Respectful Conversations on Sensitive Topics: How Can We Work Together to Disagree Without Resorting to Aggression

By Rosemary Ford and Caitlin Agnew

This article has been lightly edited for length and clarity.

On this episode of The State We’re In, Melanie Plenda talks with University of New Hampshire grad students, Shantel Palacio, and Nathan Harris, founders of Beyond the Border, a critical dialogue series, and James Rinker, Digital Community Engagement Journalist for The Keene Sentinel, and part of the current cohort of the solutions journalism networks Complicating the Narrative Fellowship, to find out what it takes to have a respectful conversation on a sensitive topic without resorting to shouting and personal attacks.

Melanie Plenda:

So let's start with a question for the three of you. Can you tell viewers a little bit about your projects and what you hope to accomplish with them? Let's start with Shantel. And then to Nathan and James.

Shantel Palacio:

Thank you. So our project is called Beyond the Border, a critical dialogue series, and the goal is essentially to have a New Hampshire based expert engage with their counterparts from beyond the border in a conversation about sometimes controversial topics.

Melanie Plenda:

And Nathan, what would you like to add to that?

Nathan Harris:

I think that says it all. Getting them to engage is the fun part, and then watching it all unfold as it happens.

Melanie Plenda:

James Rinker.

And James, how about you?

James Rinker:

So for the next year, I'll be reporting on the lack of resources for gender affirming health care in the state of New Hampshire, which is a state that is already struggling overall, in access to rural health care. The goal is identify possible solutions, and bring more resources to the state while also highlighting the resources that are actually here. At the core of the work that I do with the Sentinel is to help establish trust and transparency in the local news organizations such as the Sentinel, and this fellowship, I'm doing that in terms of debunking misinformation around this recently very polarized and politicized topic, and encouraging others to listen to each other more rather than closing off and that sense of judgment and indignation.

Melanie Plenda:

Absolutely. And so this is also for the three of you, why has it gotten so hard to talk to each other? Does it seem like a skill we need to learn or relearn, especially after the pandemic?

Shantel Palacio:

Yeah, definitely, I think before the pandemic. Some of these topics were difficult to talk about. But during the pandemic, I think we lost our ability or connection to each other. And then there was the racial reckoning that happened. And then it created, I think, more anxiety, particularly, in my experience, racial anxiety, where we want to connect with each other, but we're afraid to say something wrong, or we're afraid of dealing with, you know, kind of microaggressions. 

Melanie Plenda:

And Nathan, anything you want to add to that?

Nathan Harris:

Yeah, I think social media has helped with that a little bit. People can isolate and just send barbs out, not communicate. When you watch teenagers or adults basically have a whole hour conversation, just using their phone, and not ever engaging. We're just not doing what we used to do. So now when you throw a difficult topic matter into the mix, it makes it a little even harder.

Melanie Plenda:

And James, what do you think?

James Rinker:

Yeah, in terms of my work I view it as not the fact that we have gotten harder to talk to each other rather, we've been talking more at each other. Humans really need to be heard before they will listen. And so we don't do nearly enough since the pandemic of listening to each other, especially with these really difficult conversations. And as a result, there's a lot of conflict. That's I mean from that, and not a lot of understanding, well, where are we coming from in these views? Where are we coming from these conversations to begin with the root of why do we resort to these very different sides and immediately close each other off?

Melanie Plenda:

So how do you get past that? And this will be a question for all three of you. How do you get past that in these conversations where it sounds like the goal is not to get everyone to agree, but how do you get people to at least hear each other enough to understand where the other is coming from?

James Rinker:

Yeah, definitely. And so, for me, it's really getting under the surface of their way of thinking. It would be kind of bad if we all agreed on the same thing, all the time. And as humans were meant to have that conflict and different opinions and different interests. When it comes to these conversations, I'm learning more, where these viewpoints are coming from and asking questions like, How has this conflict affected your life? What is oversimplified about this thing that you feel really strongly about? And most importantly, what are the questions they feel that nobody is asking? When it comes to your views when it comes to this topic that you feel really strongly about? And working to also get to the root of, is it because they've been misinformed? Is it because they actually are spreading misinformation and disinformation about this topic? So in my realm, in health care, in gender affirming health care? Is this actual factual information? Or is this actually ‘Oh, this is an experience, this is something that they have lived through that they have heard about’, and learning more from that.

Melanie Plenda:

Interesting and Shantel and Nathan, do you have anything you want to add to that?

Shantel Palacio:

Yeah, absolutely. I think that we just need to have spaces to be able to engage and ask questions, and even make mistakes. The university setting is an academic institution, it's the perfect place to be able to ask questions. So I think folks really need that place to kind of explore and engage in conversations that they've never had before.

Melanie Plenda:

For the three of you. Both projects are focused on sensitive conversations. So what does it mean to you to complicate the narrative or have a critical dialogue? Let's start with James and then to Nathan and Shantel.

James Rinker:

So in terms of my fellowship, specifically, it's rooted in conflict mediation techniques, though complicating the narrative idea came from a scholar, Amanda Ripley, she wrote an essay, and then I now have her book. And it really just talks about this looping framework. So hearing what people are saying to us during the active listening work. And from there kind of looping that back to them of if I'm hearing you correctly, you're this is what you're thinking, this is what you're saying. And really making sure that those active listening skills and putting those into practice and making sure that people know that they're being heard in these conversations, and when it comes to complicating the narrative as well, it's that mediation, making sure that when we're complicating the narrative, we're meaning that we're learning about these different ideas and how they can coexist in this space, and these different viewpoints, and not making this an unsafe space. And making sure that people understand that there's a lot of nuance in any kind of topic that has some people view it as one side versus the other. In my work is just how are all the layers interacting with one another in this topic of conversation?

Melanie Plenda:

Nathan, what is that critical dialogue? What does that mean to you?

Nathan Harris:

Well, we start with trying to with the complication of the narrative and the critical dialogue, we start with a title that we think captures something that they think about. But maybe it might be something different, but it has some complications to it. Like diversity is a dirty word, which is one of the first ones that we did. Because we knew that that word diversity was a trigger word for some people, and it had different narratives around it. So it was complicated. So we start with that narrative. And then we create the space in the tone that James was talking about, that Shantel mentioned. And then we try to get that narrative to flow. And we're looking for those pieces that give us the opposite in the same

Melanie Plenda:

What do you hope attendees take away from this experience? Let's start with James and then to Shantel and Nathan.

James Rinker:

Yeah, so for me in terms of my work, I really just hope that people come from this with just a little bit more information. I am moderating these conversations and I've done a lot of research myself, and these will be co facilitated with other journalists and community leaders throughout the state, and in that route in those communities. We're really hoping that people come from these, just knowing that they sat and listened, that they heard from people in their community that had this different viewpoint and that they felt it was okay, to make mistakes to fumble, because this is an issue that in gender for me healthcare now in the United States, and talking about the topic is met with a lot of just closed off judgment. People are too scared to talk about it in a way that we can come together and just find, where are you coming from from this. And so I really hope people come from my work, and specifically my conversations, whether it's reading the stories or listening to each other in these spaces, to just remember where other people are coming from, and to know that it's okay to have these conversations in their own communities outside of these structured spaces, that they can take this kind of work anywhere.

Shantel Palacio.

Melanie Plenda:

Absolutely, and Shantel.

Shantel Palacio:

So we have these conversations around the dinner table with our dean. And we talk about politics, and education, and policy, and all of these things that we're going to cover in CDS. And we want everyone in the room to feel that way. Like they're sitting around a dinner table. And they're talking about these crazy topics, respectfully, and if they hear something new, great. And if you hear something all in a different way, great too.

Nathan Harris:

Every time I go to one of these, I learn something. So I always do have an objective, I would like for the group or people in the group to walk away with one thing that they didn't know, that either surprised them, or it updated their information or something they thought they knew. And typically, in all the ones that we've done, there's always been at least one or two things. So there may be more, but if they walk away with one thing, I personally feel like it was very successful.

