With less than two weeks until the primary election, Jonah Wheeler and Peter Leishman, the incumbent state legislators for Peterborough and Sharon, held their monthly meeting with voters on Wednesday, Aug. 26.
The two presented their legislative goals for the next two-year term and answered questions from the crowd. Much of the discussion centered on public education.
If reelected in November, Wheeler said he plans to propose changing the statewide education property tax from a $363 million statewide limit each year to a rate of $5 per $1,000 of equalized property valuation. Wheeler predicts that will add an additional $1.26 billion to $1.76 billion to the budget.
That follows the same ideas proposed in House Bill 1800 earlier this year; it aimed to provide $10,000 per enrolled student at the same rate Wheeler discussed. The bill failed to pass.
Both ideas stem from a New Hampshire Supreme Court ruling last summer in the case called Contoocook Valley School District v. State of New Hampshire. The state’s highest court ruled that the state’s current system for funding public schools is unconstitutional. The court ruled that public schools should receive at least $7,351.01 per student to meet the state constitution’s mandate: to provide an adequate education. That’s not quite double the current base rate of about $4,100 per student.
Wheeler said wants poorer towns in the state to receive fair funding through a distribution process that recognizes each town’s needs.
“Then we could have a fair system that provides the dollars from the state to the towns that need it,” he said.
Asked how he would persuade legislators from wealthier towns to support that approach, Wheeler said he would explain the reality of the situation and its statewide impact on public education.
“If you’re in Jaffrey and Rindge, your education is worse than if you’re at ConVal, and we should not have a statewide education system where your education is determined based off the zip code you live in,” he said.
Wheeler also said he wants to restrict use of neonicotinoid pesticides in the state and to prevent tier III sex offenders from entering a “child safety zone.” Both Senate Bill 460 and the House Bill version, HB 1239, addressed that issue but failed last year.
Leishman offered a different agenda: He said he hopes to rejoin the finance committee and continue working to protect the New Hampshire Granite Advantage Health Care Program, commonly known as Medicaid.
He also said he will continue his past attempts to study privatization of the state’s liquor system. Now, the state Liquor Commission manages liquor sales.
“It might be time for the state to get out of the liquor business, because there are a lot of people that are employed there, that are also state employees that are dragging down the state retirement system,” Leishman said.