Grantham Democratic Town Committee

A Big Success!

This year's Democratic Gala Fundraiser in Newport was a huge success! A big thank you to the more than 70 people who came from Newport, Claremont, Grantham, New London, Sunapee and Lebanon to help with the fundraising. Everyone enjoyed an evening with delicious food, bids on tempting Silent Auction choices, and wonderful blue grass music and songs from the Fogey Mountain Boys. We appreciated the presence of current and former representatives Matthew Houde, Andy Schmidt, Ben Lefebvre, Susan Almy, Pat Kinne, Sue Gottling and Carla Skinder. It was the Democratic team at its best! The feedback has been great, and we generated $3300 for the NH Committee to Elect House Democrats.

Thank you again to everyone who helped fund-raise and who helped put the event together!

2011 Budget Protest

Some of you attended Thursday's rally and were as impressed, I am sure, as we were, with the numbers, the enthusiasm, the calm and focused behavior of the 5,000 present, and the quality of the speeches by so many passionate voices calling for social justice. We heard from a ten-year-old girl with two autistic siblings, a young man, a high school student, recovering from an addiction, (so brave!) and many others from the social service and medical communities. A rabbi gave the opening prayer and both the Catholic and the Episcopal bishops stood with us, with bishop Gene Robinson a particularly eloquent ceremony closer. The crowd was full of children and adults in wheelchairs being pushed by their parents and caregivers. There were no loud, attention-grabbing thugs among us. These were people who wanted their legislators to know that they disagreed with the proposed House budget, and they did so with dignity.

Grantham Democrats Annual Blue Plate Specials Fund Raiser

Here we go...It's time for our BIG fundraiser for our town committee. These events raise $$ for us, so that we can sponsor events for you and raise $$ for our local, state and national candidates. We, your executive committee, hope that everyone of you will consider signing up to attend one of these events. They are a terrific way to meet new people, eat home-cooked meals prepared by some of the best of the foodies among us and raise $$ at the same time. All of the hosts volunteer their time, their resources and their homes to make these events happen. It has been, I think, a democratic tradition in this town for at least 7 years now and some of us have been hosting these events for that long! So, read the menus and put your reservation in the mail soon.

For more information, e-mail me or give a call: 863-5663 (Judy) or 863- 2976 (Phyllis).

Thanks for considering this. You're in for a treat!

Legislative update from Sen. Matthew Houde - February, 2012

Greetings! I hope everyone is enjoying this mild winter –not the skiers, I imagine!

Much legislative activity continues to swirl around Concord these days, but I wanted to focus on two constitutional amendments that the Senate voted on recently. One dealt with education funding, and the other with funding of state government in general. A note on process: constitutional amendments require a 3/5 vote in both legislative chambers as well as a 2/3 vote by voters in November. As of now, both the Senate and the House have passed different versions of constitutional amendments addressing the same topics, so will have to come to agreement if they are to move forward...

Education funding

This constitutional amendment is about the ability of the state to target educational aid. Proponents of targeted aid amendments believe New Hampshire should not have to fund adequacy from the first dollar, and instead should be able to target aid to those communities that need it more. This is an important conversation for NH to have, and current majorities in the House and Senate –as well as the Governor – support targeted aid. However, there remains disagreement between the House on the one hand and the Senate (and Governor) on the other over the particulars, including whether the Legislature should have the “responsibility” to fund education, which the Senate and Governor support. (The House amendment would essentially give the Legislature exclusive authority - but no obligation - to fund education.)

The Senate CACR, while it at least includes an affirmative obligation to fund education, lacks two basic things: one is any floor or level of funding that each community must receive, and the other is any meaningful oversight by the courts. As to one, without a floor future legislatures could indeed send limited or no funds to a given community. And as to two, rather than keep education a fundamental right, which is subject to judicial review of “strict scrutiny”, the courts would now be able to overturn an act of the Legislature concerning education funding only if there was no reasonable basis for it. This is too low of a standard for something our Constitution requires us to “cherish”. As a result, I voted against the CACR - and would encourage you to do so should it make it to the ballot.