Melanie Plenda:

Well, these are great projects and best of luck to all of you on your endeavors, UNH grad students Shantel Palacio and Nathan Harris founders of Beyond the Border, a Critical Dialogue Series, and James Rinker, Digital Community Engagement Journalist for The Keene Sentinel and part of the current cohort of the solutions journalism networks Complicating the Narrative Fellowship. Thank you all so much for joining us today.

The State We’re in a weekly digital public affairs show is produced by NH PBS and The Marlin Fitzwater Center for Communications. It is shared with partners in the Granite State News Collaborative, of which both organizations are members.

Navigating Inflation: Strategies for Average Worker's Salary to Sustain Economic Relief Amidst Growing Pressures

By Rosemary Ford and Caitlin Agnew

This article has been edited for length and clarity.

The rise of inflation has had a major effect on people especially those whose salary hasn’t caught up. On this episode of The State We’re In, Melanie Plenda talks with Phil Sletten, Research Director for New Hampshire Fiscal Policy Institute to discuss the economy, inflation, and what relief the average person might find to pay their bills.

Melanie Plenda:

So can you give us a brief overview of what's going on with the economy right now? Are we in a recession? Are we headed into one? Or is the economy good? I read headlines every day with contradictory information. So what's going on?

Phil Sletten:

Yeah, and it's understandable, because there's a lot going on. And sometimes there are trends that have counter trends from other sets of data. Fundamentally, the national economy is in quite good shape. The economy was running relatively hot, as in, the economic growth was quite fast, particularly coming out of the COVID 19 pandemic. And that economic growth has slowed some in 2022, on average, and has not leapt back up to high levels that we saw, for example, in 2021. And that's true in New Hampshire as well speaking generally, the economic growth that we've seen has been actually relatively robust. The job growth nationwide has been strong. And inflation, which was quite high in 2022, has been coming down and has come down for 12 of the last 13 months. Only in the last month did we see year over year inflation be a little bit higher than the year before. So the national economy is not in a recession. 

Indeed, the forecasts that we saw even as early as, as recently as January of this year, that suggested there would be a recession at some point this year appear to have generally changed to show that there's less likely to be a recession, the Congressional Budget Office doesn't have one in their two year forecast, for example, although they do have the economy slowing. In New Hampshire, we haven't seen a strong job growth year over year. And part of that is because of our labor force constraint. It's not because there's a lack of demand in the economy for goods and services. It's because there are not as many people in the labor force. So the labor force is only slightly grown relative to last year thus far in 2023. And it's difficult for employers to find employees to fill positions.

Melanie Plenda:

And just to follow up on that real quick, do we know why that is?

Phil Sletten:

That's a great question. So, I do want to be clear that the number of jobs that employers say they have filled is actually higher than it was in 2022. But the number of people in New Hampshire who say they're employed, is actually a little bit lower than it was or about the same as it was this far and average this year.So that suggests that maybe more people are staying in the state to work as opposed to commuting out of state, more people may be taking part time jobs. So to for example, in response to rising costs, and the major constraints that we see on the growth and labor force, are really rooted in housing and childcare constraints, the lack of accessible and affordable housing, and the lack of accessible and affordable childcare means that there are people who otherwise would have moved into the state who haven't been able to find a place to live in the state or who would have moved around the state for work who haven't been able to find an affordable place to live. And for people who are already in the state, but need to have some access to childcare and need to care for a child or children. They have not been able to find childcare that's affordable in a way that makes sense for them to engage in the labor force as fully whether that means they're working part time instead of full time, or because they are not working at all to care for a child at home. That is something that there are some numbers that suggest that's a pretty significant labor force constraint in the state as well.

Melanie Plenda:

And so let's get back to inflation for a bit. So what is inflation and where does it come into play? Why has inflation risen so sharply in the last year? What's causing it?

Phil Sletten:

Yeah, that's a great question. So inflation, when economists are talking about inflation, generally it's referring to an overall increase in prices. So the price of a particular item or a particular service might go up or down but be independent of how other prices move. Inflation is referring to all prices, or at least the price overall of the collection of things that most of us purchase. When we are behaving in the economy, when we're buying goods and services, the prices overall have gone up. And that is reflecting the erosion of the value of the currency, meaning the dollars that you have buy fewer things, right, and the dollars that you have buy fewer services. So when we're talking about inflation, we're talking about that general increase. And why has it gone up is a complex question, because there are lots of different factors that have been at play. 

Initially following the COVID-19 recession, the price increases were isolated to a few areas, used cars and airline tickets. But especially over the course of the second half of 2021, we saw increased demand for goods and services more generally, particularly on the good side, because a lot of people shifted their spending from services to goods as the COVID 19 pandemic started to affect how we all behaved. And that meant that supply chains had to respond and supply chains had trouble responding. And there were a lot of goods that were suddenly more people were buying things for their households, as opposed to going out and getting haircuts and going to the movies. So there was the response, that was something that a lot of supply chains had difficulty doing getting goods to people who were looking to purchase them, and that led to some price increases as well. Households had savings, that coming out of the pandemic, they spent a significant amount of that savings because of both changes in habits, not going on vacations in the same way that you might have, for example. But also in changing your spending patterns because of federal fiscal stimulus that put more money in people's pockets. Some of that money was used right away in the economy, some of it allowed people to build up savings. And those savings were pretty significant, especially for upper middle and upper income households in 2022, a lot of those have actually been spent now that in aggregate, those additional savings from the pandemic have appeared to have eroded away. So but that contributed to inflation as well, because people were able to spend more and spend more in different ways in the economy. 

Also energy prices, particularly because of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, energy and food prices both increased substantially. And those two are interrelated because the food has to move around. And that's usually powered by energy. And, of course, the unique nature of Russia and Ukraine, and both the energy and food markets respectively, led to a substantial increase in inflation in 2022, is some research from the Economic Policy Institute suggests that the increased corporate profits that we've seen, may be part of it as well, people expecting inflation leading to higher prices, and those prices may have outpaced the costs in some cases. But, inflation expectations lead people to make different decisions to try and forecast what inflation would be. And if everyone's expecting inflation, they're more likely going to plan for it. And that can help cause it actually, as well. So there are a lot of different factors, some of the choices that the Federal Reserve made between 2020 and now, a lot of different factors have contributed to inflation. There's no one single reason that we've been seeing it, but we have seen quite a bit of it relative to the last, 30 years or so of history. There's been quite a bit particularly in 2022, but it has eased substantially in 2023.

Melanie Plenda:

Recently, you did a study about the state business tax rate reductions leading to hundreds of millions less for public services. So can you unpack that for us? What did that study entail?

Phil Sletten:

Sure, and the reason that we embarked on this study is to really understand or do our best to understand why business tax revenues have gone up over the last, roughly half decade. So between state fiscal year 2015 and state fiscal year 2022. The combined revenues from the business profits tax and the business enterprise tax, which are the state's two primary business tax revenue sources, the combined revenues went up 118%. That's substantial, especially in the context of New Hampshire's fiscal situation and the New Hampshire state budget. The business profits tax is the single largest tax revenue source the state has now by a factor of two. So a lot of the surpluses, the dollars that are generated over budget plan. Over the plan that the state budget made in terms of how much revenue was going to come in, those surpluses have been largely generated, not entirely, but largely generated by additional business tax revenues. So why have they come in so strong? And was it because of a policy change that was happening at the same time, which were rate reductions, the both the business profits and the business enterprise tax rates were reduced incrementally over time between 2015 and 2023? If that is the cause, then that would be a valuable fiscal policy to know about because then we could. That's something state policymakers have control over as opposed to other factors they wouldn't they don't have control over. 

We didn't find evidence that the tax rate reductions led to increased revenue or offset the revenue losses associated with the tax rate reductions. There was not a correlation between the business profits tax rate and job growth over time, and there was not a correlation between the business profits tax rate and economic growth in New Hampshire relative to the rest of New England over time, and the business enterprise tax revenues went down when the numbers are parsed out, Business Enterprise tax revenues went down business profits, tax revenue still went up. National corporate profits appear to be a primary driver behind that, as well as federal tax policy changes associated with the tax cuts and Jobs Act which was passed back in December 2017. And provided incentive for multinational companies which comprise more than half of the revenue that's collected by the business profits tax come from filers of business filers that indicate that they have a significant international component. 

