Is this right for Newmarket?

Let's not forget this one, Newmarket:

This is something that has had a direct impact on Newmarket: Josh Davenport voted for a moratorium on school building aid and grants. 

Note--Adam Schroadter did not vote.

**Originally posted on 10/26/12 

Maybe he forgot he has a voting record?

When asked to explain his stance on women's rights at the candidate's forum in Newmarket on Tuesday, Adam Schroadter said "I am in favor of a woman's right to decide what she wants to do with her body, if that's how you're coining it."

His record says otherwise:

• Adam voted for removing comprehensive preventive health services for women, such as contraception, from benefits expected to be covered by insurance companies. (HR29, Roll Call #103, 2/22/2012)

• Adam voted for allowing any employer to deny coverage for contraception based on the employer's personal beliefs. (HB1546, Roll Call #117, 3/7/2012)

• Adam voted for defunding Planned Parenthood of Northern New England. (HCR41, Roll Call #123, 3/7/2012)

• Adam voted for purposefully obstructing a woman from receiving a legal abortion and forcing doctors to provide false and inaccurate information to patients, such as stating that abortions cause breast cancer. (HB1659, Roll Call #148, 3/14/2012)

• Adam voted for making it illegal for a woman to receive an abortion after 20 weeks. (HB1660, Roll Call #214, 3/29/2012)

• Adam voted for adding a 24-hour waiting period for abortions to a bill that otherwise addressed research and development tax credits for businesses. (SB295, Roll Call #249, 5/15/2012) 

• Adam voted for prosecuting individuals who knowingly or unknowingly caused the death of a fetus starting at eight weeks. Medical experts believe that approximately one out of four pregnancies ends in miscarriage by the end of 8 weeks; under this law women are unfairly targeted without any basis in sound medical science. (HB217, Roll Call #10, 1/4/2012)

• Governor's Lynch vetoed a bill that would ban abortion even when a woman's health is in jeopardy. Adam voted for overriding that veto in an attempt to establish this controversial law. (HB1679, Roll Call #303, 6/27/2012)

• Adam voted for overriding Governor Lynch's veto of a bill that makes it difficult for New Hampshire residents to obtain fertility treatments and unreasonably restricts a woman's rights during pregnancy. (HB217, Roll Call #311, 6/27/2012)  

I know what he said, but this is how he voted. How will YOU vote on November 4th?  

Let's keep moving forward.

Many times, elections are focused on the big races. Millions of dollars and countless hours are spent on those campaigns. But our state elections matter and have a significant impact on our lives, our rights and our freedoms. 

So let's talk about women's health and how the State government can affect it. We've read about what's been happening in Texas, Wisconsin, North Carolina and Arizona. But do you remember what was happening here in New Hampshire under a Republican controlled House in 2011-2012? 

Here are some of the issues that the NH House took on during that time:

• Defunding Planned Parenthood, jeopardizing the health care of thousands of NH women.
• Requiring parental notification before a minor receives an abortion even in the case of rape, abuse or incest.
• Removing comprehensive preventative health services for women, including contraception, from benefits expected to be covered by health insurers.
• Allowing employers to deny coverage for contraception based on the employers' personal beliefs.
• Forcing doctors to provide false information to patients seeking abortions, including that abortion causes breast cancer.
• Banning abortion even when a woman's health is in danger.
• Prosecuting individuals who knowingly or unknowingly cause the death of a fetus, a bill that could make it difficult for women seeking fertility treatment.

Adam Schroadter and Josh Davenport both supported all of these bills. If you're not from Newmarket or Newfields, go to http://votesmart.org/ to find out how your representatives voted.

Do you want to go back to this, New Hampshire? Is this what you want for yourself, your wife or your daughters? In Newmarket and Newfields, vote for Michael Cahill, Marcia Moody, Ella Walichnowska and Patty Lovejoy. Together we can protect our rights.
 

Know your reps.

Learn about the candidates running for State Office. Project Vote Smart is a great resource. 

For instance, did you know that Adam Schroadter and  Josh Davenport voted for the moratorium on state building aid, voted in favor of eliminating compulsory school attendance, voted against funding for Head Start and voted to repeal universal kindergarten?

