To the residents in District 7 (Gilford, Laconia, Belmont, Franklin, Northfield, Andover, Canterbury, Boscawen, Salisbury, and Webster):

My name is Kathy Rago and I am running for State Senate, because I believe that our state government needs capable people to provide careful fiscal analysis and a willingness to make tough decisions. As an accountant and a CPA, a prior House Representative, and a mom of three great kids, I know how important it is to create a careful budget and live within our means. According to multiple news sources, New Hampshire stands on the precipice of another $100 million dollar shortfall due to overspending in Concord.

Since 2006 we have not only had three Democratic majorities but also severe overspending problems. It seems reasonable to assume that if re-elected, these same law makers will be incapable of living within the extremely accurate revenue projections provided to them and once again overspend your hard-earned money. No one thus far predicts that the current overspending will top that of the 2008-2010 biennium, when the Democratic majority overspent by approximately $800 million, but this must stop! Increasing the gas tax and other fees to try to offset this out-of-control spending is not right, and our taxpayers deserve better. Who will look out for the working families who are already struggling and hold Concord accountable? I will.

The first thing we will need to do is introduce careful cost reductions in all departments to stem the bleeding. But soon after, we will need to take actions to jump-start our economy to build a welcoming business environment, grow jobs, and get us out of this awful stagnation. When we, once again, welcome businesses to the state and when we provide an environment for businesses to grow, we will see more people hired and fewer having to leave our state to find suitable employment. How do we get there? We need to cut business taxes (currently third highest in the country), we need to reduce or eliminate burdensome regulations without jeopardizing safety or our environment, we need to get our energy costs under control, and finally we need to stop wasteful spending. (Perhaps you’ve heard me speak about the wasteful $79,000 door in the statehouse?) But absolutely everything should be on the table for review to jump-start job growth in our state.

I ask for your vote on November 4 so that we can, once again, place an “Open for Business” sign in New Hampshire.

Kathleen Lauer-Rago
Candidate for Senate District 7
Kathy4NH.com