Those revenues, they're one time revenues associated with the tax cuts and jobs act as well as permanent changes to the tax base, that have likely boosted revenue as well. So we didn't we didn't find an economic relationship, certainly one on one that was sufficient or significant enough to identify that there was an increase in our corporate tax revenues, that was caused by our tax rate reductions. And also other states saw their corporate tax revenues increase as well, during this time period, nationally, the increase was about the same as New Hampshire, between state fiscal years 2015 and 2021. And in the rest of New England combined, it was actually higher. It varies by state. But that depends on particular state policies and economic conditions and how businesses are behaving in each of those states. But we saw an increase elsewhere, that's what strongly indicated, New Hampshire was not unique in seeing this rise in corporate tax revenue. And finally, there was not there was no other research, there was no academic research, peer reviewed research that indicated that a corporate tax rate reduction here would lead to increased revenue. So those other causes are likely what's contributing to it. And as a result, we were able to then calculate based on available research and economic modeling, what the tax rate reductions would have been, what the tax revenues would have been, how much higher they would have been if the rate reductions hadn't taken place between 2015. And now or and 2022, I should say. And that's based on some of the economic modeling that indicates there was some economic feedback from tax rate reductions, but again, not enough to offset the tax revenue losses.

Melanie Plenda:

For viewers who don't pay business taxes, why should they be interested in the business tax rate? How does it affect them? And how would you explain that to them simply?

Phil Sletten:

Sure, well, New Hampshire relies on our business tax revenues more for state budget expenditures than any other state does. In New Hampshire in 2021, roughly 31% of state tax revenue came from corporate taxes, where the next closest state was New Jersey with 14%. So it is very important for our state budget and for funding state services, and for supporting the state budget in a way that permits the state to send more money to local governments, whether that's for education, or, in many cases, supporting highway route and bridge construction as well, or for general economic aid or fiscal aid to local governments. So it does impact, for example, local property taxes in that way indirectly. There's also if we learn more about corporate tax rate changes, business tax rate changes, and who's paying business taxes and what those impacts are in the economy. And that helps us understand what are the impacts that we as people in New Hampshire are buying things and looking for work? Could feel when it comes to a state level tax rate change. If there were a strong effect on employment, for example, or if a lot of the costs associated with the tax rate changes were passed on directly to consumers in New Hampshire, that would be important to know and valuable to know, and those corporate tax rates and understanding the impact of these business tax rates on the economy. Having that understanding allows us to under a hat allows us to better know how our state is raising money and spending money and what the trade offs, the economic trade offs and the trade offs and services are associated with that. So business tax rates are not something that most of us see every day, but they can affect our county compensation and they can affect the services that we see.

Melanie Plenda:

Well, there's a lot to think about there. New Hampshire Fiscal Policy Institute Research Director Phil Sletten, thank you so much for joining us today.

The State We’re in a weekly digital public affairs show is produced by NH PBS and The Marlin Fitzwater Center for Communications. It is shared with partners in the Granite State News Collaborative, of which both organizations are members.

Bears in the Backyard: What Do We Need To Know To Stay Safe

By Rosemary Ford and Caitlin Agnew

This article has been lightly edited for length and clarity.

Today we're here to talk about bears. Bears have been cropping up in neighborhoods across New Hampshire. And is that a good thing? Here to answer our burning bear questions is New Hampshire Fish and Game, Bear Project Leader, and Wildlife Damage Biologist, Dan Bailey.

Melanie Plenda:

So can you tell us a bit about what you do? What does being a bear project leader and wildlife damage biologists entail?

Dan Bailey:

Yeah, absolutely. And first of all, good afternoon, and thank you for having me. So my position with New Hampshire Fish and Game, again, is Bear Project Leader, I am tasked with managing the bear population throughout the state. So in New Hampshire, bears are managed by region, we have six bear management regions in New Hampshire. Each one of these regions has a specific population goal and objective that we strive to keep that population in. And we manage to be there by region, because as you can guess, their populations are not the same throughout the state. So by managing them at these smaller levels, we can more accurately manipulate them to where we want those populations to be. Another thing to note is, our main tool to manage bear populations in New Hampshire is through hunting season structures. So these hunting seasons allow us to harvest bears and keep those populations in check. And we can either liberalize seasons, if we need to decrease population in certain regions, or we can take a more conservative approach, and have a shorter season if we're looking to grill populations. Another large aspect of my job is managing conflicts throughout the state. So we have bear technicians that work seasonally for the department and for our partner, agency, USDA Wildlife Services. They assist us in managing these conflicts, through education, technical assistance, and conflict abatement loans.

Melanie Plenda:

So when you say conflict, can you explain what you mean by that? What does that look like in the wild? And with what you do?

Dan Bailey:

Yeah, so when I'm referring to conflicts, I'm referring to a homeowner, or maybe it's a commercial grower that is having an issue with a bear and is reaching out to the department for help. You know, this can be a variety of things from somebody seeing a bear in their backyard and perceiving that as a threat to bears getting into unsecured garbage in a household, bears getting into bird feeders at homes, or unprotected poultry or livestock. So there's really a variety of conflicts we can call them. But really, it's anyone calling in looking for assistance.

Melanie Plenda:

When you go in to deal with those conflicts, is there some is there an overarching strategy, like underlying it? Are you trying to make sure that you just kind of relocate the bear? Or what are some of the thinking around that conflict sort of resolution?

Dan Bailey:

Yeah, in New Hampshire, conflict resolution typically revolves around education, and trying to secure food attractants, they are very food motivated, a majority of our bear conflicts in the state revolve around bears getting into some kind of food attract in that household. The way we would mitigate that is to educate the homeowner on securing that food attractant. And if that is unavailable to the bear, and the bear cannot access it, then that problem will resolve itself. So it's really just trying to figure out, what's the problem at hand? And what's the best solution? You mentioned, relocation, really, we do not relocate there. We don't do this, because it may be a short term solution to the issue, but it's not a long term solution, that bear is at that property for a reason. And if we move that bear, another bear will likely just fill its place. So we need to get at the root of the issue.

Melanie Plenda:

So why is that? Are there more bears? Are our neighborhoods closer to theirs? What's going on there?

Dan Bailey:

I'd say that's due to a variety of factors. Number one, there are more there, over the past 30 years, our bear population in the state has more than doubled. But if you also think about our human population, we've added about 300,000 residents to the state of New Hampshire during that same time frame. So we have more people on the landscape, we have more bears on the landscape. And another factor that I would add, especially in recent years, most homes now have security cameras. So you're seeing, people are seeing they're at their home, when they normally wouldn't, we get a lot of videos sent in of a bear crossing through someone's yard at two o'clock in the morning, there have always crossed in their yard at two o'clock in the morning, but now they are aware of it because they have these home security cameras. COVID, and people working from home more, has also influenced that because as people are home on their property more, they are more apt to see these bears when they pass through.

Melanie Plenda:

Interesting. And so can we talk a little bit more about why the bear population has doubled? Is it because of hunting? Or how is that changed?

Dan Bailey:

Yeah, so management strategies, our bear population was a lot lower and below its environmental carrying capacity, back in the 80s and the 90s. And the department's approach was to grow the bear population. So our harvest strategy was conservative, not many bears were being taken during the hunting season, allowing for the population to grow. Now our population is at the level that we want it to be sustained at. So we take a more liberalized approach during that hunting season, especially in some of these management regions, the White Mountains region and the Central Lakes region where our populations are, right now a little above our goal. So we're taking a liberalized approach to try to bring those populations back down to levels that we want to see them stay at.

Melanie Plenda:

And we spoke a bit about this already, but do we need to be worried about bears? Are they a threat to humans or pets?

Dan Bailey:

No, we certainly do not need to be worried about them. If you're seeing a bear likely it's either passing through your property or it's there because there's a food source. So if you do not want to see bears on your property, make sure that you secure all food attractants like we talked about bird seed, unsecured garbage, pet food, and backyard pool alter your livestock. But yeah, that is the reason that the bears are on your property, they have one goal and that is to get food. So likely if you're having an issue where a bear is repeatedly on your property, it's because it's getting something. And that does not include your pets that does not include people. They're not looking for those as a food source. It's more of these things that we've talked about.

