Bonnie Chehames: Budget was not a win for everybody in New Hampshire

To The Daily Sun,

Rep. Glen Cordelli of Tuftonboro asked why every Carroll County Democrat voted against the “outstanding” state budget. Here are some good reasons.

Let’s start with the Education Freedom Accounts which Rep. Cordelli championed. This program will divert money from our public schools to home schooling, private, and religious institutions with few safeguards in place to ensure that all children are getting the education they need. And while they project that $70 million will go into this program, the state budget office indicates that the number will be much higher, with no reliable way to predict how many families will participate.

Next on the list is the critical race theory bill, which inhibits our First Amendment rights by prohibiting the discussion of systemic racism and sexism by public institutions. Do we want our children and grandchildren to grow up in an America that does not support free speech and the right of all citizens to discuss such controversial issues openly?

The Republicans stuffed prohibitions pertaining to a woman’s right to choose regarding her reproductive rights into the budget, banning pregnancy termination procedures after 24 weeks with no exceptions for rape and incest. An invasive verification medical procedure is required, and doctors will be criminalized for performing abortions after this time frame, even if a fetus is determined not to be viable. The NH Legislature has decided to make decisions that rightfully belong to women, their doctors and families. This will put women on the slippery slope of losing legal rights they have fought for over the past 100 years.

The budget returns $10 million in taxpayer money to those who failed to perform due diligence when investing in a Ponzi scheme, while refusing to fund dental benefits for those over 18 on Medicaid. As a result, all taxpayers will pay more for the visits individuals make to the emergency room in an effort to alleviate pain and to fight oral infections, while wealthy investors will have their money refunded for making an irresponsible investment in a false “get-rich-quick” scheme.

Lastly, nine out of every ten dollars of the reduction in the state’s interest and dividends tax will flow to the top 20% of earners and half of the reduction will go to just 209 taxpayers, who are in the top 1% of NH income earners. Also, the reduction in the Business Profits tax will largely benefit out-of-state corporations, not NH small businesses,  as Rep. Cordelli would like you to believe. Thus, Rep. Cordelli supports the transfer of wealth from hard working NH residents to the richest individuals in and out of state.

In summary, the budget that Rep. Cordelli has championed goes against the Live Free or Die values we hold dear, our First Amendment Rights, women’s reproductive rights, sound fiscal policy, and public education.

Bonnie Chehames

Melvin Village