Issue Position: New Hampshire's Budget

Issue Position

New Hampshire has a revenue problem: plain and simple. Dan does not believe it is fiscally prudent to eliminate automatically any revenue option. Dan believes New Hampshire can and should have a constructive and rational debate concerning both sides of our budget: Expenses and Revenues. No business, no organization, and no family automatically takes revenue options off the table when budgeting.

Dan's experience as a legal aid attorney has taught him that state services and programs assisting our friends and neighbors in need -- including persons with disabilities (such as persons on the developmentally disabled waiting list) and senior citizens on fixed incomes -- are absolutely critical to providing economic opportunity for everyone. If we are serious about moving New Hampshire's economy forward and providing economic opportunity for all, then we must make the tough investments now that pay jobs dividends in the longer term -- in education, job training, infrastructure, and innovation. As a state, we should care for the least among us, take proven and effective steps necessary to open economic opportunity and economic growth, and consider the long-term implications of our investment decisions.

In order to have an honest discussion about funding New Hampshire's priorities and obligations, all revenue options must be part of the discussion. Consistent with that approach, Dan has an open mind on expanded gambling. Any legislation Dan might support, however, must create good jobs for workers who build and maintain the facility, and it must send a substantial amount of revenue to the state and local governments. As a legal aid attorney who has worked with clients suffering from addictions, Dan is concerned about gambling addiction and believes expanded gambling legislation would need to have adequate safeguards and resources in place to address this serious issue. Dan is also sensitive to arguments concerning the proliferation of casinos as well as the possible impact on Concord's Capital Center for the Arts.

Dan will consider all revenue options with an open mind and in good faith. Dan will take the lead in advancing and debating thoughtful revenue ideas, and he will listen to everyone who seeks to work productively toward addressing New Hampshire's revenue problem. Dan is not running away from tough issues, he is running for State Senate to tackle them head-on.

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