Hassan Speaks Out Against GOP Agenda

“It is hard for me to express how distressed I am about what is happening right now in the Bill O’Brien legislature,” said Democrat Maggie Hassan.

The gubernatorial candidate spoke with the Amherst Democratic Town Committee on Wednesday about her intentions to run for New Hampshire governor.

She had some harsh words for NH House Speaker Bill O’Brien and the Republicans that follow him.

“He has gone after environmental protection, women’s rights and civil rights in numerous ways,” said Hassan.”

She also criticized their attempts to pass the Right-To-Work Bill, saying that it would “bring businesses to New Hampshire that want to pay working people less.”

Hassan also went after the idea of adding an income tax in New Hampshire.

“Instituting a sales or income tax makes no sense,” she said. “There are states with income and sales taxes that are in much worse shape than we are in.”

She also said that taking Medicaid money in order to balance the budget is the “wrong thing to do” and would hurt hospitals in the state.

New Hampshire does not just have a spending problem, it has a revenue problem, according to Hassan.

On expanding gambling in the state, Hassan sad that she supports a responsible plan that would bring revenue into state government.

“It would give us a sliver of revenue in a steady way, but we have to be realistic on what the trade-offs are,” she said.

While she is against the current agenda from what she describes as “extremely far right” Republicans, Hassan said she wants to find common ground and work across the aisle. Her aim is to remove the negative politics and work towards solving problems, not winning arguments.

“If you want to get things done, you have to get some other people in the party to join you,” she said. “You may have a different political philosophy, but they are human beings.”

She now has additional competition for the governor's seat, with Republican Kevin Smith announcing his intentions to run today. He is up against fellow Republican  for the nomination.