A budget isn't 'balanced' if it doesn't meet state's needs

To The Daily Sun,

To Harold French —  my state senator — who voted against investing in our community:

The Republicans cannot call their previous budgets sound fiscal conservatism with a "surplus" if those budgets didn't meet the needs of the community. They have not. We don't have enough social workers for DCYF, which means leaving children in dangerous peril even if someone makes the call for a neglected child — who will answer with no social workers? There is no state mental health facility outside the prison, which means those who are a danger to themselves are put where we put those who are a danger to those around them — and they suffer as if they are prisoners rather than being treated like the neighbors with a health problem that they are.

I don't get to say I have a surplus in my household finances (to be put in a savings account or invested for the future) by just neglecting to pay a bill! INSTEAD, I'm putting more expenses on "future-me" when the bill collectors come and they will be demanding interest for my failure to pay.

Education is NOT being funded. The state took 4 percent of adequacy aid every year and now are upset as the current Legislature listens to voters and seeks to rectify that theft that the hurt the poorest communities the most? How many teachers have been cut across Mr. French's district? Franklin is down to bare-bones. There were no more cuts to be made last year, and because the governor didn't sign the budget the school board has to operate under the assumption that 4 percent will be cut again. That loss is made up for in local taxes, while the municipal aid would have helped local communities to either pay what they have neglected or lower taxes. With local control each community could decide what was right for them through selectman or city councils. The same in Franklin is true for Laconia, for Winnisquam and for Merrimack Valley, where my own kids will lose funding for their classrooms because of this veto and their failure to act on the constitutional mandate to fund education equitably across the state.

It's time to sign the budget and get N.H. back to planning our future rather than stuck in the past, stuck in what the Republicans would have done if only they had won. The Democrats brought a budget for Granite State families to the table and somehow we're squabbling over whether the out-of-state corporations get ANOTHER tax cut as promised by Sununu.

Well, I can't be paying other people's bills before my own! McDonald's and Walmart ought to pay for the price of doing business here. They should be expected to participate in funding the roads that carry people to their drive-through windows or everything-stores. They should be expected to participate in funding the education of the young people who will work for them. They should be expected to uphold their end of operating in a community that protects the dignity of Americans in serious mental health crisis. I want that for my neighbors. I want that for my family. I want my senator and governor to want that. So maybe it's time to look to other leaders in this community; otherwise us and our needs will be the next thing on their chopping block

Nicolette Gala Grano

Salisbury