On The Issues
Reproductive Rights are Fundamental Human Rights
The ability to determine if and when to become a parent is a deeply personal decision. Full bodily autonomy to make reproductive healthcare decisions is a critical human rights issue. New Hampshire must return to funding, with our state budget, family planning centers that serve citizens with cancer screenings, birth control, and sexually transmitted infection prevention and treatment.
The fall of Roe has hilighted the threat of reproductive servitude. I have been fighting for expansion of our reproductive rights since I was a teenager. It horrifies me that my own daughter has fewer rights today than I did at her age. Reversing the course of forced birthing is a top priority.
Property Tax Relief
Our state government's irresponsible habit of downshifting responsibilities to cities & towns has caused our local property taxes to rise to unsustainable levels. In 2018 Representative Altschiller was part of the effort that brought revenue sharing to Seacoast communities. This past year she fought to restore the state’s obligation to contribute to municipal retirement benefits. House Bill 1221, as it was originally introduced (by the late House Minority Leader Renny Cushing) would have provided property tax relief to Granite Staters by beginning to meet the state’s retirement obligations with a 7.5% permanent contribution to municipal costs. Despite record tax payments to the state, the GOP fought this effort and only allowed for a one time savings for this year. Representative Altschiller knows we can do better.
Representative Altschiller has never voted for a sales or income tax and has been previously endorsed by the New Hampshire Job Creation Alliance for her transparency on her position.
Education
Making sure New Hampshire students have the best education we can provide is good for students and good for our communities. With an educated electorate, New Hampshire will remain a state where people plant their roots, not just a place people visit.
Representative Altschiller has voted to support early childhood interventions and full day kindergarten for all NH students.
The representative believes the school voucher system, which uses public dollars to supplement individual students' private school tuitions, is ill-conceived and should be repealed. Implemented by Republican free staters--and millions of dollars over budget--the school voucher program drains public school funding and threatens an increases in local property taxes.
Gun Violence Prevention
New Hampshire has the most lax gun violence prevention laws in New England and fourth most lenient in the country. As of August 2022, New Hampshire is one of only 16 states that have not experienced a mass shooting this year. That is not because we have a magic formula for gun violence prevention. We’ve just been lucky. Counting on luck to avoid tragedy is a terrible way to formulate public policy.
Representative Altschiller believes strongly in the right to bear arms, as long as the person in possession of a firearm is not a threat to themself or others. Indeed, the Second Amendment is not so fragile that it cannot allow for background checks and “cooling off” periods between the sale and delivery of firearms.
New Hampshire students deserve to learn and grow in gun free school zones. The legal loophole that prohibits students from bringing firearms to school but not adults or visitors needs to be closed. Representative Altschiller believes we should be demonstrating to our students that their lives are more important than the ability to wield a gun in a classroom. Our irresponsibly loose gun laws provoke schools to use ALICE (Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter and Evacuate) protocols which further traumatize our students--they wonder, every day, if their school is about to be the scene of another mass murder.
Representative Altschiller led the fight for bringing Extreme Risk Protective Orders to New Hampshire (HB 687) and successfully shepherded it through the House (201-176) and Senate (14-11) only to have it vetoed by Governor Sununu. She stands ready to propose this legislation again.
Suicide prevention
Suicide rates in New Hampshire are 35% higher than the national average. Here in the Granite State, 85% of gun deaths are suicides. We are in the top five states in the nation for the highest number of guns per capita. Granite Staters struggling with severe mental health challenges have unfettered access to firearms and ammunition. There is virtually nothing that family members can do to get a deadly weapon out of their loved ones hands during times of emotional turmoil.
The White House has made $750,000 available to states who adopt Extreme Risk Protective Orders. Representative Altschiller will once again lead that effort to bring an Extreme Risk Protective Order law to New Hampshire.
Crime Victims' Rights
Representative Altschiller has spent the last decade working with survivors of sexual assault, domestic violence, stalking and human trafficking. She is a Commissioner on the Oversight Commission for Children’s Services which oversees the Office of the Child Advocate. She served four years as an active member of the New Hampshire Human Trafficking Collaborative Task Foce.
In 2021 Representative Altschiller was awarded the General Federation of Women’s Clubs New Hampshire Unity Award “in recognition of her outstanding commitment and advocacy for domestic and sexual violence surviors”.
