Thoughts on the Free State Project (move to, territory, moved)

[arctichomesteader]

I wish they had picked Vermont. It would take less people here to change things.

[LeviDunn]

Originally Posted by arctichomesteader

I wish they had picked Vermont. It would take less people here to change things.

After seeing your congress and governor screw over Vermonters last week, while NH congress expanded gun rights last week, I think NH was the better pick.

[Valerie C]

Did you even look at the breakdown of town's that voted blue/red?
First, all of the cities with major population went Democrat (which is to be expected): Manchester, Nashua, Portsmouth, Concord. Then the college towns, and towns commutable to classes (for students abd professors): Dover, Durham, Newmarket Lee, Madbury, Keene,

These SNH towns (south of, or straddling rte 101 from the seacoast to the Amherst/Milford area) voted Republican:
Derry, Salem, Londonderry, Merrimack, Bedford. Also, Goffstown, Milford, Hudson, Hooksett. Pelham and Windham both went red, as did Hampton, Raymond and Litchfield. Plaistow and Atkinson too! Wow, Epping, Kingston, Sandown and Auburn. Chester, Deerfield, Newton and Fremont. Add Brentwood, Danville and Candia to the RED column.

It would have been easier to name the SNH towns in the same area that went Democrat: Hampton, Exeter, Amherst and Hollis.


Southern NH is NOT the issue here.

Originally Posted by miu

It just seems to me that southern NH is already ruined by the influx of MA residents hoping for less expensive real estate but still wanting their MA town amenities like curbside trash pickup and MA quality schools.

[Nonesuch]

I like the sentiment, but honestly I moved to NH despite the FSP participants, not because of them. The FK guys in particular I find distasteful at best.

Originally Posted by LeviDunn

After seeing your congress and governor screw over Vermonters last week, while NH congress expanded gun rights last week, I think NH was the better pick.

The semi-finalist states were Alaska, Delaware, Idaho, Maine, Montana, New Hampshire, North Dakota, South Dakota, Vermont and Wyoming. Participants wanted both limited population density and access to tech jobs, so that took quite a few states out of the running.

Ultimately New Hampshire (1.3 million) edged out Vermont ( 0.6 million) in part because NH's 417-person legislature makes it a lot easier to get elected here, but NH was selected mostly because of the small government, anti-tax attitudes.

And because we never elected Bernie Sanders.

[miu]

NH towns may have voted red, but how is that going to greatly reduce entitlements that keep our property taxes so high? How do we slash the town budgets significantly? Every time I've asked a longtime NH if there is a possibility of being able to vote for a town budget that is LESS than the previous year, they said that it will never happen. That the best we can hope for is to keep it to the same amount. And the parents in the town are always demanding more school services, like full time kindergarten.

And how to cut taxes when the cost of healthcare insurance for our government workers.school staff is so expensive?

And what to do about the cost of Narcan while we are in the middle of the opiod crisis?

What about the looming pension payout crisis?

[ben Shunamit]

Originally Posted by Nonesuch

And because we never elected Bernie Sanders.

Worth noting.

[Nonesuch]

Originally Posted by miu

Every time I've asked a longtime NH if there is a possibility of being able to vote for a town budget that is LESS than the previous year, they said that it will never happen. That the best we can hope for is to keep it to the same amount.

Get enough residents active in town politics, and it is possible to reduce the town budget. You do have to start early in the process, at the deliberative session if not before -- by the time the election comes around, the only choices left open are "proposed budget" versus "default budget" (usually "big increase" versus "slightly smaller increase"

Originally Posted by miu

And what to do about the cost of Narcan while we are in the middle of the opiod crisis?

Narcan's price is a red herring.

The drug is probably the cheapest line item in an ambulance dispatched for an OD, base cost to paramedics and ambulances for Narcan is around $30 per dose. If you buy your own kit at CVS, you will pay $30-$45 per dose (no prescription needed in NH!)

[arctichomesteader]

Originally Posted by LeviDunn

After seeing your congress and governor screw over Vermonters last week, while NH congress expanded gun rights last week, I think NH was the better pick.

But NH has double the population of VT, meaning it will take twice as many participants getting involved to effect change in NH. If they'd picked VT I suspect what just happened here never would have happened. 20,000 people moving to VT would have been huge politically. Many of the big government legislators who voted for that gun bill literally won by a handful of votes last election and some ran unopposed.

[Nonesuch]

Originally Posted by arctichomesteader

But NH has double the population of VT, meaning it will take twice as many participants getting involved to effect change in NH.

Aside from the other differences (jobs, taxes, etc.), a big reason NH was chosen is that it's easier to get elected in New Hampshire.

Vermont's House comprises 150 members, with each member representing around 4,100 citizens.
New Hampshire's House of Representatives consists of 400 members, each legislator represents about 3,300 residents on average.

Originally Posted by arctichomesteader

If they'd picked VT I suspect what just happened here never would have happened. 20,000 people moving to VT would have been huge politically.

FSP claims fewer than 5,000 people have moved, and it's a safe bet that most of the 23,778 signers will not make the move.

[KickAssArmyChick]

I am one of the people who signed up with FSP to move to NH...this was over six years ago and I moved not too long after. I've been here ever since.