Via John DiStaso:
state Rep. David Pierce, D-Etna, told the Status that he and Rep. Cindy Rosenwald, D-Nashua, are organizing a legislative caucus, called the Freedom and Family Coalition, which he says will be open to members of both parties to counter “partisan diversions.” …
Pierce said the Freedom and Family Coalition is just getting started, “and hopefully members from all sides of the aisle will want to join. I get the sense that the Republican caucus has many factions.”
(The large block of libertarian Republicans is presumably one of the targeted factions.)
He said that “voters spoke clearly in November that they want the Legislature to focus on the economy, jobs and keeping things within the Constitution, and the Republican leadership has not done that.
“We’re directed toward keeping the middle class free, not only on constitutional issues like marriage equality, but also on economic issues. There are still too many people out of work and too many foreclosures. We’ll try to cite policies to create jobs in New Hampshire and improve the economy.”
Pierce said his group is worried about the upcoming budget.
“The Republican caucus is fixated on cutting taxes and spending, but the reality is that cutting expenses at the state level doesn’t get rid of those expenses,” Pierce said. “They are downshifted to the municipalities, and that means that property taxes will go up. And people can’t afford higher property taxes in an economy like this.”
Lest anyone interpret his comments as a veiled call for a broad-based tax, Pierce said the idea “never entered my mind.” He said he voted against an income tax in the last session, adding, “In a recession, we should not be raising taxes.”
Pierce said the group will also focus on “individual freedom” issues, including what he and other Democrats view as efforts by the GOP leadership to restrict voting to certain groups, such as young people, because they tend to vote Democratic.
Unfortunately, it’s difficult to get clearer sense of the kind of freedom issues this group will support from the scant information available online. Hopefully more information will be forthcoming as they get more organized.
And now the question is: will any Keene representatives join?
