Let's Find the Compromise Points

Friends and Neighbors:

I am writing today because I hope to become Bedford’s State Representative. I have been a resident since 2010, when together with my husband, we brought two small businesses and two children to Bedford. We have since added twin boys to our family, and are deeply invested in this community. I am a practicing labor and employment lawyer, and I also have a small property management business.

I have been involved on the local level since moving to Bedford, particularly with our schools, and I served as the most recent VP of Taxpayers for Quality Education (TQE). I worked with TQE on supporting teacher contracts and budgets, always with an eye towards fiscal responsibility. I am a huge proponent of public education and supporting our educators, but I do not always agree with school district recommended expenditures. Last year, I was vocal with our School Board in opposing personal Chromebooks for our first and second graders, as an unnecessary, and perhaps even unhealthy, expense.

I believe strongly in investing responsibly in education and training at all levels, as research has clearly established that those investments pay dividends for our economy well into the future and would help keep our young people in NH. As but one example, studies show that investments in early childhood education can return as many as $6-7 dollars to the general public for every $1 dollar invested, yet NH does not even fully invest in full-day kindergarten. But, I also understand that the burden on homeowners is too high, and we need to look for additional sources of support for our schools, while holding the state accountable for its share. New Hampshire has a crisis looming in the combination of our aging population, our inability to attract and retain young, skilled workers, and our ever-increasing property tax burden (that is the cause of a disparate impact on educational outcomes in less wealthy towns). I’d like to see New Hampshire become an education and training stronghold, attracting students, workers and businesses from all over.

In 2018, my identity as a lawyer and mother to four children shifted to include another title: cancer survivor. In 2017, I was diagnosed with an aggressive form of breast cancer that after equally aggressive treatment, I am happy to report is no longer present in any part of my body. As a small business owner, my family and I purchase our health insurance through the Affordable Care Act Exchange. I am deeply, personally, familiar with how expensive and unsustainable this system is, yet at the same time how necessary it is that we improve upon, not abandon it, and continue to protect preexisting conditions. If healthcare is a concern, you can be assured that I will fight for this literal life and death issue.

As a labor and employment lawyer I represent both employees who have been treated unlawfully and employers that are faced with the pressures of navigating the many laws while still prospering. I support paid family and medical leave, but I also understand the unique pressures these programs place on employers and the need to find creative ways to fund them.

New Hampshire is facing many pressing issues: our aging population, escalating property tax burdens, the state of our roads and infrastructure, our clean water and other natural resources, and significant unfunded liabilities of the New Hampshire Retirement System, to name just a few. There is much to work on and I believe I am up to the challenge.

The current state of politics in this country is discouraging. I feel strongly that in order to move forward, we need to find the compromise points. We cannot make decisions by the party in power, only to have them undone when the pendulum inevitably swings the other way. My life and career revolve around compromise and conflict resolution and my illness played a strong part in my desire to be impactful on a broader scale. I am confident that I have the expertise to represent Bedford’s interests well in Concord and I hope you will vote for me this Tuesday, November 6th, 7am-7pm at BHS. Thank you.

Kamee Verdrager Leshner

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