Marcia Moody, Michael Cahill and Patty Lovejoy have shown great support for education in NH.

Election season.

State elections are in a little over a month. Are you ready?  

I wrote this almost 2 years ago, and feel the need to repeat it today. Both Adam and Josh are on the ballot again their records speak volumes. 

Here's what I posted on November 5, 2012:

This has not been a question of whether or not these guys are nice people--they are. But being nice isn't a good enough reason for me to vote for them. Too much is at stake.

I've written that Adam Schroadter and Josh Davenport:

• voted to allow guns on college campuses and in the State House
• voted against funding for drug and alcohol treatment
• voted against funding for the Head Start program 
• voted to divert taxpayer money to private and religious schools 
• voted to repeal public kindergarten 
• voted to eliminate compulsory school attendance
• voted to allow parents to object to school curriculum for any reason
• voted for the Voter ID law
• voted to eliminate gun licensing requirements 
• voted to legally allow businesses to discriminate against gay couples
• voted to defund Planned Parenthood
• voted for removing preventive health services for women from benefits expected to be covered by insurance companies
• voted to force doctors to give false information to women seeking abortions 
• voted to repeal NH's participation in RGGI
• they voted for Right to Work
• they voted to expand the death penalty 

Our State elections matter--please do your homework, Newmarket. 

We vote on November 4, 2014. Polls will be open from 7am-7pm at Town Hall. 

Get in line.

"...This is not just a Newmarket problem. There are other school districts having these same debates. Which is why, in fighting to restore school building aid, I did not ask for Newmarket to be at the front of the line, just to have an equal opportunity to compete for funds."--This is a quote from Adam Schroadter's letter in today's Exeter Newsletter. 

But why not ask for Newmarket to be at the front of the line? Isn't that the job of an elected official representing our town?

Dear Governor...

It was a long week here in Newmarket and yesterday I was angry at a situation that was feeling hopeless. 

So I wrote a letter. Please consider writing one too. (Edited to add: Follow this link for mail and email addresses for our elected officials.)

Dear Governor Hassan, Rep. Michael Cahill, Rep. Patricia Lovejoy, Rep. Marcia Moody and Rep. Adam Schroadter:

I’m writing to you at the end of an emotional week here in Newmarket.

As I hope you are aware, our town has been faced with a school facilities crisis for the last decade.  Our Jr. Sr. High School has many State DoE  deficiencies, including Fire and Life Safety concerns which, if not fixed by September 2015, will cause our school to be shut down. (A full list of problems and deficiencies can be found on the school's website.)

We have explored many options, including most recently a tuition agreement with Oyster River Cooperative School District that fell through when that district decided to partner with Barrington this week.

Thursday evening our Superintendent presented a revised plan for a Jr. Sr. High School project. It is a modest proposal that we believe will meet the needs of our students in this 21^st century learning environment. The cost of this project is $45 million-a cost we will need to shoulder ourselves due to no state aid. It’s a hard pill to swallow.

Add to this an astronomical (and unprecedented) increase in our SPED population that has resulted in a proposed budget increase of 7%. Again, we shoulder a bigger portion of this cost than ever before because of decreased state aid.

And to add insult to injury, last night it was brought to our attention that we will need to update our almost 30 year old heating system at a cost of approximately $122,000 and put aside plans to install a security system in the elementary school.

So here we are, faced with choosing between heating systems or security systems. It breaks my heart as both a mother and as a taxpayer. Can’t we do better for the kids of New Hampshire?

We need attention to be paid to NH schools. We need to stop cuts to Catastrophic Aid and we need to fund a school building aid program. Towns like Newmarket need your support.

Sincerely,

Toni Weinstein

Newmarket, NH

Meanwhile, at the State House....

It's been busy in Concord lately. Here are a few recent bills:

• The tax on tobacco (HB 659) was passed by the House in March, but killed by the Senate. Reps. Michael Cahill, Patricia Lovejoy and Marcia Moody voted for the tax and Rep. Adam Schroadter voted against.