An additional point: Problems of donor or recipient towns would, presumably, be avoided as the CACR is a step toward elimination of the “Statewide Property Tax”, which comprises part of the funds that the state uses to meet its education obligation.

Government funding

The House CACR on this topic would preclude the state from raising taxes or fees without the vote of 3/5 of the Legislature. The Senate focused instead on spending and would cap the growth of the state budget at the rate of inflation - unless 3/5 of both the House of Representatives and the Senate waive the requirement.

Both of these proposals strike me as bad ideas for a number of reasons, but I’ll focus on the Senate CACR:

A spending cap at this juncture – at the tail end of a recession – would essentially lock in the effects of recent spending cuts for years, potentially slowing recovery even during periods of economic growth

Promoting gridlock at the State House – not always a bad idea, I know – since a minority (just 10 senators, for example) could block action

Likely lead to further cost-shifting – either to municipalities or from one program to another

Potentially negative impact on state’s bond rating, which would make borrowing costs rise

Inflation is an arbitrary measure for state spending (we know, for example, that state spending on health care and Medicaid has outpaced inflation, and with an aging population on the horizon we would not have the ability to raise revenue to cover the expenses)

I, like you, read daily accounts in the Valley News about the various bills in Concord and I am sure that you, like me, are worried about the impact of so many negative bills…I assure you that I am doing my very best to make sure as many bad bills as possible do not pass, or at least do not pass in the form they are introduced. As usual, please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions or concerns.

Who Pays

Andy Schmidt sent an interesting document entitled "Who Pays". Describes who bares the tax burden in New Hampshire and the nation. Please see Who Pays here.

Volunteer Opportunites for Grantham Democrats

1. Support the Grantham Community Crisis Fund through regular financial contributions. A percentage of any fund-raising activity we have will go to support this much needed program.

2. Establish a volunteer program to:

B. Offer home care with a family member for a few hours while a caregiver engages in similar activities or simply needs a respite.

Heddy and Ted Fantl, assisted by Ebba McArt, have agreed to coordinate this volunteer activity. They will contact relevant town officials, coordinate and organize the list of volunteers willing to help out and maintain continuity in the program. They will be the only ones who will contact you should you wish to help out. Town Officials will provide only their names as contacts. They, in turn, will draw from a list of volunteers so that no one Democratic volunteer is overly burdened. If you would like to sign up to volunteer for either of the two activities, or if you have any questions, please contact Heddy Fantl at hlfantl@gmail.com.

Voting Information

Vote at Grantham Town Hall, Lower Level, 300 Route 10 South. Register with the town clerk, Rita Eigenbrode, 603-863-5608. More registration information here.

Contribute to the Democratic Town Committee

Send your contributions to the Grantham Democratic Town Committee to:

Robert Katz
Treasurer, Grantham Democratic Town Committee
PO Box 564
Grantham, NH 03753

Make check payable to Grantham Democratic Town Committee, these contributions are not tax deductible.

2010 Grantham General Election Results

I wish we could say, "As Grantham goes, so goes the state and nation," but alas, it was not to be, at least for this election cycle. But we are heartened by the quality and courage of Ben Lefebvre, Andy Schmidt and Matthew Houde whom we will send to Concord to defend the gains we have made these past two years. Here are the results for Grantham, followed by the results for Sullivan 1, our legislative district.

For Governor	Lynch	907
	Stephan	547
For US Senator	Hodes	743
	Ayotte	702
For Rep. In Congress	Kuster	804
	Bass	615
For State Senator	Houde	799
	Danforth	633
For State Rep. (2)	Schmidt	787
	Lefebvre	695
	Ward	627
	Wallin	571
For County Commissioner	Jarvis	698
	Callum	644

Our Mission

To elect democratic candidates on November 6, 2012 to federal, state and local offices.