Melanie Plenda:

And what's the best way to prevent bear visits is putting your garbage inside enough? It seems like bear proof feeders aren't the best solution.

Dan Bailey:

Yeah, so as we talked about before, making sure that your home is free of any food attractants. So, you know, the department recommends that bird feeders only be out between December 1 and April 1. So anytime during the summer months, spring, summer and fall, bird feeders should be removed. Garbage should be secured either in a locked structure or in a bear resistant or bear proof container. That way bears can't get at it. 

Melanie Plenda:

And if someone has concerns about bears in their neighborhood, what should they do?

Dan Bailey:

Yeah, they're concerned about bear issues in their neighborhood, they can reach out to the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department, Wildlife Division specifically. And we can help them with any issues or concerns they may have.

Melanie Plenda:

And if you do encounter a bear, what should you do?

Dan Bailey:

Yeah, typically, if you encounter a bear saying you're in the woods, my experience has been if I see a bear, it's because it hasn't seen me yet. So just making your presence known, clap your hands, say, “hey, bear”, typically, you'll find that that bear will quickly take off in the other direction.

Melanie Plenda:

What if a bear is in your pool or your house? Both of those things have happened in other states recently.

Dan Bailey:

Yeah, you know, those are very different situations. So I'll start with the pool. Yeah, if you have a bear in your pool, they don't see it as a pool, they don't see it as your property. They see it is a water source. They're avid swimmers. And likely, there, we see these videos during, these heat waves, and bears just cooling off. So just some harassment, clapping your hands using pots and pans using an air horn, any kind of loud, sharp sound to harass that bear and make it feel uncomfortable on your property. A bear being in your home is a different situation. In New Hampshire, if you have a bear that has entered your home, we certainly would urge you to contact the department so that we can work with you to mitigate that situation.

Melanie Plenda:

And one last question, just kind of coming back to that idea of climate change. How are you taking the impacts of climate change into your sort of management of these pieces? And do you think that we will be seeing more of our food sources being impacted? What's happening there a little bit?

Dan Bailey:

Yeah, I would say, looking at the past few summers, I think three out of our past four summers, we've been in a drought. At this time of year, bears diet heavily, very heavily rely on berry crops, which we call soft mass, you have raspberries, blueberries, blackberries and various cherry crops that are available to bear during the summer months. When we have these years of significant droughts, it impacts those berry crops. And it means that there's less food available on the landscape for bears. So, that certainly has negative effects. It means bears have to travel further for food because there's less available. And as we see that continue, and if this cycle of drought, summers continues, that certainly will negatively impact bears availability or food availability on the landscape. The other thing we're seeing, with climate change, we're seeing that we're having shorter, more mild winters which means bears are active longer. They're active further into the winter, and they're active earlier in the spring. And the main issue that arises there is because, food availability, especially in the early spring, there's not a lot of food on the landscape for bears. So they gravitate towards these bird feeders and suburban settings where there's food attractants and that increase in conflict can lower that social carrying capacity and negatively impact our bear population.

Melanie Plenda:

Dan Bailey, New Hampshire Fish and Game Bear Project Leader, and Wildlife Damage Biologist, thank you so much for joining us today.

The State We’re in a weekly digital public affairs show is produced by NH PBS and The Marlin Fitzwater Center for Communications. It is shared with partners in the Granite State News Collaborative, of which both organizations are members.

New Hampshire Housing Market Faces Increase in Rates; How Will This Impact NH Residents

By Rosemary Ford and Caitlin Agnew

Affordable housing is an issue across the region, but the pinch is especially felt here in New Hampshire. Vacancy rates for rental units are 8.6%. The median rent for a two bedroom unit is $1,764, an 11.4% increase in just a year. On this episode of The State We’re In, New Hampshire Housing’s Executive Director and CEO Rob Dapice, and Senior Director of Research, Engagement, and Policy, Heather McCann talk about what's going on in the housing market and how it affects residents.

Melanie Plenda:

Rob, can you give us some background about New Hampshire Housing and the survey's origins?

Rob Dapice:

Sure. Thank you, Melanie. New Hampshire Housing is a public corporation and what that means is that we were established by state law and we have a board of directors appointed by the governor and executive council. But we're not part of the government. We don't receive operating funds from the state. But we administer a range of programs that help promote and finance housing for the people of New Hampshire, and that includes financing multifamily, affordable rental housing. It includes helping our lender partners to offer mortgages that help people achieve homeownership. And we administer the housing choice voucher or section eight program for areas of the state that are served by a local housing authority. We also do a fair amount of research work and conduct research engagement and policy work to help inform stakeholders around the state in their housing conversations. And that's where the rent survey comes from.

Melanie Plenda:

Rob, can you give us a broad overview of the findings? 

Rob Dapice:

Sure, you touched on a few of them in the opening, but rents are up again, you mentioned the gross monthly median rent for two bedroom apartments of almost $1,800, statewide, a vacancy rate that's abnormally low at 0.6% statewide, and an annual increase in monthly gross rent of 11.4%, across the state, And the survey breaks that down by region, but to talk a little bit about what that represents in terms of a trend. That's the fifth year that we've seen increases in the monthly rent and the vacancy remains at an extraordinarily low level, we've been doing the survey using similar methods going back for 40 years, and this is the lowest we've seen the vacancy is where it's been in the last couple of years.

Melanie Plenda:

And Rob, what do these findings mean not only for renters in New Hampshire, but for people who want to buy a home in New Hampshire?

Rob Dapice:

They have very few choices. And so again, people are often looking for a home when they experience life events, maybe they want to form a new household, they're getting married, or moving in with a partner. Certainly, it can be as a result of divorce, or somebody's moving into the workforce, graduating from college, whatever the reason may be, there are fewer and fewer choices and that restricts people's ability to live the way they want to live. It restricts labor, mobility and affects the economy in that way, and certainly affects people who are most vulnerable. Whether it's individuals with disabilities, coming out of incarceration or lower, simply lower on the income spectrum, they're more more vulnerable and more likely to become homeless or lose their housing stability and wind up in an overcrowded or unstable situation.

Melanie Plenda:

And Heather, what did you think of the findings? Did anything about it surprise you at all?

Heather McCann:

Well, given the overall housing landscape in New Hampshire, as Rob has described, I was confident that we would see an increase in rents. The question was just how much they would increase. The high cost of purchasing homes and the very limited supply of homes for sale in New Hampshire especially for first time homebuyers or someone looking to make the transition from renting to ownership puts more pressure on the rental market. So I wasn't surprised to see the vacancy rate remain under 1%. Every year, though, I've come to expect it. So it's not much of a surprise. But a really big concern is the affordability issue. The stark contrast between rental costs and the median renter household income is a troubling reality that puts tremendous financial strain on many individuals and families throughout the state.

Melanie Plenda:

What would cause such a huge spike? And are the reasons that you're seeing the spike in Grafton County? Similar to reasons for increases across the state?

Rob Dapice:

Yes, I think similar dynamics exist in Grafton County as as to others. I mean, Grafton County has a very sort of micro urban area in Lebanon, Hanover, Enfield, where there's a lot of economic activity, a lot of demand, and not a lot of other metro areas from which people might plausibly commute. And so I think that creates sort of a perfect storm at times. But certainly we see significant rent increases like that often when a building changes ownership. Sometimes there are reasons that a new owner has to put a lot of money into a new property. But whatever the reason, it's very hard for households to manage that kind of increase.

Melanie Plenda:

And how their rental costs have been rising and vacancy rates have been falling for some time yet, it seems like the pandemic has exacerbated these trends. I mean, is that accurate? And if so, why is that?

Heather McCann:

Yeah, so I would say this is true, the pandemic prompted a shift in living preferences as remote work opportunities provided people with greater flexibility, many people reevaluated their space requirements in New Hampshire as a desirable place to live. So while we already had a challenging market, both on the rental and purchase side prior to the pandemic and increase in demand, coupled with limited supply, drives prices higher and adds competition to the market. We also saw, particularly in last year's survey, more rental properties that were sold than we've ever seen in previous years. And that could be a result of the pandemic, or an increase in property values people saw an opportunity to sell. And so this change in ownership, as Rob previously mentioned, often leads to adjustments in rental rates, causing rents to rise in certain cases.