• The Senate voted NOT to reinstate a minimum wage. (HB 501) Reps. Michael Cahill, Patricia Lovejoy and Marcia Moody supported a State minimum wage. Rep. Adam Schroadter did not. 

• SB 100, a bill that would allow employers to stop issuing paper paychecks, was killed by the House. 

• The legislature did not pass gambling. SB 152 was voted down by the House 199-164.

• HB 573, a bill that would allow the use of medical marijuana, passed the House in March and was amended by the Senate. Now it goes back to the House. All Newmarket Representatives voted in favor of this bill.

Still waiting

This is the email I sent to Adam on May 4th after I read about his vote on SB 40:

Hi Adam, 

I read Michael Cahill's letter to the editor in the Exeter Newsletter yesterday and was concerned about your vote on SB 40. As I'm sure you know, Newmarket needs every dollar to maintain the quality of education in our town, so I'm wondering why you voted against this bill? 

Thank you,

Toni Weinstein

Adam was one of only 34 legislators who voted against this bill, so I assume he has strong feelings about it. 

Funding for education is important and every penny matters to towns like Newmarket, which is why I wrote to Adam asking him why he voted against this bill that would restore more than $27,000 to our town. 

Still waiting for a response.

Supporting education?

Did you see Michael Cahill's letter to the editor in Friday's Exeter Newsletter?

May 03, 2013 To the Editor: 

We are nearing the end of this legislative session with bills having crossed from one body to the other. Governor Hassan put forth a good budget restoring funding for important programs, and the House version, while making adjustments, maintains the effort to provide needed services within the constraint of state revenue. Among the items of interest, the state will be funding water and sewer projects undertaken by municipalities but left out in the last biennium. Newmarket will receive $34,801 for a wastewater project in FY2015. During this session, we passed SB40 with strong, bi-partisan votes in both bodies. The bill restored education funding to local communities for whom it was cut in 2011. This bill passed 23-0 in the Senate and 303-34 in the House with three of Newmarket's four representatives voting in favor. As a result, Newmarket will receive an additional $27,217 in FY13 for its schools. The House passed HB 617, which through a modest increase in the gas tax of 4 cents annually over three years, will address our long neglected roads and bridges. Funding to cities and towns will enable them to maintain their infrastructure without turning to the property taxpayers. I hope that senators from both parties will approve this common sense approach. 

Michael Cahill
Newmarket
State Rep. Rockingham 17 for Newfields, Newmarket

With the concerns that we have here in Newmarket, I was surprised that Adam Schroadter was one of only 34 Representatives to vote against SB 40. I sent Adam an email asking why--I'll keep you posted.

Thanks to Michael Cahill, Patricia Lovejoy and Marcia Moody for supporting education in Newmarket.

Guns in the Statehouse.

I first heard about Sandy Hook on Facebook. 

Initially, there were reports about another school shooting (sad, but not shocking, which is sad in itself) but within a few minutes the information grew and became even more horrific.

I sat in front of my computer, with the TV on, crying.

I remember what it was like to pick my kids up from school that day. And how I wrestled with the decision about whether or not to tell them before they went back to school on Monday, struggling with how to tell my own first grader not to worry--you'll be safe at school. 

I remember the Facebook posts promising that this time was different and we were going to write letters and keep talking about it and make sure that things changed, but to be honest, I haven't written a letter since that first week. Have you?

Gun control is still a big issue in the country and if you've turned the national news on recently you've probably heard that the filibuster was defeated and the Senate will begin debate on gun control, thanks in large part to the efforts of Sandy Hook parents. It's a good first step.

Those same parents were instrumental in getting the most comprehensive gun control legislation in the country passed in Connecticut. Impressive.

And what about closer to home? What's been happening here in NH? 

We're nowhere close to having comprehensive gun control legislation passed in the Granite State. 

The previous legislature worked to make it easier to have and carry guns in NH. Some of the measures passed by the House included allowing guns on college campuses and in dorms, allowing loaded rifles and shotguns in cars, allowing guns in the State House chambers and the "Stand your ground" legislation, to name a few. You can read a more comprehensive list at Granite State Progress and I wrote about how our state representatives voted on some of those bills here and here. 

