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Reinstate the funding

Democrats in the New Hampshire House of Representatives removed funding for the state Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, and there’s simply no excuse for it.

In response to the Governor Sununu’s proposed budget, the Democrat-led House Finance Committee vowed to remove all of the Governor’s appropriations to assess each and every one of the funding allocations and determine whether they had merit. By removing its funding, Democrats are telling us that the ICAC lacks merit and doesn’t deserve the $500,000 the Governor allocated to them.

That’s galling when you consider that it helps protect our children from online predators. Specifically, the ICAC Task Force helps provide training, equipment and resources to local police departments across the state to combat internet crimes against children, such as child prostitution, online solicitation of minors, and the possession, manufacturing and distribution of child sexual abuse images. How can such a program lack merit?

In the best-case scenario, though, the ICAC funding was removed in the broad sweep, never evaluated and therefore never put back in. While unintentional, if true, it smacks of negligence on the part of the House Finance Committee.

The ICAC Task Force is an important program that deserves funding. Call your state representatives and senators and tell them they need to fix the House Democrats’ mistake.