Issues & Priorities

I will never support a state income or sales tax. I have always proudly supported fiscally responsible spending that funds our most urgent needs, while keeping more of your own hard-earned money in your pockets. I have also been proud to support efforts to send more money back to the North Country towns to lower our property tax burden, and will continue to fight for even more property tax relief. The best and most effective way to fight inflation and encourage economic growth in the North Country is to keep our taxes and spending as low as possible.

Bringing higher quality and less expensive healthcare options is a very important issue up here in the North Country. We need to encourage more, quality healthcare providers to find their way into our communities so that North Country residents do not need to drive hours just for quality care. This year, I was proud to sponsor legislation to allow Physician Assistants to expand their scope of practice, giving even more qualified professionals an opportunity to practice in the North Country. As a Pharmacist, I also understand that prescription drug costs are a very real issue for many Granite Staters, especially seniors. I supported efforts this year to lower out-of-pocket expenses for high priced drugs, such as those used for cancer and rare diseases. Additionally, I supported a budget that extends health care options to hard working North Country residents that may not have access to health insurance through their workplace.

The lack of quality, affordable housing has become a top issue for many Granite State families, both young and old and the best way to solve this challenge is to build more homes. I will continue to make it a priority to cut through the governmental red tape and overly burdensome regulations that are preventing our home builders from constructing the housing that we need. Additionally, I supported efforts to encourage private construction of fairly-priced apartments in the North Country

A good education is the key to a strong community. I believe that we need to have the best education, no matter which path the student chooses. I supported a budget that significantly increases funding for our public schools and I support expanding our highly successful Education Freedom Account Program (EFA), which gives lower income families more access to education options outside of their traditional public schools. I was proud to support raising the income threshold on our EFA program to allow even more working families to take advantage of the program, and will continue to do so when I am in the Senate.

I also believe that we need to take steps to encourage more students to enter into the trades through our high school CTC programs and Community College System. These are high paying and very necessary jobs that do not leave students with endless college debt. The North Country in particular is facing a shortage of workers in the trades.

The North Country’s heart and soul is its beauty and natural environment; the North Country represents the character of our entire state. It is our job to conserve it for future generations. I have always strongly opposed the building of new dumps in the North Country, and opposed the importation of out of state garbage from Massachusetts and New York. This past year, I filed legislation to stop these facilities from being built. When I am in the Senate, I will be the leader of the efforts to permanently stop the plans to build these new dumps in the North Country. The North Country doesn’t need a new dump, Massachusetts does-Keep the Trash in Mass!

I will always strongly defend our constitutional rights, especially our Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms, without exception or limitation.