Here are some current issues around guns in NH:

One of the first items taken up by this legislature was repeal of the controversial bill that allowed guns on the house floor. That passed 196-153 with Reps. Michael Cahill, Patricia Lovejoy and Marcia Moody voting for repeal and Adam Schroadter voting against. You can read more about that bill here.

The House recently took up the repeal of the "Stand Your Ground" bill that was passed by the last legislature. This passed 189-184 with Reps. Michael Cahill and Patricia Lovejoy voting for repeal and Adam Schroadter voting against. Marcia Moody did not vote. 

Another gun related issue is HB 451 "repealing the license requirement for carrying a concealed pistol or revolver." Reps. Michael Cahill and Patricia Lovejoy voted to kill the bill. Adam Schroadter supported the bill. Marcia Moody did not vote.

We clearly have a long way to go. 

But it's not too late to send a message to our elected officials and ask for their support. Senators Jeanne Shaheen and Kelly Ayote need to hear from Granite Staters about universal background checks and other proposed federal gun control and safety measures. 

Contact your State Representatives and State Senators (find them here) and ask them what they are doing here in NH and why they vote like they do.

It's been 4 months since Sandy Hook. I've watched some of the mothers of those children on the news recently and am amazed at their strength.

The least I can do is write a letter. 

One. More. Day.

Well folks, this is it. One more day until the election and no matter who wins or loses, at least we can all go back to answering our phones again.

I've spent most of the last 30 or so days talking about Adam Schroadter's and Josh Davenport's voting records. This has not been a question of whether or not these guys are nice people--they are. But being nice isn't a good enough reason for me to vote for them. Too much is at stake.

I've written that Adam Schroadter and Josh Davenport

• voted to allow guns on college campuses and in the State House
• voted against funding for drug and alcohol treatment
• voted against funding for the Head Start program 
• voted to divert taxpayer money to private and religious schools 
• voted to repeal public kindergarten 
• voted to eliminate compulsory school attendance
• voted to allow parents to object to school curriculum for any reason
• voted for the Voter ID law
• voted to eliminate gun licensing requirements 
• voted to legally allow businesses to discriminate against gay couples
• voted to defund Planned Parenthood
• voted for removing preventive health services for women from benefits expected to be covered by insurance companies
• voted to force doctors to give false information to women seeking abortions 
• voted to repeal NH's participation in RGGI
• they voted for Right to Work
• they voted to expand the death penalty

And those are just the votes I've written about. There are more. I think these votes are wrong for our town and wrong for New Hampshire.

Check out Granite State Progress to look at detailed voting records for all the candidates.

I'll be voting for Marcia Moody, Michael Cahill, William Connery and Patricia Lovejoy.

But whoever you vote for, just make sure you vote.

3 Days

With just a few days to go, Seacoast Media has been endorsing candidates for the local state races. I read both the Herald and the News-Letter so I was shocked to see that they endorsed Adam Schroadter and Josh Davenport on Friday. Here's the quote:

Both are fiscal conservatives who want to grow New Hampshire's economy while watching out for existing small businesses. They will work hard for solutions to education funding initiatives such as school building aid as Newmarket faces a tough road ahead in renovating or building a new Newmarket Junior/Senior High School. They will also be a watchdog for Newmarket and other communities in the Great Bay watershed as they face hundreds of millions of dollars in potential upgrades to waste water treatment plants being mandated by the Environmental Protection Agency.

I was surprised because one of the first parts of the paper I read is the editorial and I tend to agree with many of the things written there. I don't think that anyone would argue that the paper tends to lean a little to the left and so do I. 

Yes, they are both fiscally conservative. No, I haven't seen any funding initiatives to help assist with school building aid or education in general. Both have voted in favor of the moratorium on school building aid and to support voucher systems, eliminating kindergarten and eliminating compulsory school attendance. These measures won't help Newmarket schools.

So I'm left wondering, do you read your own paper? Perhaps you missed...

