The New Hampshire Executive Council may be the most influential governmental body that no one knows about.
The Executive Council approves all state contracts for more than $25,000, approves all state appointments and confirms all judges. I am running for Executive Council in District 2, which stretches from Dover and Rochester to Concord to Keene.
I am a bit of an unusual candidate. I have never held public office and much of what I know about state government I learned by suing it – first as the lead Claremont school funding lawyer, then representing public employees trying to protect their pensions.
These public employees are first-responders, teachers and state workers, and I have learned a lot from them as they worry about their financial security.
As a candidate, I spend a lot of time thinking about the values I share with these workers and my potential constituents across the district; it is these values that motivate me to run for office.
There is one other point to consider when it comes to community values. There really is no such thing as a vacuum. If we don’t elect candidates who share our commonsense New Hampshire values, opposing values will prevail. This is not a time to skip the election. Each of us must express our values by voting from the bottom of the ballot to the top in the upcoming primary on Sept. 13 and in the general election on Nov. 8.
Access to affordable health care is a basic right and providing access is a value that I share with my community. Executive councilors must approve contracts to implement this right and it is wrong for Councilors to play politics with health care funding, including the contracts for Planned Parenthood of Northern New England, the Joan G. Lovering Health Center and the Equality Health Center in Concord.
It is equally important to ensure that Medicaid expansion remains fully in place so that hard-working Granite Staters do not have the added worry of health care insecurity. As a councilor, I will work hard to protect access to health care and continue the implementation of Medicaid expansion.
The state budget is about $5 billion per year. Whether we think this is too much or too little, the portion of the state budget spent on contracting with vendors must improve our local economies.
Vendors selected for state contracts should be local whenever possible and the state, through its contracting, should model exemplary behavior by demanding safe working conditions, equal pay for equal work and livable wages. Vendors who do not meet these standards should not be considered for state contracts. These contracting principles reflect important values I share with my community.
Expanding commuter rail is essential to moving New Hampshire forward by creating jobs and attracting younger workers and their families. Executive councilors must support commuter rail in the state’s 10-year transportation plan and must work to improve our failing infrastructure both for safety reasons and to create new jobs.
Infrastructure investments impact local economies. For every dollar spent on infrastructure improvements, the local economy grows by more than two dollars. This is a good use of our limited resources and councilors must insist upon the highest return for our job-creating dollars – yet another New Hampshire value that I support.
Finally, New Hampshire judges must reflect our diverse society. They must also be thoughtful participants in criminal justice reform.
Over-incarceration and incarceration without rehabilitation have worsened the current drug crisis and contributed to unemployment and the breakdown of involved families. The cost of incarceration must be viewed both as an investment in our safety and as an investment in returning those who are incarcerated to contributing useful lives as soon as possible.
We can do much better on this score, and I will work hard to make sure council decisions and appointments reflect a more reasonable approach to our criminal justice system.
Granite Staters need a strong advocate on the Executive Council who shares their values and will elevate their voices in State House conversations.
I would be honored to earn the trust, support and votes of District 2 residents in the Sept. 13 state primary.
(Andru Volinsky lives in Concord. For more information, go to VolinskyNH.com.)