With the pandemic surging in states that rushed to reopen, and spreading from there even to those who were more cautious, economic pain is widespread. New Hampshire is not immune. Many are already suffering and now bracing for a second wave. The governor projects a $500 million hole in the budget. Many New Hampshire jobs may be lost forever and coping with COVID-19 is straining working family resources and emotions.
In Washington, there is emerging bipartisan support for new government economic support that would last much longer than lawmakers first envisioned with the CARES Act, which was designed to delay mass layoffs in the early days of the pandemic.
Our task is to build a bridge to get people safely across these storm waters. But at the same time, it should not be a bridge back to what was, but to a future that we want to have.
Investments in how we provide health, energy, education, and even in the very way in which we make investments would not only help people today, but pay off in a more resilient, robust, and productive economy for New Hampshire working families in the future. Here are a few of my ideas for doing that:
■Expand our system of community health centers to provide high-quality, free health care – including dental care, mental health care, addiction treatment, and substance abuse counseling – regardless of insured status. We have some great community health center models that could move the state toward health care independence. Not only does this help families who can’t afford the high cost of health care or a surprise $1,000 bill, in the age of COVID it helps all of us.
■Support larger-scale solar, renewable energy use, and efficiency to lower energy costs for businesses and consumers, move us away from fossil fuel dependence, and protect clean air and water. Energy efficiency is the low-hanging fruit for savings: Every $1 invested returns $4. Right now, the budget for energy efficiency in state buildings is zero. Municipalities are all looking to save through energy efficiency, and when they save, we all save on taxes. Let’s invest in energy efficiency for residences and commercial buildings, which would put people back to work safely today. We can update PACE legislation, so municipalities can incentivize private investment in renewable energy using tax assessment as a creative tool. We need to expand net metering for renewable energy, despite the governor’s veto, and incentivize our state’s electric utilities to invest in their networks and to achieve targets for interconnecting community solar projects.
■Prioritize our kids, their education, health and well-being. First, we must recognize that working families need high-quality, affordable child care and provide state support to ensure that child care is accessible and safe for every family that needs it. These are issues that were with us long before the pandemic. Now more than ever, we need to fund universal pre-k and kindergarten. And we should support our teachers and parents by making better use of 21st-century technology that puts powerful learning tools in their hands. This not only helps to make remote learning – which many of our students will continue to experience this academic year – work, it also enhances student achievement and empowers parents and educators.
■Create a “People’s Bank,” a state public bank that can oversee disbursement of the hundreds of millions in federal funds flowing to our state now, and then in the future leverage state funds, citizen funds, and private dollars to make smart, targeted investments for the benefit of all New Hampshire’s citizens. Our banks and credit unions do a good job, and yet there remain areas of underinvestment – including in education, green infrastructure, and affordable housing – where a state public bank could play a vital role by working with our community banks to invest New Hampshire tax revenue and municipal revenues, and leverage private funds for our future. We can also make better use of existing channels of investment. When I created the Northern Border Commission in Congress – which has invested over $40 million in economic development in our North Country – I certainly didn’t have the pandemic in mind. But now, we could seek additional funds for this state-federal partnership to increase infrastructure investments, which are beneficially both in the short and long term since most construction work can be done in a socially distanced way outdoors and is safe – creating jobs and building for the future.
■Finally, New Hampshire’s arts and culture sector brings $31.2 million annually and 950 jobs to the Concord area alone, according to the Concord Chamber of Commerce. It has been battered, with many venues hanging by a thread and creators unable to pursue their craft. This sector is incredibly important to our state and our area in particular, and thousands of people whose economic livelihood depends on this work. We should be making this sector a focus of targeted economic assistance as well as partnering on providing state-owned outdoor spaces and online platforms as outlets for artists.
This is not a complete prescription for helping our people and building our economy for the future, but these ideas are vital parts of a broader vision for a sustainable economy for the 21st century. We can use our experience and our unique New Hampshire tradition of public-private partnership to focus on the future, however uncertain it may be at the moment.
(Paul Hodes represented New Hampshire’s 2nd Congressional District from 2007-2011. He is running for state Senate District 15.)