• An editorial denouncing lack of services for mentally ill. Guess who voted to cut that funding?
• An editorial praising Gov. Lynch for recognizing the importance of education and training. Guess who voted against the community college system and voted for severe cuts to the university system?
• An editorial denouncing the voter suppression campaign in New Hampshire among students and the Voter ID law in general. Guess who supported those bills?
• An editorial denouncing HB 1264--a bill that would legalize discrimination against gay and lesbians. 
• And in another opinion piece about this controversial legislation that only 85 house members voted for Shir Haberman wrote: "With all state representatives up for election this fall it is good to remember the eight legislators, all Republicans, who represent Seacoast communities and were among the bill's supporters, and to vote accordingly in November. They were Paul Brown and Kathleen Hoelzel of Raymond, Joshua Davenport and Adam Schroadter of Newmarket, Amy and Lawrence Perkins of Seabrook, Kenneth Weyler of Kingston and William Smith of New Castle."
• An editorial denouncing the repeal of New Hampshire's involvement with RGGI. Guess who voted in favor of that?

Maybe Seacoast Media Group should follow it's own advice and take a harder look at the records of the candidates it endorses. 

5 Days

The recent hurricane has a lot of people thinking about the environment and I'm no different.  Today's post centers around HB 519, which repeals New Hampshire's Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI).

According to ConservationNH, RGGI is a "regional market-based program designed to reduce air pollution at the lowest cost. It was instituted by ten northeastern states to help limit carbon emissions, encourage innovation in alternative energy, and improve energy efficiency."

The Republican led House passed HB 519, repealing New Hampshire's participation in this program. Ten leading environmental organizations signed a letter in opposition to the bill: 

"The repeal of this important program is shortsighted, would undermine the state's environmental and energy goals, is not in the best interest of ratepayers, and would create an atmosphere where New Hampshire citizens would question the Legislature's commitment to reducing carbon emissions and our reliance on foreign oil. Rather than repeal, we urge a careful and thorough review of the RGGI program in order to make any needed reforms."

The conversation around RGGI is complicated. Here are a few articles and resources to better understand the program: 
http://conservationnh.org/climate-energy/a-rggi-primer/
http://des.nh.gov/organization/divisions/air/tsb/tps/climate/rggi/index.htm
http://www.seacoastonline.com/articles/20120611-NEWS-206110317
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regional_Greenhouse_Gas_Initiative

Adam Schroadter and Josh Davenport both voted to withdraw from RGGI.

A fair trade?

I sat at the Candidate's forum with my question in my hand. I hesitated to get up in the beginning, and was later beat to the microphone for the last couple of questions. My question involved women's rights, something that was barely mentioned during the 2 hour event so I left a little disappointed.

But I listened and it's taken a few days to decide how to put words to my feelings.

A theme that I've noticed lately (at the candidate's forum and in conversations with friends) is a separation between the economy and the "social agenda."

During the forum Adam Schroadter said that he was running as a pro-business candidate. He mentioned oyster farming, relaxing restrictions on home beer brewing and supporting the Polish Club in town as examples of his record. Sounds good, right?

But both he and Josh Davenport failed to mention their voting records on social issues.

So we get more oysters and home brewed beer in exchange for limited access to health care, dismantling women's rights, diverting money from public schools to private and religious schools, an expansion of the death penalty, guns in the Statehouse, legalized discrimination, a cumbersome and unnecessary voter ID law, guns on college campuses and a repeal of universal kindergarten. 

It's not just Newmarket. Ovide Lamontagne opposes gay marriage, opposes legal abortion, opposes funding for planned parenthood, supports turning Medicare into a voucher system, supports privatizing public education and supports abolishing the Department of Education while running as someone who will improve the state economy.

And it's even more obvious on the national stage--when my Republican friends tell me that they are socially liberal but are voting for Romney because of the economy they're basically saying lowering my taxes is more important than my GLBT friends, women's control over their own bodies or how we educate our kids. But he's a business guy, so it's ok?

What's hard for me to reconcile is that it's not like it's all or nothing with the economy--I hear people say that the recovery just hasn't happened fast enough or been strong enough or taxes aren't low enough. 

