New Hampshire state Senate Democrats’ plans for the 2026 legislative session were on full display at a Wednesday press conference. More state money for child care, pensions, housing, and schools.
Notably absent from their wide-ranging “More Money in Your Pocket” policy agenda: a price tag.
Senate Minority Leader Rebecca Perkins Kwoka (D-Portsmouth) was joined by Sens. Pat Long (D-Manchester), Sue Prentiss (D-Lebanon), and Cindy Rosenwald (D-Nashua) to make the case that Concord should spend more to cover the costs of local government.
“The party of so-called fiscal responsibility and personal liberty has worked in recent years to deliver policy and a budget $50 million under plan and in the red, crafted around ideology instead of facts, and resulting in cuts to the services you need while offering breaks to those at the top,” Perkins Kwoka said of the current GOP majority.
“With the ‘More Money in Your Pocket’ agenda, we’re ready to stand and deliver for you — a platform which provides more affordable housing, more affordable health care, more affordable energy, and more affordable childcare. All of this can be done without smoke and mirrors, without handouts to the wealthiest at your expense, and without jacking up your property taxes.”
State Sen. Pat Long (D-Manchester) at a press conference for the caucus’ ‘More Money in Your Pocket’ 2026 Policy Platform and Agenda.
The most ambitious spending shifts would be on pensions and public schools, with the hope — though not a requirement — that cities and towns lower property taxes rather than increase their own spending.
The “Lower Our Property Taxes Act,” for example, would commit the state to contributing 7.5 percent to municipal pensions every year, shifting the burden of retirement expenses from local to state taxes.
Likewise, the “Standing Up for Students Act” would “increase the state’s contribution to public education to $7,300 per pupil on average,” Prentiss said. “This bill also clarifies that adequate education must consider teacher-student ratios, instructional materials, and transportation costs, while requiring that the General Court review the state contribution every two years.”
However, state funding for public schools has been at a record high for years, and local school boards have increased — not decreased — their spending, even as school enrollment continues to decline.
Asked by NHJournal why Democrats are asking taxpayers to spend more money to educate fewer students, Perkins Kwoka blamed tariffs.
“Everything’s more expensive these days, and under Republican control, we’ve seen prices continue to climb,” she said. “Tariffs are leading to a 19 percent increase in household costs, and schools are not immune to that.”
While the Democrats offered many specifics about what they want to spend state money on, they were less clear about how they planned to pay for it.
Asked about the price tag for their plan, Perkins Kwoka and her colleagues declined to give one.
“These bills all come with fiscal notes,” Perkins Kwoka said. “But we’re spending, to date, over $50 million diverting taxpayer dollars to out-of-state corporations through our school voucher scheme that has little accountability” — a reference to the Education Freedom Account program.
(In fact, none of the EFA money goes to any “corporations.” It goes to parents, who spend it on the education they choose for their children.)
Perkins Kwoka told reporters the state’s current revenues can cover all of the Democrats’ additional spending. “We just need to make different choices with the funds we already have here at the state level.”
That’s a bold claim given the estimated $500 million annual increase required to reach the $7,300-per-pupil state spending in their plan. Asked where that money would come from, Perkins Kwoka again declined to get specific.
“I think that when we are able to come together on agreeing that it’s important to fund these solutions, we can all work together to figure out exactly how that formula works,” she said, adding that “it’s probably time for some new ideas.”
Republicans say they know what the Democrats’ idea is — and it’s not new: raising taxes.
“The Senate Democrats’ ‘More Money Out of Your Paycheck’ agenda does nothing but increase spending and raise taxes,” said Senate President Sharon Carson (R-Londonderry). “Senate Republicans will never let the Democrats spend us into an income tax.”
Gov. Kelly Ayotte echoed those sentiments.
“I’m not going to let anyone MASS up our great state with higher taxes. Today, tomorrow, and every day, no income tax, no sales tax — ever.”
