Andru Volinsky
Running forGovernor
in 2020
Running as Democrat
At age64
As Executive Councilor, I am working tirelessly to enact checks and balances and ensure that the contracts and nominations that cross my desk represent the best interests of the state and hold Governor Sununu accountable. I’ve successfully challenged Governor Sununu when he nominated Gordon MacDonald, a right wing anti-choicer, to be the Chief Justice to the NH Supreme Court. I led efforts to reject climate change deniers to important environmental positions. I have stood up to Education Commissioner Frank Edelblut as he continually tries to undermine public education with his Betsy DeVos agenda. On a bipartisan basis, I was also able to force Governor Sununu to disclose where CARES Act money was being spent to address the COVID crisis, and discovered several no bid contracts going to campaign contributors.
My first professional job was as a clinical instructor at the University of Tennessee School of Law. I taught 3rd year students how to defend poor people accused of crimes and my partner and I defended as many cases as we could. We defended three death penalty/murder cases during the time I was there. I learned as much from my students and the clients as what I offered them.
For decades, I’ve been at the forefront of the fight for equitable educational opportunities. I was the lead lawyer in the Claremont School Funding case in the 1990s that sought to require the state to meet its obligation to provide all students with a state-funded, high quality public education. I have remained deeply involved including representing the Derry and Dover School Districts and holding over 70 public forums around the state over the last two years to discuss how school funding really works and where it falls short.
Time lived in NHAlmost 40
University of Miami (BA), George Washington University Law School (JD)
Best way to contact candidateVisit our website at volinskynh.com and email us at info@volinskynh.com
Websitehttps://www.volinskynh.com
What are the most important concerns you’ve heard from Manchester residents and how can you address those concerns if elected or re-elected as Governor?
New Hampshire is 50th in the nation in state support for K-12 education (and 50th again in college and university support). Manchester has the dubious distinction of being last in New Hampshire in terms of spending per student, despite having the most diverse and high needs population. This has become a racial and economic justice issue. Nearly three decades after the Claremont school funding cases, in which I successfully sued to defend the right of New Hampshire children to a state-funded, quality public education, the state still pays less than a quarter of the cost. The rest is paid by local school districts with widely varying financial resources. After spending two years doing more than 70 education forums, I know that Manchester is ready for a change and I hope to lead us to that new future that does more than pay lip service to bringing everyone along. I am refusing to take The Pledge, which is a politically expedient promise that other politicians take to never change our unfair tax system and leads to the underfunding of public schools across the state. As governor, I would put every option on the table to fairly fund our schools, particularly for Manchester. Health care is another critical issue, especially during this COVID crisis. We need to separate health care and employment and make health care a human right. In Manchester, I served on the Amoskeag Community Health Center board as strategic planning chair. I know how vital their role is in providing preventative care for underserved populations. As Governor, I believe we need to invest in these health centers to achieve universal health care access for all.
Do you have an overarching philosophy when it comes to the duties of the Governor?
The most important responsibilities of the governor is to start the budget process and nominate highly qualified state managers and judges. The New Hampshire governor sets the agenda for the state with his or her budget address and first draft of the budget. S/he then implements budget priorities with the people nominated to lead state agencies. The judges a governor nominates reflect his or her views of justice. I am running on the idea that now is the time for bold ideas and courageous leadership, particularly on the issues of property taxes, school funding, and showing leadership on fighting catastrophic climate change. As governor, I believe in being the collaborator-in-chief and laying out a framework of my values for how we should achieve progress on these issues. The current governor has done nothing but veto bipartisan bills from the legislature. Better leadership would actually work with the legislature to find compromise.
In your view, describe the political atmosphere over the past two years in Concord. Do you believe this atmosphere will continue over the next two years and how would that affect how you approach this position if elected or re-elected?
The past two years with the record number of vetoes issued by the governor have produced an intensely partisan atmosphere that has hindered progress on paid family leave, raising our lousy $7.25 minimum wage, climate change, renewable energy, redistricting, campaign finance reform, medicinal marijuana and many more. Many of those bills were bipartisan. As governor, I would work with the legislature to decrease the acrimonious relationship and come to compromise on bills instead of simply issuing vetoes.
What is the most significant issue facing Manchester at the local level right now and as Governor, what do you believe your role is toward impacting this issue?
I am running for governor to finally fix the system that keeps so many of our children in failing schools without adequate resources. Over the past few decades, this inequity in education has now become a racial justice issue in majority minority districts such as Manchester. Manchester is our most diverse community—43% diverse, yet spends less than any other school district by thousands of dollars per child. But money is not enough—we need to include ethnic, cultural and racial diverse curricula and we can’t overcome systemic racism if every teacher is white. We need to recruit a more diverse teaching corp.
With the uncertainty surrounding the COVID-19 in the future, what is your opinion of Emergency Executive Order #12 allowing local government boards to meet remotely and do you believe this approach should be expanded to other elected bodies?
Local bodies need to meet in an open and transparent way. While quorums may not be required, having access to the meeting electronically from the actual meeting place is important. Ensuring access for people with different abilities and different access to technology is also important. The state and the Municipal Association should help with training and resources.
In your opinion, what were the five most significant pieces of legislation introduced by the New Hampshire General Court in the past two years?
Last session, at the urging of John Tobin, Doug Hall and me, the state adopted a planto study the funding of schools with expert assistance. The School Funding Commission, along with the decision to stop the cuts to School Stabilization Aid-which disproportionately hurt schools in property poor districts. These were among the most important piecesof legislation introduced. Although increases in school funding from the most recent budget were significant, it is important to note that the increase followed years of cuts, was funded with one-time monies and still leaves New Hampshire 50th in the nation in state support for public schools. Clean Energy Bills that help our state combat climate change were similarly important.These bills, including lifting the cap on net metering and raising the renewable portfolio standard, would have allowed our renewable energy industry to begin to flourish. These are critically important to address both job creation and climate change, but were vetoed by Gov. Sununu. Finally, particularly during the Pandemic, Paid Family Medical Leave could have madea huge difference to many families in our state. Again, Sununu thwarted the legislature by vetoing this legislation.
In your opinion, what were the five most significant actions taken by New Hampshire governors over the last ten years? Please explain what made them significant.
There were a number of steps taken by Sununu that significantly hurt New Hampshire’s most vulnerable, including our children, our seniors and our small business. Appointing and supporting Frank Edelblut as Education Commissioner as he diverts public money to private schools and takes other steps to undermine public education in New Hampshire shows Sununu to be the state governor most antagonistic to public education in modern history. Edelblut is simply a New Hampshire version of Betsy DeVos. Governor Sununu, in distribution $1.2 billion in CARES Act money to help with the Covid crisis chose to cut the Legislature’s Fiscal Committee and the Executive Council out of their constitutional and statutory roles in helping to oversee the spending. This action was a breathtaking power grab. The Legislature took Sununu to court and failed to rein in his excessive power grab. The Executive Council, under my leadership, refused to allow Sununu to withdraw money from the State Treasury as a way of forcing him to detail where and how he was going to spend CARES Act relief funds. I group all of Sununu’s many vetoes into one act because that is what they are, one colossal failure act, a refusal to govern or compromise with the Legislature on a myriad of issues, some of which had enjoyed broad bipartisan support. Although it is a little before your timeframe, I would give credit to Gov. John Lynch for the Mental Health Parity Law that requires parity in coverage for mental health and physical health treatment. Although passed in 2008, the law has not been fully enforced or its benefits fully realized and so additional work is required.