Liberty award presented to Hogan

July 19, 2009

NH Business Review Staff,

State Rep. Edith “Dee” Hogan, R-25th, has received the New Hampshire Liberty Alliance’s Legislator of the Year award for her pro-liberty voting record in 2009.

Along with the Nashua legislator, the Liberty Alliance also honored Keith Carlsen, of Keene, as Activist of the Year for his volunteer efforts to advance and protect liberty in the Granite State while the Legislature was in session.

The alliance is a nonpartisan organization devoted to promoting personal liberty.

Hogan demonstrated steady support for the New Hampshire constitution as the law of the land, according to Dawn Lincoln, alliance chairwoman.

Throughout the 2009 legislative session, Hogan consistently

advances individual freedom of choice, personal responsibility and respect for the citizens’ rights of self-ownership, according to the alliance

She favored bills that promote good government and recognize the value of voluntary economic decisions. She consistently opposed legislation that promotes government interventionism, gives power by force to government agencies over individuals, and supports central economic planning that requires people to pay for policies they may not willingly support, according to the alliance.

To rate Hogan against her 399 colleagues in the House and 24 colleagues in the Senate, the Liberty Alliance – with the help of many volunteers over hundreds of hours – evaluated each bill under consideration in the New Hampshire House and Senate. From the list, the alliance selected 44 roll call votes in the House and 11 in the Senate that clearly demonstrated a pro-liberty or anti-liberty position, then weighted the votes based on their impact to freedom. Each representative and senator was awarded an “A+” to “F” letter grade based on how many pro-liberty votes they made.

Legislators least supportive of liberty were deemed a constitutional threat and labeled “CT.” The final results of the evaluation and each state legislator’s grade is listed in the alliance’s annual Liberty Rating report card, a tool for voters released this weekend.

Hogan not only received an “A+” grade on the 2009 Liberty Rating report card, she also received the highest score of any legislator not directly affiliated with the New Hampshire Liberty Alliance board of directors, Lincoln said.

“I’d like people to have the facts about what their legislators are actually doing in Concord, because what they do up there affects us throughout the state,” Lincoln said.

“Sometimes people get into office because they’re nice people. They smile, they kiss your baby, they shake your hand and they win. Then they get to Concord and they’re voting to take away your freedoms and to take money out of your wallet,” Lincoln said.

Public meetings

Following are public meetings scheduled for the week of July 20-26.

MONDAY

Board of fire commissioners, 177 Lake St., 5:30 p.m.

Special Board of Education, Nashua High School North boardroom, 6:30 p.m.

TUESDAY

Nashua Airport Authority, Eaton Richmond Center, Room 122, Daniel Webster College, 6:30 p.m.

Budget review committee, aldermanic chamber, 7 p.m.

WEDNESDAY

Ward 1 informational meeting, Nashua High School North, boardroom, 7 p.m.

Committee on infrastructure, aldermanic chamber, 7 p.m.

THURSDAY