Marcia Hayward: Hough may be amiable but he has anti-government views

To The Daily Sun,

In the Sept. 3 issue of The Daily Sun, voters were encouraged to vote for Gregg Hough because he is a great friend, husband and father. I have no doubt he is all of those things. However, I believe the voter should be aware of a candidates political views.

Gregg is an anti-government, Free State-leaning individual. As a city councilor he will be making financial decisions for Laconia. Let's take a look at his record as a state representative. Gregg voted to reduce the rates to both the Business Profits and Enterprise taxes. The state has lost $1.175 billion in revenue to date. Gregg supported the elimination of the Interest and Dividends Tax, the only progressive tax in the state. The tax ended on Jan. 1 of this year. In 2024 alone, the loss in revenue was $184.7 million.

Educational Freedom Accounts (EFA) aka vouchers were tacked onto the budget bill in 2022. Greg supported vouchers. The EFAs were projected to be $15 million over budget. When given the opportunity to repeal the addition of the EFAs, Gregg declined. In a recent letter to The Daily Sun, Gregg expressed concern over the lack of accountability with 501(c)(3). Yet, he does not seem to recognize his hypocrisy with his support of EFAs which are costing the taxpayers $300 million this year and have little accountability. 

Gregg has stated in former letters in The Daily Sun that he wants to keep government out of readers' pockets. If he brings that mindset to the city council, I fear Laconia could become a Grafton. If one is not familiar with Grafton, please read "A Libertarian Walks into a Bear."

Gregg is a very amiable individual but he holds some very disconcerting views.

Marcia Hayward

Laconia