Soldati challenges Kenney on education, health care, fiscal policy

LACONIA — Executive Councilor Joe Kenney (R), who’s held District 1 for five terms, met business owner Emmett Soldati (D), who’s seeking to unseat Kenney in the General Election on Nov. 5, in a panel in front of voters at the Belknap Mill Thursday night.

The pair took questions from an audience gathered to attend a nonpartisan candidate forum moderated by Sue Nastasi of the League of Women Voters. The event, organized primarily by the Unitarian Universalist Society of Laconia, attracted around 80 voters and community members, and prompted frank discussion between Kenney and Soldati.

“One of the things that I really enjoy about New Hampshire is the quality of living, that’s why we live here, that’s why people are attracted to New Hampshire,” Kenney said. “While I’ve been on the council, I’ve been trying to represent the values that are important to New Hampshire.”

The Governor’s Executive Council fulfills three primary roles within the executive branch of state government: they approve all large-dollar state contracts; they approve political and judicial appointments and nominations; and they vote on all boards and commissions.

“Fourteen years ago, I did three things: I got sober, I moved back to my hometown of Somersworth, and I opened a small business. And since that I have seen how New Hampshire has been changing,” Soldati said. “A lot of folks, especially in my generation, are facing new challenges. Whether it relates to the housing crisis, a growing substance abuse crisis that seems to be outpacing efforts on the ground, an education crisis that is strapping so many homeowners with property taxes that they no longer can afford, and a health care crisis, both relating to reproductive health care access and even general health care access.”

Over a long-winding discussion, Kenney and Soldati touched on education, health care and fiscal matters, among others, generally disagreeing on solutions and root causes.

Soldati noted Frank Edelblut, commissioner of the Department of Education, will end his tenure in March, and executive councilors will vote on whoever is appointed thereafter. There will also be two Supreme Court justices facing mandatory retirement in the next term, and councilors will be called upon to approve their replacements.

“I am concerned about the types of judicial nominations that will be placed on our Supreme Court, and will be scrutinizing to make sure that we don’t have a similar, partisan, extreme view on bodily autonomy sitting on our Supreme Court,” Soldati said. 

Kenney said Soldati’s claim he voted against family planning contracts is not entirely accurate.

“For the record, I have supported all the family planning contracts while I’ve been on the Executive Council, except for the three that my opponent just mentioned. Because in our state law, under HB 2 about two or three years ago, it prohibits us from funding family service health care clinics that provide abortions — it’s in the law,” Kenney said. “So my opponent would break the law by voting for these contracts. I believe what we need to do is to put further funding into federally-qualified health care planning centers around the state of New Hampshire.”

Soldati said there’s an important difference between proponents of school choice and the Education Freedom Account vouchers following Kenney’s communicated support of the EFA program.

“We keep hearing this idea that it’s improving school choice for working families,” Soldati said. “The vast majority of recipients of the vouchers were already sending their kids to private or religious schools, so it didn’t improve choice. No. 2, we have already seen efforts to increase the income ceiling so that, ultimately, anyone will be eligible for it. We now see that many of the schools that have received vouchers require the parents to apply before they can get tuition or scholarship assistance at that school — that means private institutions are being subsidized by your tax dollars.”

Kenney said a $200 million deficit in the state budget can be reconciled through fiscally responsible measures.

“We’re going into the next cycle, and the governor has level-funded all of the agencies. And we know that we’re going to have a very frugal budget process here in the next couple of years,” Kenney said. “The good news is that we have a double-rating of our bond rating. I believe it’s 4% of the overall revenue that we spend on indebtedness. Look at what’s going on in Washington, gross national product, that’s paying basically for all of our national debt interest. So New Hampshire is fiscally sound, we have low liabilities, we have an excellent rating.

"We’re positioned well, I believe, in the next cycle to meet our financial obligations and run the state the way it should be run.”

And Soldati said New Hampshire should increase education funding on a per-pupil basis.

“The $21,000 figure that you’ve heard just now and from the last forum is the total amount each pupil receives. It is not the amount of money that the state provides and it is an average,” Soldati said. “Across the state, poorer communities have a higher burden to meet that $21,000, while the state only provides $4,100, so the state provision is the lowest in the country. The $21,000 is made up by the taxpayers, up to 70% of our local tax bills goes to schools. If you’ve seen your tax bill, you know that — my concern is why are we taking out millions of dollars and sending it to private and religious schools?” 

The forum was broadcast live by Lakes Region Public Access and a video of the event will be available at lrpa.org.