Democrats Take Swings At Republicans And Lay Out Their Legislative Agenda For 2026

By PAULA TRACY, InDepthNH

CONCORD, NH — Democrats in Concord outlined their priorities for the upcoming New Hampshire legislative session and took a swing at Republicans on Tuesday morning.

State Sen. Cindy Rosenwald, D-Nashua, made a number of baseball analogies as the Red Sox and the Yankees go toe-to-toe tonight in a wild card fight, and Senate Minority Leader Rebecca Perkins Kwoka, D-Portsmouth, laid out the Democrats' plan.

"For far too long Republican leadership has mismanaged our money. We are seeing it in skyrocketing property taxes, housing crisis and medical bills. It is time for a change and Democrats are ready to make that happen," Perkins Kwoka said.

"We are here with a plan, we are listening and we are ready to get to work," she said at a press conference for legislative Democrats at One Granite Place, which will be a temporary Legislative Office Building this winter and spring.

With revenues down and a bare-bones state budget passed for the next two years, mostly leaving Democrats out of the back-room talks, Democrats said they are hopeful there can be some compromise.

To pay for at least some of the programs they envision, they are eyeing education freedom accounts that allow some state funding for private and parochial schools and homeschooling with no income limits and perhaps returning them to be income-based.

While bills have not been finalized and work will not begin until this winter on the new session, Perkins Kwoka said the agenda is centered around what most people in the state are concerned about and talking about: adequate and available housing, lower property taxes, reduced healthcare costs, and more childcare assistance.

Surrounded by other legislative leaders, she listed the following:

1 The Afford Your Home Act.

Perkins Kwoka said bills have been filed to incentivize developers and municipalities to take appropriate action and would include the "funding to make it happen."

2 The Lower The Cost of Healthcare Act which "caps out of pocket costs and repeals (Republican Gov. Kelly) Ayotte's Medicaid income tax that taxes working families hundreds of dollars a month."

3 The Lower Your Property Taxes Act. Perkins Kwoka said the "crushing burden" of property tax for seniors, working families and small business owners needs to be addressed.

She said a bill will be filed to directly lower the bottom line for municipalities. There is a retained bill that is also in the mix, she noted and they are looking at a sort of "homestead exemption" for primary homes.

4 The Childcare We Can Rely on Act. The Senate Minority Leader said businesses have lost productivity and people have lost wages because they cannot find affordable childcare. Legislation to be filed would help families receive the support they need, she said.

5 The Save Our Local Businesses From Washington Tariff Tax Act. Perkins Kwoka said Canadian tourism is down 30 percent and exports to Canada have dropped 42.6 percent due to President Donald Trump's tariffs and disparaging rhetoric about it becoming the 51st state.

"Our bill provides targeted relief to affected businesses which - the backbone of our economy and that is not the only bill we have to get Washington off our backs - like the House, we are filing legislation to ensure the White House does not play political games with funding Granite Staters desperately need.

"At every turn, we are ready to stand up for the needs of Granite Staters and we won't back down," she said. "We are proud to endorse an agenda that quite simply puts fairness back into our economy and more money back into your pocket."

House Minority Leader Alexis Simpson, D-Exeter, was asked how the Democrats could pay for these bills in such a tight budget.

"I think for us, one of the things that we are all frustrated about and I know the folks that are gathered here are frustrated about is the cap on the education freedom account, or the vouchers is set to automatically go up because it was fully enrolled this year. So right there is a chunk of money that we don't feel should go out to wealthy millionaires for their kids to attend school next year, but instead should go to lowering property taxes."

Sen. Rosenwald used her baseball analogy as she did during the budget as saying the Republicans are striking out.

"Because of the Republicans' fiscal irresponsibility, we are having to see a draw in the rainy day fund from last biennium of at least $60 million out of not even $300 million. That rainy day fund supposedly exists for things like the Con-Val (school) decision," referring to the court decision that says the state is not funding an adequate education.

"That's a rainy day if ever I have seen one. I'd say that one is a baseball rain delay," Rosenwald said to laughter.

"We are not going to have the funding for the rainy day because they overspent, overprojected and didn't meet the goals. So they say the economy is going gangbusters, but we are drawing down the rainy day fund..." Rosenwald said.

While that could be $500 million annually, if the Supreme Court rules that way, it would have given the state a start, Rosenwald said.

She said the state is wasting tax money thanks to Republicans on this voucher program, and she also mentioned former Governor Chris Sununu's creation of a new task force securing the American border in Coos County as a boondoggle waste of taxes.

Republican legislators have yet to have their press conference to lay out their priorities but have been asked to comment for this story, but did not immediately respond.

This article first appeared on InDepthNH.org and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.