St. Laurent for Senate

My name is Kristi St. Laurent and I am running for Senate District 19 covering Derry, Hampstead and Windham.  I am not a politician....

and I will stop right there.  That says it all.  I am not a politician.  I don't have a campaign coordinator, or a campaign budget in the tens of thousands.  I don't talk just to get elected.  I am running for Senate because I have the interest, the commitment and the aptitude to do it, and we deserve representation by people that aren't afraid to have the tough discussions. 

The Derry Republicans have taken out ads to report that I want to go to Concord to institute an income tax to balance the budget.  This is a blatant lie.  What I said in an interview is that it is time to "consider discussing" an income tax because of what it could do.  At the debate I was clear that I would only "consider discussing" it to help people who are struggling with property taxes the most, those with limited, diminishing or absent income ~ the elderly, the disabled, the under- or unemployed.  An income tax burden would go down as income goes down.  I was discussing how to help those who are struggling in this economy, not a way to increase revenue or to balance the budget by raising our tax burden. 

NH has a long history of opposing broad-base taxes such as an income tax or a sales tax.  That is part of the NH fabric.  As a senator I would be serving as a representative of my constituents, and would vote accordingly.  But that should not limit discussion of all alternatives.  In looking at what an income tax could do we can better identify the people in need of relief and work with our towns and the state to come up with relief valves in the property tax system so our parents don't get priced out of their homes.  A limited discussion yields limited solutions. 

I am not afraid to have this, or any other, discussion.  My opponent talks about lowering everyone's taxes, both business and individual.  Sure that sounds great, especially when you are trying to get votes, but how does that balance the budget?  If you cut business taxes (the state's source of income), especially when revenues are down due to the economy, you are essentially going to raise property taxes.  If the state has less income it has less to pass to towns in aid.  The largest part of the state budget, nearly 50%, goes to cities and towns.  If our towns get less money they need to collect more property taxes to make up the difference.  No one wants more taxes, and if a broad base tax was ever considered to be implemented I would only support it if it was tax-neutral, balanced by lower property taxes.  For my opponent to say I would use it to solve the fiscal crisis is a scare tactic and not true.

The economy is improving.  The evidence is clear with decreasing unemployment and higher than anticipated revenues from NH businesses in the last few months.  As a state we are on our way to recovery, but we are not there yet.  This next budget will take tough decisions, fresh ideas and a willingness to wrestle fully with each issue.  If elected, I am committed to these challenges and will remember that I am representing all of the people of Derry, Hampstead and Windham.  I will not serve in isolation, I will welcome and seek out input from experts and constituents alike and will actively stay in contact with all three sets of town officials.  As I said, I am not a politician ~ if I was I would not have had such an open discussion about options to help those in trouble due to rising property taxes.  What I am is a voter, a taxpayer, a health care provider, a parent of children in public education and from a household that survived 16 months with the primary wage earner unemployed.  I share experiences and perspectives common to many of you, and want to bring these perspectives to Concord to represent the people of District 19.

Do not fall for the scare tactics.  Look for the facts.  As I have said in my letters to the editors:  
 
Unfortunately, even local NH politics has fallen into bad habits.  The quality of the mailings and ads decreases as we get closer and closer to Election Day.  There are even out-of-state groups spending thousands on mailings trying to influence NH politics.  As voters we need to be smart consumers of information.  If something makes you raise your eyebrows, do some research.  If it makes your jaw drop, especially arriving the day before the election, you can just toss it in the trash.  If it was a valid issue it would have been brought up long before.  We deserve better from our candidates in New Hampshire.


Thank you for taking the time to do the research.  I hope that if you are left with any questions that you will contact me at Kristi@StLaurentforSenate.com.  I will answer all questions.


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