Mitchell Scacchi is a Policy Analyst at the Josiah Bartlett Center for Public Policy. He earned his M.A. and B.A. in political science from the University of New Hampshire. Email: [email protected].
There’s more that can be done to make New Hampshire a freer state for education entrepreneurs looking to start small, decentralized, and unconventional educational environments, but so far the state is doing better than most. That’s according to the Education Entrepreneur Freedom Index released by the yes. every kid. foundation. Of 10 possible points that […]
From 2013–2022, the Manchester Transit Authority (MTA) increased spending by more than a third and rapidly expanded service offerings to try to increase ridership. It was a colossal failure, as we highlighted in April. Instead of acknowledging the failure and changing course, the federal government this week announced a massive infusion of additional resources. Washington […]
With a growing housing shortage and skyrocketing home prices as a result, the issue of housing is top of mind for Granite Staters. A June UNH Survey Center poll found that Granite Staters overwhelmingly say housing is the most important problem facing the state. Unsurprisingly, the issue was also a top priority for legislators in […]
Congratulations to the Boston Celtics, the 2024 NBA champions! Sixteen years to the date of their last championship, the Celtics became the winningest basketball franchise in history. Now the players can spend the offseason celebrating—and paying their taxes. Aside from the players and Celtics staff, probably no one is celebrating the title more than the […]
Kay is a 63-year-old single mom in Manchester who would love to be able to retire in the next five years. But as things stand, she doesn’t think she’ll be able to. Her adopted son needs the kind of high school environment they haven’t found among area public schools. And she needs to find the […]
After continuing negotiations into a second day, Committee of Conference members agreed this week to expand eligibility for the popular Education Freedom Account (EFA) program. The agreement reached on House Bill 1665 would raise the income threshold from 350% of the federal poverty level (FPL) to 425%. That figure is closer to the Senate’s position […]
When the House passed House Bill 1400, the bill prevented municipalities from requiring more than one residential parking space per housing unit in their local zoning regulations. Requiring 1.5 or two parking spaces per unit, as many zoning districts do, is often a prohibitive hurdle for housing developers and owners of multifamily properties to overcome, […]
Sarah Breisch knew she could do better for her six children than send them to their government-assigned district public schools. The public schools in their city, Claremont, are low-performing. “I don’t have anything necessarily philosophically against public schools,” Breisch told us, “but just being very honest and frank, Claremont’s public schools rank very, very low […]
As part of their doctorate-level education, optometrists learn how to perform minor surgeries, including some laser eye surgeries. Yet New Hampshire law prohibits optometrists from doing any surgeries, even ones they’re trained to do. Only ophthalmologists (physicians who specialize in medical and surgical eye care) are permitted by law to perform laser procedures in New […]
There’s a growing consensus that New Hampshire’s overly restrictive land-use regulations need to be addressed to reverse the state’s housing shortage. Whether changes should be made at the state or local level, though, remains a major point of contention. State-level solutions generate reflexive opposition from people who view local land-use regulation as an entirely local […]