Cheshire House District 3 candidates share views on school vouchers, energy costs

Oct. 16—As Keene residents Philip Jones and Jerry Sickels vie for a seat in N.H. House, Cheshire District 3 in the general election Nov. 8, the two are separated by opinions on bringing down energy costs, abortion and school vouchers.

Jones, 67, and Sickels, who did not specify his age in an email to The Sentinel on Saturday, both ran unopposed in their respective races in the N.H. primary on Sept. 13.

District 3 covers Keene's Ward 5, encompassing the northwestern portion of Keene.

On abortion, Sickels, a Republican and vice chairman of the Keene City GOP Committee, supports legislation passed last year that prohibits most abortions in New Hampshire after 24 weeks of pregnancy. There are exceptions to save a woman's life or for fetuses with fatal anomalies.

Sickels added that he supports the Supreme Court's decision in June to overturn Roe v. Wade and the constitutional right to the procedure.

"I am pro-life," he said in an email. "I am not for federal laws regarding abortion this is a matter that should be left up to the states.

Jones, a Democrat and a Keene city councilor for Ward 5, said that while he feels New Hampshire's legislation on abortion is less restrictive than other states, he still thinks it represents too much interference by the state in what he describes as a decision that should remain with a woman and her doctor. Jones, who said he would support codifying reproductive rights in the Granite State, said that placing restrictions on abortion only limits safe abortions.

"Prohibiting abortions doesn't stop them, it just sends them to back rooms or alleys where they're unsafe," he said.

Jones said another top issue would be to support legislation that would cap high drug prices, following suit of other New England states like Massachusetts and Connecticut. They recently pitched proposals in April to financially penalize drug manufacturers for excessive price increases.

"We have an aging population in New Hampshire with a need for prescription drugs," he said. "And we have others dealing with mental illness and can't afford their drugs."

Sickels said that his priorities lie with cutting taxes and controlling government spending to keep inflation under control. He added that many Granite Staters are feeling the weight of high energy bills, and he would support an "all of the above" strategy to help combat that surge, which he said would include using both natural gas and nuclear power.

"You can't have a truthful discussion about clean energy unless you include nuclear power," he said. "You have to have a sustainable base load of energy in order to keep prices down and right now the two best sources of that are clean fossil fuels and nuclear power."

Meanwhile, Jones said he thinks a possible solution lies with Keene's community power agreement.

Under a community power arrangement, a municipal government rather than a utility sources electricity for local consumers. This gives the municipality more control over the power supply, allowing it to seek lower-cost or greener options, while a utility continues to maintain transmission lines and deliver the electricity. The state Public Utilities Commission gave Keene's plan the green light on Oct. 3.

"We can buy energy through the city of Keene," he said. "It's renewable energy bought at a bulk rate and shared with our constituents. Wouldn't it be great if the state had a plan like that?"

On the topic of public school funding, Sickels said he is a proponent of New Hampshire's Education Freedom Accounts, which provide grants to be used to pay some of a child's expenses at a private school. While backers say they offer more choices for families who want their children out of public school but can't afford private-school tuition, opponents argue they pull money from public education.

The N.H. Department of Education reported that as of Sept. 9, the 1-year-old program was serving 3,025 students, most of whom were already attending private school.

"[Our] public schools of course need to be funded and I believe that the dollars should follow the children rather than the reverse we should look for ways to expand competition and choice which will bring the quality of education up for everyone," he said in his email.

Jones argued that New Hampshire needs to step up its game on public school funding and with taxpayers footing a majority of the bill, he doesn't think the current model is fair or equitable. He added that Education Freedom Accounts would divert critical funding away from public schools.

"It would cause the watering down of public school systems because they're taking money and resources away necessary for students and teachers," he said.

New Hampshire ranks among the lowest of all states when it comes to state funding for public education.

In its 2021 Rankings and Estimates report, the National Education Association, the national labor union representing teachers, showed that in New Hampshire the state provided only 30.9 percent of public school funding for the 2020-21 school year while taxpayers were billed 61.9 percent.

Hunter Oberst can be reached at 355-8546, or hoberst@keenesentinel.com.