Richard DeMark - 'Pledge' hasn't resulted in needed change but Feltes still for it

To The Daily Sun,

In next week’s Democratic Primary for N.H. governor, we have the choice of two excellent candidates in Dan Feltes or Andru Volinsky to replace Governor Sununu. Feltes and Volinsky agree on many issues, including the need for clear leadership from the governor’s office on fighting COVID-19, which has been sorely lacking. They agree on an increase in the state minimum wage, which hasn’t happened since 2009. They agree on paid family medical leave and Medicaid expansion. And they agree that the state’s budget should not be balanced on the backs of residential property owners, perpetuating an increasingly regressive tax structure that drastically limits our state’s capacity to provide the governmental services we need.

However, there are some important distinctions between the candidates. Volinsky believes health care is a right, he wants health care to be a federal initiative and to increase N.H. citizens’ access to coverage. A federal program, modeled after Medicare, would equalize the disparities of insurance options between states. Feltes says he wants to make quality health care more affordable. That is critically important, but making health care more affordable is not enough. This pandemic has exposed the weaknesses in our current health care system. In reality, we don’t have a health care system but a hodgepodge of many poor choices that are not accessible to many citizens. What we need is a health care system that is universal, not tied to employment and one that is capable of reigning in the greed and power of pharmaceutical corporations. Improvements to healt hcare need bold action. Volinsky will fight for those.

On education, you could not find an individual more knowledgeable on the inequities between communities in their ability to provide quality education than Volinsky. Feltes and Volinsky agree that our schools need more funding. Feltes has taken the broad based tax “pledge”. Volinsky pledges to lower property taxes which continue to place a heavy burden on families, small business and the elderly. Continuing to try to address our state’s priorities under the burden of the decades old “pledge” has not resulted in the change we need.

On ending carbon pollution causing climate change, Volinsky takes a more aggressive stance on ending our reliance on fossil fuels and conversion to renewable sources of energy to address this critical threat facing us all.

N.H. needs a governor willing to take on the core issues of concern to most N.H. citizens: their health, the education of our children and climate change. That is why I am supporting Andru Volinsky.

Most importantly, we need a governor who will honor the will of the people who elected our House and Senate representatives and get things done instead of taking pride in making vetoes. Make a plan and vote next Tuesday and on November 3.

Richard DeMark

Meredith