Melanie Plenda:

And Rob, what does the survey tell us about the overall housing market and where it's headed?

Rob Dapice:

Historically, as I mentioned, this is extraordinarily a time of extraordinarily tight housing market conditions. It's just not normal to have so few houses on the market and so few rental apartments. I think it is important to get this data at the state level, because there has been some news coverage of housing market conditions loosening in certain areas of the state in some areas of the country. There are some news stories that talk about the southwest, where population has exploded, there's been a lot of new multifamily construction. And as a result of that explosion in new construction, rents have at least moderated somewhat, the report tells us that we simply haven't seen that yet. And there's really no nowhere relief coming just yet in terms of New Hampshire and housing market conditions.

Melanie Plenda:

Many economists link the housing shortage to the tight job market. After all, it's easier to find people to work somewhere if they have a place to live. So affordable housing can be linked to the overall economy of a community or the state. Yet, as you mentioned, building more housing in a community can be difficult, especially if people are concerned about too much development in town. So Rob and Heather, can you speak to that? What could you say to people who don't want development in their community or backyard? Let's start with Heather and then to Rob?

Heather McCann:

Yeah, so the availability of affordable housing plays a significant role in attracting and retaining a skilled workforce. So when people have access to suitable housing, they're more likely to consider opportunities in a given area, boosting the overall economy of the state. Community engagement, I feel, is really critical, talking through concerns educating community members and, and what offering diverse housing options means within each community, I often find people have an easier time connecting these dots, when it affects them personally. So for example, their children are looking to buy or rent a place close by, but there's nothing available or affordable to them, or the household is looking to downsize and they want to stay within their community, but there isn't anything available. So when you make these connections for people, it can help foster productive conversations around these issues.

Melanie Plenda:

And just a follow up on that I know that even in covering local communities for years the idea of affordable housing will always sometimes get the pushback from community members that this will lower my property values or this will somehow impact us adversely. So when can you talk about some of those specifics? Like what are the benefits of having a more diverse, a more diverse housing market in a community.

Heather McCann:

So it helps everybody in the community overall. So you get people that are going through kind of life stages. If you think about where you've lived in your lifetime, it's not always that single family home, it's an apartment, and as you go through your life, you have different needs. And hopefully, you can afford to make changes to your housing situation, based on those needs and how they evolve and change over time. I think people have a stigma of affordable housing or workforce housing. But they often neglect to realize that affordable housing, workforce housing can be naturally occurring, so it's homes that maybe are smaller, that are more affordable to people with a lower income. It's not necessarily a building that's just dedicated to people of a certain income level. And so it's a lot broader than people may assume. And it impacts everybody in their community in one way or another.

Melanie Plenda:

And Rob, what do you think?

Rob Dapice:

So, first I would say absolutely. The tight housing market affects the economy and labor supply. And that's why you see the Business and Industry Association, a statewide Chamber of Commerce, has for years identified housing as one of its top issues. And you hear from large employers like Dartmouth Health and Fidelity that tell stories about numerous employees accepting jobs, and then rescinding their acceptance because they can't find a place to live that they can afford. In terms of what I would say to people who are concerned about development in their town, I would say first, I understand and change can be frightening and unsettling. But Heather talked about education. And I think one of the wonderful things that we've seen is in a lot of towns in New Hampshire, the places that people love most about their town, the downtown's that were built in the 19th century, are now made illegal by local zoning. And in a lot of cases, if you wanted to build a similar community, now, you couldn't do it because of the regulations that have been imposed in the past few decades. So just being aware of that, and being aware that a lot of the most wonderful places in our communities are, are really not able to be replicated or improved, because our local zoning is important. And the other thing I would say is all changes are unsettling, it's scary, it's important to understand the changes happening, and particularly for those folks who are in suburbs that might be considered wealthy or desirable, those places are getting a lot more expensive to live. And the path that we're on in a lot of communities is for less expensive houses to become more expensive houses. And that affects the community when people who have lived there for a long time, can't stay in the community that they know and love and in many cases work in. And so understanding how providing the opportunity for other reasonable housing options and more affordable housing alternatives, can sort of preserve a lot of what's special about the communities important too.

Melanie Plenda:

And one more follow up question. You had mentioned what the state could do more to address local regulations. Can you talk a little bit more about that? What could the state do?

Rob Dapice:

So, as I said, I think the state has a role in working with municipalities to ensure that their regulations are not so burdensome, that private property owners are sort of unable to meet the demand for housing. So this already exists in law, just the state has a workforce housing law, which says that cities and towns have to create or allow for reasonable opportunities for different kinds of housing to exist. But I think that that law could perhaps be a little bit more specific, or maybe there's opportunities to identify the distinctions between reasonable regulations that serve to protect a community's character and environmental quality and restrictions that go too far.

Melanie Plenda:

Oh, that's really interesting. New Hampshire Housing Executive Director and CEO Rob Dapice, and Senior Director of Research, Engagement, and Policy, Heather McCann. Thank you so much for joining us today. 

The State We’re in a weekly digital public affairs show is produced by NH PBS and The Marlin Fitzwater Center for Communications. It is shared with partners in the Granite State News Collaborative, of which both organizations are members.

The State Of Journalism: What Can Reporters Do to Regain Trust in the Public?

By Rosemary Ford and Caitlin Agnew

Around the country, local news is struggling. Shrinking newsrooms due to financial pressure, burned out reporters, publicness trust journalism is being hit harder than it ever has before. While New Hampshire is not immune from the crisis, here in the Granite State news organizations are doing everything in their power to innovate and engage to keep local journalism alive and sustainable. Annmarie Timmins senior reporter for New Hampshire Bulletin, Carol Robidoux founder and publisher of Manchester Inkling and founding member of the Granite State News Collaborative, and Julie Hirshan Hart reporter and editor for The Laconia Daily Sun are here to discuss the state of journalism in New Hampshire, what's happening in the news industry and how it impacts communities within the Granite State. 

Melanie Plenda:

Annmarie, can you tell us about some of the bigger issues facing local news and how you've seen their impact in the Granite State?

Annmarie Timmins:

I guess I’ll start by saying I think we're really lucky here. We have a very strong news presence. There's so many different kinds, and a lot of it's free to read, thanks in large part to the collaborative and other nonprofits. But that's not to say that there aren't challenges right now. I was at the Concord monitor for about 20 ish years. And when I was there, we had 15 reporters on staff. And we always felt like, why are they starving us of resources? I think they're down to five reporters now and still manage to get the paper out. So I think what I'm seeing generally as newsrooms are shrinking, but the demands for news every day remain. So I just think reporters are working on more stories with less time that results in a very different kind of story than big takeaway, investigative pieces. So I think the resources in New Hampshire are very, very strapped here. And I just don't know how a lot of my colleagues get news out every day. So I think that's a big picture. We're luckier than most and that we have so much free local news here. But it's hard to get it out. And I wonder how long some of us can continue to do that.

Melanie Plenda:

And, Julie, let's pick up on that with you. How do these issues kind of play out in the community? What impacts do they have on the everyday lives of community members?

Julie Hirshan Hart:

Well, as Anne Marie mentioned, now, we're all trying to do more with less so as our newsrooms are shrinking and as we have less resources, we still have the same number of stories that we have to cover, we still have the same number of towns that we have to deliver news on in our coverage area. So our community, with the advent of the internet and social media, is used to being able to access the information that they want immediately. And we have to do our best to keep pace with that, while also prioritizing the most important stories and trying to balance delivering all of that information to our readers with less resources.

Melanie Plenda:

I know all three of you have really, really built community engagement into what you do, prioritizing, knowing your sources and building relationships with them, and knowing your community members. So, you know, let's talk about that a little bit. So Annmarie, as a reporter, talk to us about how you broke this barrier of distrust and formed those relationships with your sources and why that's important.

Annmarie Timmins:

I will say it's getting much harder to do during my time at the monitor, in part because the monitor was a trusted new source. There wasn't this competition of people masquerading as new sources that Carol described. And because I've been around a long time, I have a long source list from people I met many, many years ago and it was just much easier because there wasn't as much distrust, there was people who felt like the monitor had a bent, but in the end, they could separate the newsroom from the editorial page. 

