The holidays are a time when our communities come together, across differences, to care for one another, celebrate shared traditions and look out for neighbors who may need a little extra support. As House Democratic Leader in the New Hampshire legislature, I see this season as a reminder that our strongest values are community, compassion and the responsibility we have to make sure everyone in the Granite State can feel safe, supported and included.
For me, the holiday season also serves as a reminder of how important it is that we have family and friends to rely on during difficult times. This holiday season, that support is more important than ever amidst the affordability crisis that has forced individuals and families across the Granite State and country to hit their breaking points.
A year into this administration, Americans are being confronted with a harsh truth: Donald Trump and today’s Republican Party believe in an America where families are forced to compete for survival, pitting hungry people against sick people, workers against one another, and communities against their own neighbors. Here in New Hampshire, that agenda is being carried out by Kelly Ayotte and House Republicans who continue to rubber-stamp Trump’s most toxic priorities. Their loyalty to Donald Trump has proven more important than the health, stability and well-being of Granite Staters.
The consequences of this failed Republican agenda are showing up in kitchen-table decisions across our state. I know what it feels like to sit down with a budget and wonder how you’re going to make the holidays work, to calculate whether you can afford gifts for family members while still covering rent, groceries and heating bills. Too many families are being pushed into these impossible choices. Instead of enjoying time with loved ones, parents are lying awake at night worrying about how to stretch their paychecks one more week, or whether they’ll have to scale back traditions that mean so much to their kids.
While families and small businesses struggle to stay afloat, Republicans in the State House have made the active choice to take a torch to their wallets. Granite Staters have been clear that housing affordability is one of our most urgent challenges. The Republican response? Cutting investments in housing that help build homes that people can afford.
At the same time, Republicans have drained resources from public schools and pushed an unaccountable voucher program that diverts millions of taxpayer dollars away from classrooms, while rejecting proposals to ease the property tax burden on working families and seniors. This is the Republican playbook we know all too well: reward the wealthy, ignore working families, and pretend it’s leadership.
House Democrats are offering a different path forward. Our 2026 Fair Chance Agenda is rooted in lived experience and focused on giving Granite Staters real stability. We’ve put forward legislation to expand affordable housing through local housing trust funds and zoning reform, bills to lower health care costs by reining in prescription drug prices and protecting access to Medicaid, proposals to make child care more affordable by strengthening the child care workforce and expanding access for working parents and measures to reinvest in public schools so every child has a fair chance, no matter their zip code. These are practical, common sense solutions designed to lower costs, reduce stress and give families breathing room.
But progress doesn’t happen on its own. This year, Granite Staters must carry the spirit of community we feel during the holidays into the months ahead, by coming to the State House, testifying, organizing and making their voices heard. The Fair Chance Agenda is about real people and real lives, and it will only succeed if those most impacted show up and demand better. House Democrats are ready to fight, but we are strongest when communities stand with us and insist on a New Hampshire where everyone gets a fair chance, not just the wealthy and well-connected.
Rep. Alexis Simpson is the House Democratic Leader in the New Hampshire House of Representatives.