I write to announce my campaign for re-election to the New Hampshire House of Representatives. For the past two terms I have had the honor of representing Strafford County District 17 (Dover Wards 5&6, Somersworth Ward 2), and I would like to have the opportunity to continue to serve.
The crafters of the New Hampshire Constitution looked beyond government as a body that can resolve disputes, and envisioned it as a force to develop and maintain a civil society, a society that both respects the rights of individuals, and promotes the common good. This idea guides my choices in the legislature.
Access to health care, including mental health services and addiction treatment and recovery, is clearly a common good. Our current health care system relies on a mixture of employer provided insurance, state and federal supported insurance, individually paid insurance, and absence of insurance. Fortunately, with the combination of the ACA and Expanded Medicaid (which I strongly supported), the last category is fairly small, but there are still significant inequities in access to high quality health care. I will continue support improvements in the health care system, because our whole state is stronger when our citizens are healthier.
Article 83 of our constitution declares, among other things, that it is the duty of the state "to encourage private and public institutions, rewards, and immunities for the promotion of agriculture, arts, sciences, commerce, trades, manufactures, and natural history of the country...." As a member of the Environment and Agriculture Committee, the promotion of agriculture is one of my particular interests. Dairy farming has historically been one of the mainstays of the New Hampshire economy. In recent years, this has shifted to some extent because of competition from mega-dairies in other parts of the country depressing milk prices, and because other sectors of the NH economy have become more dominant. However, the presence of dairy farms in New Hampshire has benefits well beyond the milk they produce. These farms are important employers, and significant customers for rural businesses such as equipment dealers. The acreage preserved by dairy farms helps maintain our rural character, which in turn strongly benefits our tourism industry. Our farmers were hit by droughts in 2015 and 2016. Although many had paid into a federal crop insurance program, it was badly designed, and failed to pay for their losses. Many farms were at risk of going under, which would have had a terrible ripple effect in rural areas of the state. Along with the Senate, my committee worked out a relief plan for our dairy industry, which has helped save many of those farms. Once again, this is the state promoting the common good.
Another crucial element of a civil society is citizen participation. This past term, I supported legislation to increase poll access for voters with disabilities. In addition, I voted for a bill which will allow local election officials to use modern technology to make the registration and voting process more efficient. Both of these bills passed. I also opposed Republican legislation that would make it harder to register to vote. Unfortunately, with majorities in both houses and the Governor's office, the Republicans were able to make this voter suppression legislation law. If re-elected, I will work to reverse these anti-voter restrictions.
You can read more about my positions on issues that affect New Hampshire on my website at peterbixbyNHHouse.org and contact my campaign at peterbixbyNHHouse@comcast.net. For legislative issues, email me at peter.bixby@leg.state.nh.us or call me at 603-749-5659. Please help me return to Concord next term by voting for me in the primary on September 11th, and in the general election on November 6th.
The crafters of the New Hampshire Constitution looked beyond government as a body that can resolve disputes, and envisioned it as a force to develop and maintain a civil society, a society that both respects the rights of individuals, and promotes the common good. This idea guides my choices in the legislature.
Access to health care, including mental health services and addiction treatment and recovery, is clearly a common good. Our current health care system relies on a mixture of employer provided insurance, state and federal supported insurance, individually paid insurance, and absence of insurance. Fortunately, with the combination of the ACA and Expanded Medicaid (which I strongly supported), the last category is fairly small, but there are still significant inequities in access to high quality health care. I will continue support improvements in the health care system, because our whole state is stronger when our citizens are healthier.
Article 83 of our constitution declares, among other things, that it is the duty of the state "to encourage private and public institutions, rewards, and immunities for the promotion of agriculture, arts, sciences, commerce, trades, manufactures, and natural history of the country...." As a member of the Environment and Agriculture Committee, the promotion of agriculture is one of my particular interests. Dairy farming has historically been one of the mainstays of the New Hampshire economy. In recent years, this has shifted to some extent because of competition from mega-dairies in other parts of the country depressing milk prices, and because other sectors of the NH economy have become more dominant. However, the presence of dairy farms in New Hampshire has benefits well beyond the milk they produce. These farms are important employers, and significant customers for rural businesses such as equipment dealers. The acreage preserved by dairy farms helps maintain our rural character, which in turn strongly benefits our tourism industry. Our farmers were hit by droughts in 2015 and 2016. Although many had paid into a federal crop insurance program, it was badly designed, and failed to pay for their losses. Many farms were at risk of going under, which would have had a terrible ripple effect in rural areas of the state. Along with the Senate, my committee worked out a relief plan for our dairy industry, which has helped save many of those farms. Once again, this is the state promoting the common good.
Another crucial element of a civil society is citizen participation. This past term, I supported legislation to increase poll access for voters with disabilities. In addition, I voted for a bill which will allow local election officials to use modern technology to make the registration and voting process more efficient. Both of these bills passed. I also opposed Republican legislation that would make it harder to register to vote. Unfortunately, with majorities in both houses and the Governor's office, the Republicans were able to make this voter suppression legislation law. If re-elected, I will work to reverse these anti-voter restrictions.
You can read more about my positions on issues that affect New Hampshire on my website at peterbixbyNHHouse.org and contact my campaign at peterbixbyNHHouse@comcast.net. For legislative issues, email me at peter.bixby@leg.state.nh.us or call me at 603-749-5659. Please help me return to Concord next term by voting for me in the primary on September 11th, and in the general election on November 6th.