What I'm seeing now is a sort of trickle down of what we saw during the Trump administration, the press being enemy number one, that still is coming up for me. And so when I call people who presume I am a progressive, Uber liberal socialists like filling the word, source, they won't talk to me. And they're often rude about it. And so it's hard to find a way to get into a conversation. So for us, the Republican leadership at the Statehouse has been very distrustful of us, they've sort of tend to go toward another outlet that is really opinion, but calls itself news for most of the time. 

And so when we don't have their voices in a story, it's unfortunate for readers, I think, so what I'm trying to do is, take the abuse that I get from some people who view us as not the good journalism outlet, and just keep going back and keep going back and trying to convince them send them my story that I wrote about their subjects and say, please let me know, if you find anything inaccurate here or slanted. It's just a long, long process, I really have not encountered this kind of resistance before. I'm even asked, "Are you on my side?" when I call a news outlet, a source, or try to talk to someone at an event even about why they're there. And it's just, it's more and more hostile. 

And I think the other piece is Carol alluded to this, that news is being delivered in a different way. So if you take Twitter, I feel like it's largely become a platform, at least for my writing for the Libertarian Party, for example, is very much targeting me. For anything I write, it's not clear to me, they've read the story, but they feel like I'm a progressive reporter. And they'll say things like, people should throw tomatoes at me, or I'm a hateful person, or I'm a bad person. And the amount of pylon that I see on Twitter within a day, there'll be 45 people liking that. So that kind of, I think, distrust just piles on and then if I try to talk to anyone in that party, they just know me as this Twitter, you know, personality. And so it's just, it's hard, you have to keep trying to do it. And it's abusive sometimes. But I have my notebook between me and them. And I tried to think this is not about me, this is about them. And it's my duty to keep trying, but it's become harder.

Melanie Plenda:

Well, first, no one should have to put up with that level of abuse from anybody in any field. And I'm sorry that you have to go through that. And all journalists are going through that right now. But one follow up question, when someone does ask you, “Are you on my side?”, how do you respond? I'm curious, because what would you say in that situation? 

Annmarie Timmins:

One quick example, I was at an event where the Proud Boys were there protesting it. And I just went up, I said, “What are your concerns? What brings you out today?”. I was easily attacked like, “that's a biased question”. And so, how is that bias? I don't know. But I tried to explain that this is what we do. This is how journalism works, that I'm talking to these people. But I also feel like it's really important. I hear from them. It's kind of journalism, one on one, I increasingly have to have that conversation. I'm not sure it's persuasive. But that's usually my response to say no. And even like, could we just have a conversation first, set the interview aside, and you can ask me sort of how I'm approaching the story. And we'll just have a casual conversation, and then please, then maybe decide if you want to talk to me. So it's a lot more explaining what we do, which I don't think is a bad thing to help people understand what journalists do. But more and more I'm happy to say, this is how I approach it. This is journalism. Why do you think that's a biased question? So just trying to be open to a conversation has helped a little bit.

Melanie Plenda:

And, Julie, how do you implement that kind of community gauge engagement into your newsroom? I know you've done quite a few initiatives in that regard.

Julie Hirshan Hart:

So we try to prioritize transparency in everything that we do, to try to invite the community in and see behind the scenes see how we're doing our work, who it is in our newsroom that's doing that work so that they can connect with us when they see us out in the community, and recognize us as trusted reporters who work for a legitimate newsroom. We've started hosting events, which help many community members, whether their sources or readers, get to know us as journalists, and also help them understand the work that we do.

Melanie Plenda:

And I think to me engagement comes from the need for diversity, diverse audiences, diverse sources and diverse newsrooms, staff, all of you. Why is diversity in news so crucial? And how do you implement diverse perspectives both in and out of your newsrooms?

Julie Hirshan Hart:

Diversity can look a lot different. One thing we're focusing on in our newsroom is, instead of just relying on those official sources that we've had in our contact lists for years, is looking for younger voices or looking for new voices that have a different perspective on an issue than we might be used to. And also just being present in the community going to those community events, whether we're more reporting on them or not, but that develops sources, like we mentioned earlier, makes people recognize you and be willing to come up to you and share story ideas, meeting as many people as possible. We try to do editorial boards as often as we can and invite people into the office just to talk about what's on their mind and that helps us not only learn about new sources, but new story ideas. And social media has become a huge part of our work that connects us with different sources that we might not meet, through our day to day work out in the community or at our desks. And it really allows us to include the voices of sources we might not otherwise be able to.

From left to right; Annmarie Timmins, Carol Robidoux, and Julie Hirshan

Melanie Plenda:

Annmarie Timmins, senior reporter for the New Hampshire Bulletin, Julie Hirshan, editor for the Laconia Daily Sun, and Carol Robidoux, founder and publisher of Manchester Inkling and founding member of the Granite State News Collaborative. Thank you all so much for joining us today and what you do every day.

The State We’re in a weekly digital public affairs show is produced by NH PBS and The Marlin Fitzwater Center for Communications. It is shared with partners in the Granite State News Collaborative, of which both organizations are members.

Legislative Session Recap: Housing, School Funding, Gambling, and Marijuana Legalization in Focus,

 By Rosemary Ford and Caitlin Agnew,

 NH PBS and Granite State News Collaborative

Housing, school funding, gambling, and marijuana legalization. All these and more were tackled by the legislature this session. This week, Anna Brown, Research and Analysis Director for Citizens Count and host of the podcast $100 Plus Mileage, talks about what was and wasn't accomplished this legislative session . 

Melanie Plenda:

Let's start with the unusual makeup of the house this session. How did having such a close split between Democrats and Republicans impact the legislature?

Anna Brown:

Well, originally, I suspected there would be a lot of partisan rancor. Maybe those hardcore on the right or hardcore on the left would be able to really drive a wedge on some issues. But I was wrong. Most of the hot button highly partisan bills were in fact set aside in favor of focusing on legislation that was more likely to get bipartisan support, or was a top priority for legislative leaders. So for example, the House Education Committee had many bills related to the so called Education Freedom Account Program, which allows students to take a per pupil share of state education funding and spending it on private or homeschool expenses. There were many bills related to that people on the left wanted to limit the program or increase oversight. People on the right wanted to expand eligibility or the mountains of money that were going into the program. The education committee actually recommended tabling the vast majority of those bills, which is a way to set aside a bill without having debate without having a full vote. And just basically moving on to other issues. There was also a really bipartisan lead from the majority and minority leaders, Jason Osborne and Matt Wilhelm. They started the session with a co-sponsor bill for marijuana legalization. And I think that, them working together really set the tone, “What about the amount of legislation that was affected by the makeup? How productive were they?”. There was slightly less legislation than I expected this year starting in the session. And I think that legislators edited themselves a little bit because they knew those very partisan fringe issues. We're not going to move forward. So it seems that there was like I said, a little bit of self editing going into the legislative session. Wow. That's interesting. So as you mentioned, the two party leaders Jason Osborne and Matt Wilhelm, work together 

Melanie Plenda:

What about the amount of legislation was that affected by the makeup? How productive were they?

Anna Brown:

There was slightly less legislation than I expected this year starting in the session. And I think that legislators edited themselves a little bit because they knew those very partisan fringe issues. We're not going to move forward. So it seems that there was like I said, a little bit of self editing going into the legislative session.

Melanie Plenda:

Let's talk about the budget bill that was passed this session. Budget bills seem so innocuous, but they never are. So especially here in New Hampshire. Can you tell us about some of the highlights in that bill? And what does it mean for people?

