New Hampshire citizens who voted for Donald Trump, with no idea that the peaceful transfer of power and trust in our elections were at stake, are now asking themselves who they voted for. They need to ask themselves the same question in the likely event that they also voted for Republican state legislators.

A significant faction within the Republican caucus uses traditional party positions for cover.

Not long ago, “fiscal conservatism” sought the public good through efficient state government. The caucus has members who still pursue this goal, but there is a notable faction that does not.

These legislators camouflage themselves as conservatives, but they have a radical agenda. They want to dismantle state government until it does little more than protect private property and personal prerogative, ignoring risks to the public.

The Dismantlers want private protectionism regardless of what it costs the public. Their motto could be, “Don’t mess with me or my stuff.” That is one way to approach the rights of individual possession, but it can’t guide necessary government responses to statewide challenges that cross district boundaries and affect all of our citizens.

Dismantlers fail in the face of threats like the pandemic or unequal education funding, the opioid epidemic or disability rights. They don’t innovate to reverse the demographic trends of our aging population and address the struggles faced by hard-working young adults. They resist the comprehensive plan we need to quickly expand decentralized, renewable energy sources and combat climate change.

They say they are tax fighters, but they are tax shifters. They stagnate state aid to schools at an alarming low level, shifting the rising costs of education to our local property taxes. They push state tax cuts that shift the rising costs of local government to our local property taxes. Tax shifts increased local taxes by 50% from 2002 to 2016 and the trend continues.

Dismantlers will use an economic downturn to justify cuts in benefits and services provided by the state and then oppose restoration when the downturn is over. They used the 2008 recession in this fashion and local governments are still struggling with the fallout. They reneged on the state’s promised contributions to the pension funds for teachers, firefighters, and police. The economy recovered enough years ago to reinstate pension contributions, but they fight against honoring this promise even today.

The economy also recovered enough to restore Meals and Rooms Tax distributions to local governments. Despite the tax’s original intent to distribute 40% of its revenues to local governments, they never saw more than 29%. In the wake of the 2008 recession, the local share was reduced to 21%, where it remained in 2019. Local governments lost close to $100 million from 2010 to 2019. The losses directly increased local property taxes, yet the Dismantlers opposed correcting this despite increased revenues. Ratchet government down and keep it down.

Likewise for revenue sharing from the Business Profits Tax. Its initial intent was to streamline outdated local taxes into a statewide tax. The new state revenues were to be shared with local governments to replace the revenues they had given up. Revenue sharing was suspended in 2010. By 2019, local governments had lost about $250 million in revenues and the suspension remained.

The Dismantlers are more aligned with the Free State Project or the Libertarian Party but are glad to run as Republicans. They co-opt the party to get elected and don’t care about its integrity. They have been willing to sacrifice critical legislative promises and broad public benefits. Their recent actions show that they are willing to sacrifice much more.

Consider Rep. Max Abramson of Seabrook, who recently testified, in hearings for House Bill 86, that 20,000 to 30,000 fraudulent out-of-state voters come to New Hampshire for our presidential elections, some driving more than four hours to get here. He used his public office to denigrate the local officials who maintain a trusted election system without evidence to back his claims and then refused to answer questions.

More disturbingly, consider Republican legislators who flaunt basic masking and approaches to protecting others from COVID-19. On Dec. 2, 2020, Republican Rep. Richard Hinch was elected speaker of the House. His tragic death, a week later, was attributed to COVID-19. Less than two months later, Republican Rep. Al Baldasaro of Londonderry presided over three hours of testimony in a public hearing room without a mask, eventually donning a face shield only for those who were “whining and complaining.”

In a “My Turn” column in the Monitor on Feb. 3, Representative Laurie Sanborn of Bedford, a Republican caucus leader, wrote, “Republicans have a proven track record of bringing our state back during tough economic times and not needlessly burdening New Hampshire citizens with additional taxes or higher costs when they are already struggling.”

What she says ignores their history of tax shifting, so watch what their caucus does. The Dismantlers in their midst have used tough times to push their radical agenda in the past. They will do it again unless Republicans call them out.

(David Coursin lives in Northwood.)