Live from the Airport Diner in Manchester, NHJournal presents Diner Table Economics!
Want to hear the specific economic proposals from the people who want to serve as your next governor? You’ll get it here, straight from the candidates themselves, over a cup of coffee at the iconic Airport Diner.
No “horserace politics,” no “politics of personality,” just a 20-minute conversation about jobs, inflation, taxes, and spending. The policy positions from taxes to housing to education funding that impact the daily lives of Granite Staters.
In this edition, former U.S. Sen. Kelly Ayotte talks about her priorities if elected New Hampshire’s next chief executive.
A few highlights:
How would you describe the current state of the New Hampshire economy?
“I think New Hampshire’s in a very strong position, especially relative to the rest of New England. But New Hampshire’s also facing the same challenges that everyone’s facing in the nation right now: Higher costs due to inflation. That hits everyone. This meal [at the Airport Diner] is going to cost more than it normally would, the grocery store — everything costs more. Also, it costs more to build things. And then you combine that with rising interest rates, and you can imagine the challenge just when we think about the housing issue or building in New Hampshire.
But I will tell you, Michael, I believe that being in New Hampshire and having the New Hampshire Advantage is so important, and that we’re in a very strong position.”
The housing issue is mostly a local issue — zoning and land use rules. What can you do as governor to address the housing crisis?
“We can start with the state modeling good behavior… I don’t look at this as a carrot or a stick to the community, but it is a carrot in the sense that if adding housing is going to add infrastructure [costs] to your community — if you need a road, you need sewer, you need groundwater — that is something the state can partner on. And it is a good use of resources because it’s benefiting a larger group of people to have workforce housing. I know we’ve got limited resources on this, so we should be working together when it comes to the biggest economic challenge we’re facing.”
What would your energy policy be?
Our energy prices are some of the highest in the nation, and we just don’t have enough energy. This is another supply and demand problem, just like with housing. So more energy of all forms. And so as governor, I want to champion how we get more energy.
Second, not adding regulatory costs to ratepayers like some of these other liberal states have done. I look at the energy policies that have been proposed by Cinde Warmington and Joyce Craig, and I say, ‘Wow, you think you’re paying a lot right now to heat your home? Or keep the air conditioning on this summer on these hot days? Wait until they get into office.’
“They propose all these great plans. ‘Oh, we’re going to protect the environment’ and all these things. And yet no price tag to it. In fact, with Cinde [Warmington], it looks like she wants to eliminate internal combustion engines. Good luck with that.”
