NH DEMOCRATS MAKE A DIFFERENCE
- Created New Hampshire Working to help workers and companies recover from the recession by avoiding layoffs, expediting return to work, and providing training to help workers get new jobs.
- Outlawed the “Use Tax” to protect New Hampshire businesses and tourism by preventing taxation by other states of their residents who choose to shop in New Hampshire.
- Increased the NH minimum wage for the first time in 10 years
- Balanced the budget by reducing spending when revenues declined due to the national downturn
- Protected kids from bullying by requiring schools to have anti-bullying policies which included bullying through the use of electronic devices including telephones, cellular phones and computers,
- Reduced electronic waste by expanding the definition of electronic waste to include computers and media recorder/players, effectively outlawing the disposal of those hazardous items in landfills.
- Strengthened environmental protections concerning oil spills, water pollution, and drinking water violations.
- Enhanced voter protection by increasing the penalty for “phone jamming,” (which is used to disrupt campaign calls) to protect potential voters from disenfranchisement.
- Expanded health insurance coverage so that children under the age of 26 can now remain on their parents’ health insurance while they transition into the full-time workforce
- Established smoke-free restaurants
- Expanded unemployment benefits to include certain part time workers
- Created consistent funding for the Land and Community Heritage Investment Program [LCHIP]
- Rejected Real ID a program to require participation in the national identification card program
- Protected Workers with the WARN Act requiring businesses with more than 75 employees to provide 60 days notice prior to closing their doors.
- Established marriage equality by eliminating discrimination against gay and lesbian couples
- Protected borrowers by capping pay-day loan interest rates that were as high as 400% APR
- Supported NH businesses with a Research and Development tax credit and with HealthFirst to control health insurance costs for small businesses
- Defined, determined the cost of, and funded educational parity and established a system of accountability finally eliminating court oversight of public education
