Access & Availability of Healthcare
Maintaining access and availability to healthcare is critical to attracting the tourists and retirees our local economy depends upon. As a physician and hospital trustee, Bill has been very successful in addressing the unique challenges facing our small local hospitals, such as the cost of birthing centers and newborn screening.
Inflation
Our current bout of inflation began at the gas pump, not in Washington. Two US refineries closed during the pandemic, and with the decades long drop in demand, industry has zero reason to replace them. When the pandemic ended, demand exceeded supply and gas prices shot up. Our state government should respond by encouraging the shift to alternative fuels.
Bill is very pleased with the job President Joe Biden and the Federal Reserve have done in reducing inflation without causing recession or unemployment. More work needs to be done, but we are making progress.
Housing and Short Term Rentals
Lack of affordable housing is a huge issue in New Hampshire, and particularly in the resort and retirement communities around Wolfeboro and the White Mountains. Conway voters correctly believe converting long term housing to short term rentals makes this worse. We need to leave zoning and regulation of short term rentals under local control.
Integrity of the Ballot Box
The secret ballot is the foundation of democracy. For 12 years Bill ran elections as the Brookfield Town Moderator. Our elections are fair and no one stole New Hampshire’s election. But we need to watch out for ongoing attempts to compromise our elections.
Gun Safety
We can both preserve Second Amendment rights and enact reasonable gun safety regulations to curb the epidemic of mass shootings plaguing our nation. As someone who understands both sides of this issue, I will encourage actual dialog so we can address the problem without overstepping bounds.
Climate Change
On our farm over the last twenty years, my wife and I have observed changes in the climate. Now inflation caused by rising gas prices is accelerating our shift away from fossil fuels. This creates an opportunity to find common ground in Concord, addressing climate change and inflation together.
Reproductive Rights
New Hampshire is the only New England state that still hasn’t protected a woman’s right to choose, and we should do so.
A woman’s decisions about her body are hers alone. In some cases, continuing an unwanted pregnancy may pose significant risks to her physical or mental health. Laws that limit access to abortion have already reduced OB/GYN care in rural New Hampshire. Doctors don’t want to practice in fear and are going elsewhere. Southern Carroll County has become a maternity desert now that Frisbee Memorial Hospital and Concord Hospital—Laconia (Lakes Region) don’t provide labor and delivery services.
But reproductive rights includes more than access to abortion. During Bill’s first term in the NH House his bill, HB1822, made hormonal contraceptives available behind the counter by standing order in NH.
You can be sure that Bill will continue to advocate for reproductive freedom.
Environment
We all love our lakes and mountains. Our local economy depends on them. We need to protect the Ossipee Aquifer from contamination. We need more, not less, regulation of septic systems near our lakes and streams or we risk even more algae blooms harming our health and property values.
Cannabis Legalization
Prohibition didn’t work in the 1930s and it doesn’t work now. New Hampshire is an island of prohibition in New England, and eventually that will change. But there are concerns about the effects of legalization on public health. Thanks to Bill’s legislation about cannabis use during pregnancy, posters and pamphlets with more information are now in alternative treatment centers. Bill is supportive of cannabis legalization provided the associated public health concerns are addressed.
Stop Radical Politics
The key issue facing New Hampshire today is whether we allow the radical right NH Liberty Alliance, who has already taken over the NH Republican Party, to control NH Politics. If we let this happen, our opinions on every other issue we care about will not matter. Bill is determined to preserve the NH he moved to 50 years ago and not allow extreme radicals to change the NH we know and love.
Watch Bill discuss this on Boston TV station NBC 10.