Commentary
Repeal of Interest and Dividends Tax disproportionately benefits wealthy NH households
In 2021, the Legislature enacted a phaseout plan for the Interest and Dividends Tax, which is collected from a percentage of income generated by wealth, that would eliminate the tax by 2027. This change will result in less state revenue for public services. However, in the state budget currently being constructed by the House Finance […]
Bhutanese Americans seek justice for forced evictions and human rights abuses
The Peace Initiative Bhutan, a nonprofit organization, and Bhutanese American community members have joined hands to work with Democratic U.S. Rep. Ro Khanna of California and Democratic Sens. Sherrod Brown of Ohio and Bob Casey of Pennsylvania to introduce a resolution on Bhutan in Congress. The resolution recognizes the Kingdom of Bhutan as responsible for […]
The siren is blaring for New Hampshire’s long-term care crisis
If you have ever heard a tornado siren, you know what a frightening sound that is. Given the plight of our state’s nursing homes, such a siren should be sounding in Concord. Consider: Our state has one of the nation’s five-worst nursing home staffing shortages. There are county facilities with wait lists of over 100 […]
How to get forever chemicals out of US drinking water
Harmful chemicals known as PFAS can be found in everything from children’s clothes to soil to drinking water, and regulating these chemicals has been a goal of public and environmental health researchers for years. On March 14, 2023, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency proposed what would be the first set of federal guidelines regulating levels […]
Make your town your lifetime home
It’s town meeting season in New Hampshire, a time when Granite Staters are coming together to discuss and vote on issues that matter. It’s also part of our rich history and what makes New Hampshire a special place to live. People here have a history of working together for the common good. While there will […]
Can the Granite State break out of the Stone Age on climate?
We didn’t realize it at the time, but when my family and I moved from California to New Hampshire in 2021, we also traveled back to the Stone Age on climate policy. Amongst its New England neighbors, the Granite State has the worst record on climate resilience, is the only state absent in the U.S. […]
Why it’s hard for the US to cut or even control Medicare spending
President Joe Biden’s 2024 proposed budget includes plans to shore up the finances of Medicare, the federal health insurance program that covers Americans who are 65 and up and some younger people with disabilities. His administration aims to increase from 3.8 percent to 5 percent an existing Medicare tax that’s collected on the labor and investment […]
Editor’s Notebook: The structure of time
Over the past month or so, I’ve spent a big chunk of my leisure time watching documentaries about “free solo” rock climbing and YouTube videos about hiking. I am not, nor will I ever be, a free soloist, but I’m absolutely in awe of what they do. Every move they make is literally a matter […]
The persistent and pernicious gender pay gap
Call me biased, but my daughter is clever as can be. She’s devouring chapter books and spelling up a storm at the age of 6, long before I learned to read and write. If she gets tired of her brothers buzzing around her as noisy make-believe planes and trains, all she has to do is […]
Honor Sunshine Week by requiring hybrid access to government meetings
During the early months of COVID-19, governors in New England states issued executive orders allowing municipalities to meet online so long as the public could attend remotely. The democratic benefits of this arrangement quickly became evident. According to a public official quoted in a 2020 study, the changes “made it a lot easier for residents […]
Behavioral health crisis must end
Three weeks ago, the federal district court ruled that the state is failing its responsibility to care for our most vulnerable citizens and must finally to take action to cease its illegal practice of boarding patients experiencing a psychiatric crisis in hospital emergency departments. In response, the governor inserted into his budget bill provisions that […]
Licensing for landscape architects is a matter of public health and safety
A bill pending in the New Hampshire Legislature would remove the licensing requirement for landscape architects in New Hampshire. The health, safety, and well-being of the public – as well as the revitalization of local economies – hang in the balance. I’ve been a New Englander my entire life. Twenty-two years ago I moved to […]