Anna Brown:

Sure, this was an incredibly historic budget, because it was very popular among both Democrats and Republicans. It actually passed on a voice vote at one point, which basically means it was so popular that legislators could pass it just by saying yay, in a chorus, which was notably louder than the nays, so they didn't even need to count the votes. Overall, lots of wins. Here, there's a new school funding formula that increases state support for schools. There's more money for housing development, a pay raise for state employees, seven year authorization for expanded Medicaid, a repeal of the interest in dividends tax, and more. Those are just the big highlights. And then there are some smaller policy changes that didn't get as much news coverage, but are also really interesting. There's a new requirement for law enforcement to post notice on their websites before setting up an immigration checkpoint. This is particularly relevant near the northern border with Canada. There are also new limits on the governor's power to declare an emergency. That's a response to the ongoing emergency related to COVID-19, which went on for several months in I believe, even years, there's also $1 million to develop a civics tech textbook for New Hampshire students in grades K through 12. And lastly, the budget looks and lastly, the budget lifts some campaign donation limits as well.

Melanie Plenda:

What about housing, an issue plaguing New Hampshire and the rest of the country with the high cost of housing and the low stack available, what initiatives that the legislature put forward?

Anna Brown:

First of all, the state budget does include 25 million for the Affordable Housing Fund, and then an additional 10 million for the InVEST New Hampshire Housing Development Fund, which has fewer restrictions related to affordability. So the idea is you can just increase housing stock across the board. The most interesting provision to me, though, is what's called a housing Champion Program. This was very popular in the Senate, less so in the house. The idea is that if cities and towns adopt certain land use regulations, water infrastructure, public transportation, and so on, that helps the development of workforce housing, those towns and cities could get preferential access to state funds. So the idea is this is basically a carrot for the state to say, Hey, how about you work on that infrastructure and zoning to welcome more housing critics in the house, we're concerned that this was a way for the state to play favorites among cities and towns. But ultimately, the program was included in the budget because we all acknowledge housing is a crisis right now in New Hampshire.

Melanie Plenda:

One of the more controversial proposals in the legislature this session was the parental bill of rights that didn't get through to the governor's desk. What did those proposals entail and what happened?

Anna Brown:

There were two big parent rights bills, we had HB 10, which was the House version, and SB 272, which was the Senate version. HB 10 is interesting, because it actually made no mention of gender as introduced. It laid out many existing parental license rights and state law and then added some more enforcement, some oomph to those existing laws. SB 272, on the other hand, specifically would have required teachers to disclose information about a student's gender identity or sexuality if a parent asked, and opponents were concerned, this would threaten the privacy rights of students, especially if they had a hostile parent. 

And that's one reason why SB 272 also had an exception if school personnel had quote, unquote, clear and convincing evidence that a student might be abused or neglected by a parent. Ultimately, both of these bills were defeated in the house, however, with the very slim majority, arguing that we need to protect the safety of students and their privacy. And this bill is inviting attacks on teachers and schools. Those were the general arguments, just a couple of Republicans broke with their party to vote against the bills, and the Democrats mustered enough attendance so that neither bill ultimately passed. It's interesting Governor Sununu did not really weigh in on either bill. He's open to them as a concept. But I think that if we're going to see these bills, or some version of these bills reappear next year, for example, in the state senate, then I would think they probably need the support of Governor Sununu to really get across the finish line.

Melanie Plenda:

And there were also bills addressing gender equality. This session, though nothing was passed. So what were some of the proposals discussed and how might they come up again,

Anna Brown:

There were actually several bills that were retained in committee in the House, which means that these committees can work on the bills over the summer, and then they'll issue a recommendation in the fall. So then there will be a vote often right away when legislators come back in January. So four of those bills for example, HB 264, would allow a sex chain on a birth certificate without a court order. hB 368 would add protections for gender affirming health care, HB 396 would protect differentiation between male and female sex and HB 619 would ban gender transition, care for minors and ban gender identity conversations in school. So as I said, the retaining committee, these bills aren't dead. They are absolutely coming back next year. So I think the parent Bill of Rights was just the very tip of this conversation, and there's going to be a lot more next year.

Melanie Plenda:

So the perennial favorite marijuana legalization came close this session, though all the states around New Hampshire are legalizing cannabis. It's not legal here. Despite the fact as you mentioned, it had support of both party leaders. What does that mean for the next session? Do you think

Anna Brown:

There was a real game changer near the end of the session, when Governor Sununu announced ‘surprise surprise’ he would support marijuana legalization if it was a state run model similar to how we do our liquor stores. So there's a study committee of that issue over the summer. There's also a bill that's in a House committee that would set up state run marijuana stores basically. So this issue is absolutely going to move forward. And the house we know is on board. The House has voted for all sorts of versions of marijuana legalization state run private with taxation legalization without any sales. So now the question is really whether the Senate will get on board and I do think they will have a lot of pressure now that Sununu has finally said with the right bill, this is the way we can do it.

Melanie Plenda:

Let's look ahead to the next session. What are your predictions? What do you think will come up again, there?

Anna Brown:

I'm definitely looking at the housing and childcare issues, because there were those special committees that were set up. We've also touched on some obvious ones like marijuana legalization, gender issues. But one thing that didn't get as much attention this year as I thought it might was energy related bills. Yes, there were some bills that went forward related to bio power related to residential solar panels related to what appears on your electricity bill. But I'm very interested in what the state is going to do related to the renewable portfolio standard, for example, which is set to expire in 2025. Or is there going to be something related to Reggie, the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, something else with offshore wind? Let's not forget a year ago, we were all hit with a huge increase in our electricity bills. And it looks like those bills are going to be coming down for most of us in August. Now that there's new rates coming in, but like I said, this was an issue that I expected more on. So I think that they'll dig in next year.

The State We’re in a weekly digital public affairs show is produced by NH PBS and The Marlin Fitzwater Center for Communications. It is shared with partners in the Granite State News Collaborative, of which both organizations are members.

Juicy Garland; Protests and Intimidation: Drag Story Hour Targeted by NSC 131, Community Responds with Resilience and Solidarity

By Rosemary Ford, and Caitlin Agnew

NH PBS, Granite State News Collaborative

Click here to watch the full conversation on The State We’re In

On The State We’re In, Juicy Garland who performed at the Teetotaller Sunday Drag Story Hour as well as capturing clips of the group protesting before and during her story hour talks about what happened.

Melanie Plenda:

Thank you so much for being here. So Juicy. Can you tell us about your background? How did you get into drag performance? And how did you come to do the story hour on Sunday? 

Juicy Garland:

Yeah, so I had always been interested in drag. I was always a fan of Drag Race. But I actually held off from doing drag for a long time. Part of that was limited resources. Part of that was limited time. But I had friends who started doing drag and who encouraged me to do it around 2018, 2019. So I really took a deep dive in 2019. And then, over the pandemic, I really took a deep dive, started sewing and started working on my makeup and started performing as soon as the pandemic started to ease up. And then, as I was performing, I started doing brunch at Teetotaller. And they invited me to start doing story hours because they felt like my drag was family friendly. And they had been looking for someone who could be family friendly, and who could tailor what they were doing to a different kind of audience than an adult audience. So I was eager to do it. Because I love working with kids, I used to work with kids with disabilities, I used to want to teach and I went into the industry instead. And because of that, I was thrilled to be able to do it and started doing that in November of last year.

Melanie Plenda:

Excellent. And let me ask a little bit about it sounds like you sort of got into drag in 2018. Over that time, what did you learn about drag? I mean, it really is an art form. And I think sometimes that gets lost in these conversations. So maybe we can talk about that a little bit like what is it as a form of expression or as an art form? What is it for you? 

Juicy Garland:

Yeah, so I've always struggled with my self image and my self expression. And I saw it as an outlet for me to really find an alternative way to be myself. But also, I don't know, I'm the kind of person who likes to find boundaries and find out where the edge is, and then push that boundary every single time. And I don't know, my favorite drag queens in history are people like Devine, who really do extreme things with their art and just go well beyond that boundary of acceptability. But also, I don't know, I also love camp. And I love Queens like Ben dilla crem, a famous Drag Race Queen, who really do goofy smart things, aesthetically. And that's something that I've always really just wanted to be able to do. In addition, I don't know, I see gender as a big old joke. We all put ourselves into neat and like convenient boxes. So we're comfortable with the roles that are assigned to us. And I think that often, these labels that we apply to ourselves are really for the convenience of other people. So they're comfortable knowing where we stand. And there's something I think useful and important and interesting, about challenging what those neat little boxes, say about us and say about other people. And drag is a way to challenge those ideas and find new ways of reshaping them. 

