NH House minority leader Alexis Simpson makes the case for changing the leadership this November in Concord
When I ran a non-profit with a food pantry on the Seacoast, I met people who had jobs, sometimes two or three of them, and still couldn’t make the math work at the end of the month. That was years ago, and it has only gotten harder. In New Hampshire, if you work hard and play by the rules, you should be able to build a good life and leave a better one for your kids. As I travel the state and talk with people at their doors and in their communities, I hear the same worry: the promise that hard work can pay off feels farther away every year.
I hear it from young adults who wonder if they will ever be able to afford a home in the town where they grew up, from the parents searching for child care that costs as much as a year of college tuition. I hear it from teachers, nurses, police officers and firefighters who can no longer afford to live in the communities they serve. Seniors worry that rising property taxes will price them out of the homes they spent a lifetime building. These pressures look different depending on where you are in life, but they all point to the same underlying reality: New Hampshire has become too expensive.
No matter how hard families work to put food on the table, keep a safe roof overhead, and stay healthy, too many costs are beyond their control. When wages stay flat and inflation keeps rising, working more hours for a slightly bigger paycheck just can’t close the gap as the costs of groceries, gas and housing keep going up at higher rates. People work harder, see their families less, barely get by, and call it a success until one medical bill they can’t afford breaks the whole budget they worked so hard to balance.
This is not bad luck, and no family can budget their way out of it. It is a system built this way by the people in power in Concord who could lower your costs and choose not to. Instead, they chose to send tens of millions of dollars to a voucher program that pays an out-of-state company millions a year just to run it, while your town raised your property taxes to keep the lights on at the elementary school. New Hampshire has among the highest property taxes in the nation. Those taxes don’t just hit homeowners. Property taxes raise rents, drive up costs for small businesses and make it harder for employers to keep good people. When the state underfunds its share of public education and local services, the local budget gap doesn’t disappear. It gets filled through higher property taxes on all of us, even if your town doesn’t spend a single dollar more.
Republicans have held the governor’s office and, for most of the past decade, both chambers of the Legislature, and during that time, housing costs have climbed, property taxes have remained among the highest in the country, and everyday bills have gotten harder to pay. Granite Staters deserve an answer. If affordability is our biggest challenge, why has it never been their priority in Concord?
The answer is simple. Fights that grab headlines and hand people someone to blame are easier than lowering your bills. Every month spent on manufactured outrage is a month they don’t have to answer for your rent or your tax bill.
We can do better, and House Democrats have already offered a different path. Our “Better Budget” would have protected public education, child advocacy and affordable housing development without creating or raising a single tax. We would pay for those investments by stopping universal private-school vouchers for millionaires and ensuring large multinational corporations pay their fair share. We have also fought for stronger state support for child care and local infrastructure because when Concord fails to invest, families pay through higher property taxes, rent and monthly bills.
House Democrats will continue to prioritize the freedom to make a good living and care for your family. The freedom for young people to stay in the town they grew up in, and for older folks to grow old near the people they love instead of getting priced out. Long-term affordability means energy we make here at home, so your bill doesn’t swing with a war overseas. It means building more housing, lowering property taxes and ensuring strong public schools that set every child up for opportunity, including college or the trades.
As campaign season begins, don’t settle for slogans. Ask every candidate who knocks on your door one question: How will you make New Hampshire more affordable? Granite Staters deserve leaders with real solutions, not political distractions, and House Democrats are ready to make affordability the Legislature’s top priority.
House Democratic Leader Alexis Simpson, D-Exeter, represents Rockingham County District 33.