New Hampshire: The Real Facts

Where is Senator Molly Kelly? Several times recently she has either avoided or delayed weighing in on important issues. Why isn’t she representing us?

She was criticized by the Sentinel March 25 for supporting a “crazy” education funding plan. Her answer was to state that “(t)his is a new beginning as we move toward solving this decades-old dilemma.” This is a beginning? Is the plan she now says she supports and voted for a good solid plan for education funding or not? Why would she say a “beginning” is enough at this point? Why is she supporting it if it is only a beginning and not the final answer? How can she call it a beginning when the issue has existed since 1996? The courts have issued many rulings over the past 12 years. This is not a beginning!

Also, the plan Sen. Kelly voted for will cost us (the taxpayer) $60 million more. It also decreases the amount of money our local towns will receive in state education grants in the next couple of years. The extra money for the plan is not in the budget and there is nothing on the table from her or anyone else to pay for it. Who is going to pay for it? Sen. Kelly has said (Sentinel, March 21, ’08) that they (the Senate and House) don’t have to find the new funds until the session starting January 2009. That statement is just astonishing and unbelievable! So, who is going to pay for it then? Your Senator doesn’t want to commit to funding the plan until after the next election. Should Sen. Kelly be voting for a plan without knowing who is going to pay for it? Would you spend next year’s household money without knowing how you were going to earn the income to pay for it? This is political posturing at its best at the taxpayers’ expense.

And a few weeks ago Sen. Kelly appeared at a local community legislative forum (which she conveniently slid out of early as the questions started to get intense). She actually refused to answer a question about whether she supported the middle school construction project. Why doesn’t she want to let her constituents know her position on the Keene school project? Why would your elected senator refuse to answer a question about a local issue of such great importance?

Why isn’t Sen. Kelly being specific about anything?

Thomas R. Eaton
Keene, NH