We can debate how much we should pay in taxes. I get that. 

But I'm not willing to debate what I can do with my body. Or what you can do with yours.

All candidates are pro-business. It's what they are "anti" that we can't ignore. 

9 Days

Right To Work
From Granite State Progress:

The New Hampshire General Court voted on whether to pass HB 474, the so-called "Right to Work" bill that would have jeopardized job-based health insurance, pensions and worker safety programs - important foundations for a healthy and productive work place that have largely been secured by organized work forces. The bill sought to interfere in private work place matters and bar employers and workers from arranging a fair share clause in contracts to help cover the collective bargaining costs of negotiating good jobs with good wages and benefits.(HB474, Roll Call #182, 5/4/2011)

This legislation has been criticized by opponents as anti-union and supporters have called it "worker freedom." You can read more about Right To Work here, here and here.

Adam Schroadter and Josh Davenport both voted in favor of this bill. 
Marcia Moody and Patty Lovejoy voted against it.

12 Days

Balance. When people talk about balancing the budget, I focus on the word "balance."

I imagine that one has to take a hard look at programs and make cuts where necessary, even if they are painful. And in order to further balance the budget, I imagine that it's necessary to find ways to bring in more revenue.

The current legislature did not BALANCE the budget, they CUT the budget, sacrificing programs and services and downshifting costs to towns like Newmarket. 

One example of this is reducing the cigarette tax. The legislature planned on an increase in sales which would offset the decrease in taxes even though it was ill-advised and hadn't worked in other states as reported in this article in the NY Times.

It didn't work. According to this article in The Eagle Tribune, the Department of Administrative Services show a $20.1 million drop in tobacco tax revenues. But to me, the kicker comes at the end of the article:

"But within 24 hours of the tax cut, manufacturer's raised prices 10 cents a pack--negating the benefit."

Adam Schroadter and Josh Davenport supported reducing the cigarette tax--forgetting all about balance.

According to the Times article, "the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids estimates that if the New Hampshire cut were enacted it would mean more than $21 million in long-term health costs. The campaign also estimates a 10-cent drop per pack would result in 1,000 new young smokers in New Hampshire."

There was talk at last night's candidate's forum about being pro-business. 

I just wonder at whose expense?

14 Days

Representatives Adam Schroadter and Josh Davenport both voted to expand the death penalty. 

The death penalty is one of those issues that people are either for or against and I'm not going to try and change any one's minds today. What I don't understand is how 2 of our representatives can fight so hard to eliminate a woman's right to a safe, legal medical procedure claiming to want to protect life, but then vote to support expanding the death penalty. 

It just doesn't make sense to me.

15 Days

I've written twice now about gun bills and you can read those posts here and here. HB 536 is another example of the House's irresponsible policy on guns that eliminates the licensing requirement to carry a firearm.

Here's what that legislation would do:

• make a license to carry a firearm optional
• allow firearms to be carried or transported without a license --openly or concealed, loaded or unloaded
• reduces the fee for non-resident licenses from $100 to $20. 

It seems like common sense to me that a person should have a license to carry a gun, but Adam Schroadter didn't think so. He voted in favor of this bill. 

Marcia Moody and Patty Lovejoy both opposed this bill.

**Josh Davenport did not vote on this piece of legislation

22 Days

Planned Parenthood is a topic that has been in the news a lot recently.

Planned Parenthood provides "a wide range of safe, reliable health care — and more than 90 percent is preventive, primary care, which helps prevent unintended pregnancies through contraception, reduce the spread of sexually transmitted infections through testing and treatment, and screen for cervical and other cancers. Caring physicians, nurse practitioners, and other staff take time to talk with clients, encouraging them to ask questions in an environment that millions have grown to trust."

The Republicans in the State House worked to defund Planned Parenthood in a couple different ways including HCR 41 and HB 228.

Here's my question: if the goal is to eliminate abortion, how does limiting access to birth control for thousands of women help to achieve that?

Adam Schroadter and Josh Davenport jeopardized the health care of thousands of Granite State women by supporting these bills.