commonsense public safety laws to decrease the suicide rate & keep our children safe in schools. Background checks on every gun sale and reasonable waiting periods would improve NH public safety while maintaining individual freedoms. The vast majority of gun owners agree that these are responsible measures we can take to save lives. We must work together for safe and responsible gun ownership that is compatible with Second Amendment rights.