Melanie Plenda:

So that kind of brings us to Sunday, so what happened during the story hour on Sunday. And when did you become aware of the protests? 

Juicy Garland:

Yeah, so I show up early. When I get ready for this particular event, I put my face on. And then I drive up to Concord because I don't live in Concord. And it's tough to drive an hour and so I drive up in my face, I take my suitcase with my drag queen in a box. And I then go into the cafe and I get into the rest of my costume. Then I go downstairs and most of the space is set up there's a microphone with an amp. And then there are the chairs arranged, the cafe has excellent management so I don't have to worry about a thing. 

And then I go sit down, I arranged my books at that morning, there was this amazing small family there was this mother with her adult kids, they had just moved to New Hampshire I believe last week, the two kids were adults, the younger had just matriculated into Dartmouth College in to study I believe genetics and biology. The older had just finished school in genetics, and was actually going to work doing genetics research at Dartmouth College. And they were there, moved in from the Bay Area to just be at Dartmouth, and they wanted to see a drag queen. So they came to my show as we were talking because I come from a background in the sciences in my day job. 

These organized men in khaki cargo pants, the goal of them to wear cargo pants, and their uniform T shirts with their little Neo Nazi symbols and their masks and their hats started to make noise and bang on windows and start shouting obscenities and slurs. So immediately this family of three left the space smartly. I am glad they did. And I decided to immediately document what these goons were doing. So I took a brief video, which is what I ended up posting online. And then I stopped that video and immediately sprung into action to touch base with Liam, the manager of the cafe, which we immediately discussed, how do we keep these kids safe when they arrive because none of the other families had arrived yet. And then we assessed we could keep them safe. We made a plan on how we would modify the event. We executed that modification, I remained downstairs to maintain the attention of the fascists outside as they were seen heiling and shouting obscenities. And then after we had arranged the event, we had confirmed with the families who had arrived that they did want to continue with the event. I moved to the alternative space within the cafe. And we hosted the event. 

And despite the noise that these fascists made, after the police arrived, they were moved away from the windows to make sure that they didn't cause any damage to the cafe. They were moved to the front sidewalk where the street is. So that way while they could execute their First Amendment rights, as stupid as they are for these people, they have that right. They were disruptive, but we were able to keep these kids effectively oblivious of the problem. Although they were aware of the noise. We kept these kids safe, the most important part because the event is of course about them. And I was able to not only entertain these kids and read stories about family to them, because it was Father's Day, and that was the theme we had chosen. But I was also able to make sure that the parents were comfortable, and that the parents felt safe as well. And we read through every single story I brought. And I was able to have a great time with these families, and they left happy and thankful. 

Melanie Plenda:

So what was going through your mind? I mean, I know I hear you kind of went into action mode where you were taking care of these different steps. But what was going through your mind either as it was happening, or even once the dust settled? Like, what were you thinking about?

Juicy Garland:

Honestly, for me, and maybe this is a uniquely weird thing for me. And this might come from my background. For me, when I'm faced with a crisis, I immediately go into problem solving mode. And this is something I saw in Liam, the manager of the cafe, he did exactly the same thing. We met with each other, we both had the same, like look on our face, which was, let's solve this problem and figure it out. We did that. And then I think the biggest struggle for me was maintaining the compartmentalization to execute on that. There was a moment I distinctly remember, I don't remember which story it was. But I was like turning a page. And the fascists outside were loud. So I could hear individual words, they were chanting, they were chanting things, like, get off our streets get off our streets, they were clearly organized. These were different people than who had protested before. Before the protesters were effectively lazy is the best word, we had to describe them previously. 

Liam and I had ultimately joked about it. We had been less worried about our safety and organizing anything to like, prevent them from arriving because they had stopped arriving. These were different people. But then also, they chanted, F, slur, F, slur, F slur, that was, in the back of my mind, like part of my mind, recognize that consciously. At the same time I'm reading, like, the first book I read was like, Heather Has Two Mommies, which I did as a joke to myself, I do that a lot, where I'd have a joke that only I know. And no one else gets it. And I'm thinking it's funny. So that's fine. But I'm like turning a page in one of these books. And I'm making a funny voice and entertaining the kids. And I'm like, saying something to make sure that the parents are laughing along with their kids, and that everyone feels good and happy and is having fun. And in the back of my mind is just that word being chanted at me. And like maintaining the compartmentalization to be able to execute on making sure people are safe and feeling safe, was tough. 

But I had a very busy day. So not only did I have the event that I had to execute on successfully, which we did, and then immediately everyone left, one family stayed for a little while, and I chatted with them. And it was wonderful. I love these people, the community of Concord is amazing. I immediately got out of drag, I packed everything away, I got a bite to eat. I planned the next event with Liam like, he and I are both like the same people. We both immediately had the conversation. Not do we do this, again, that never once was discussed. It was when do we do this again. And then immediately after I got in my car, I drove right home as fast as I could to my partner in Massachusetts. I finally sat on my couch in the dark, and was able to have the space to just sort of emotionally react to the whole day. And at that point, I was allowed to feel rage. 

And I just did that for an hour just being angry at the goal that these idiot fascist goons had to think that they could stop me from just letting some kids have fun and hear stories about different kinds of families. Like they even had the power to achieve that end. And they did not. And I won. Yeah. Well, and you talk about doing this again. But I mean, you know, are you talking about keeping the family safe, keeping the kids safe? Or were you afraid for your safety and even going forward? I mean, of course, like that has to be a consideration Right? Like, I'm not dumb. Like I'm a smart person. I know that my safety is at risk. These are violent dangerous people who were dumb enough to put that at risk, clearly. But at the same time, we live in a dangerous time where there's never been more important for me to be an advocate for my own and other people's rights when other people are in a similar position to me. 

And I am already putting myself out there as a loudmouth stubborn person in a wig. Just sticking out like a sore thumb being queer and brightly colored. And I'm not about to stop that. Because even if I tried, I couldn't, I tried that when I was 13, struggling with the fact that I was gay, and it didn't work then. And it's not going to work now, no matter how hard I try. And, ultimately, I feel like it's an obligation for all of us to recognize that Fascism is a problem. And it's not going to go away if we stop pretending to be gay. And passive activism isn't enough. Like we have to put ourselves out there and show them that we're not going to stop being queer because they want us to. And obviously, if the families of Concord don't want to show up, I can't make them. But I'm going to continue putting myself out there to welcome them if they want to keep coming back.

Melanie Plenda:

What, if anything, would you say to this NSC 131 Group and the other groups that are like them,

Juicy Garland:

Ultimately, their views, their fascism has no business in Concord or anywhere else in this country. We fought a war about 80 years ago over this. And I think we settled that pretty harshly with them, then. And I don't think that has changed. There is no space for that kind of bigotry, or that kind of violence anywhere in our culture. And there is no room for tolerance of that kind of viewpoint. We cannot allow that kind of fascism to inhabit any kind of space in our country. It does not belong here. My grandmother lost brothers to that fight. And how many of our grandparents lost family because of that fight? We're not about to tolerate that kind of violence and nonsense now, when we still have family missing because of it. 

Melanie Plenda:

So what generally should people know about attending story hour and what would you like to say to parents and kids who might be thinking of coming?

Juicy Garland:

So, ultimately, I do not broadcast when it's happening again, publicly, online. And that's ultimately because it's meant for the local community and I don't want to publicize it, to keep it as safe as possible, right? So if you are local, go to Teetotaler and make sure that if you are interested in going seek that information out from the cafe itself. I let them manage that information directly. And I have every ounce of trust in Teetotaller to do what they can to keep this event as safe as possible, ultimately use your own discretion. But I have no doubt that there will be additional support and resources from the local peacekeepers, and I'm assuming the local police as well after the last event. There will be plenty more advanced support in order to make sure that this group and others can't disrupt the next event like they did this one. And I am eager to see the next one, simply because I know it will be far more safe and secure than the last one because we will be far more prepared. 

The State We’re in a weekly digital public affairs show is produced by NH PBS and The Marlin Fitzwater Center for Communications. It is shared with partners in the Granite State News Collaborative, of which both organizations are members.