Good things happening in NH

Friday, February 5, 2010

To the Editor:

On Jan. 21, Gov. Lynch gave the State of the State address. In a time when our country is in the throes of a recession, we saw signs of hope and learned the New Hampshire status was much better than most of the country. The economy is slowly growing, our high school dropout rate has been reduced by 30 percent, and our unemployment rate is lower than the national average.

The governor talked about programs to help employees keep their jobs and employers keep their skilled workers through a partnership with employment security called NH Working and a new approach to health care with accountable care facilities. New job opportunities will be created in the fields of renewable energy and energy efficiency. These are some of the jobs of the future. In a time when others can only say stop spending and cut costs at any costs, we heard real solutions to our problems.

We have done a lot of good work in Concord, raising minimum wage, ensuring kindergarten is available for all children of New Hampshire, raising the age of compulsory high school attendance, ensuring equality in marriage, protecting our environment and promoting the use of renewable energy.

As your representative, I have been working on a bill with Rep. Carol Friedrich from Grafton to bring Statewide Emergency Notification to New Hampshire. This would allow First Responders in every town in New Hampshire to proactively alert their communities of an emergency by calling their phones. There is no additional cost to the taxpayers.

We passed the bill by an overwhelming margin of 318-3 in the House. Now it will go on to the Senate. I have tried to be approachable and responsive. I work for all our constituents. It’s not about party. It was mentioned that you should research your candidates and I agree. Please beware of your resources. A one-sided reference is measuring representatives based on their criteria, not necessary what is important to you. You can view our voting records at the General Courts Web site http://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/.

In closing, the towns of Brookline and Hollis are preparing for a town meeting vote to determine if we should change the constitution to include the definition of marriage. The purpose is to change the constitution and enshrine discrimination. We all have the right to believe as we choose. We have the right to amend our constitution but to add discrimination and intolerance to the constitution is wrong. And we are better than that. I will be at town meeting voting no on this petition. I would ask that the good people of our towns go to the meeting and do the same.

Rep. MELANIE LEVESQUE

NH House of Representatives

Election Law Committee

Brookline, Hollis, Mason