What People Are Saying About Joel Winters

I contacted 8 people on [homelessness] and got no help.... In fact you are the only one who responded. Thank You. It means a lot that you did.

I am glad you are running again.... I would like to go out and vote for you. I also would put a sign in my yard if you like.

-- Roman Makarewicz, Ward 10, via emails

This spring, I emailed Joel about the regulations prohibiting high ABV beers in New Hampshire (which force me to drive to our typically *more* regulated neighbor to the south to buy my favorite craft brews.) He called me that same day to answer my questions. I'll be voting for Joel Winters and telling my neighbors to do the same.

-- J. Brian DeRosa, Ward 11

Joel Winters has been my State Representative for the past two years. I met him shortly before his election to office. Although we have some differences in our views, I was impressed with his honesty and integrity.

After almost two years of his representation, I feel my vote for Joel was well spent. Last year he introduced HCR12, a resolution calling for the repeal of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), for me. He has also responded to all of my concerns with phone calls and E-mails.

As for his re-election, as always, I'm looking for a Representative of the State of New Hampshire and its Constitution and one who will be for "America first" over party affiliation.

-- Russ Payne, Ward 12

Got a story you'd like to share? Send it to joel (at) joelwinters (dot) org.

What are the newspapers saying about Joel Winters?

A Union Leader editorial of 5/31/2007 called a blurb (committee report) that I wrote for SB220 "astonishingly clear-headed."

Rate rigging: No price caps on insurance
Thursday, May. 31, 2007

IN AN astonishingly clear-headed report, the House Commerce Committee last week recommended killing Senate Bill 220, a bill to establish a committee to decide whether the state should create a commission to impose price controls on health insurance rates. "For a private business to ask for permission to raise its prices, that flies in the face of the idea of a free market," Rep. Joel Winters, D-Manchester, wrote for the committee. "A fast food restaurant does not need to consult anyone before changing its prices; this allows the industry to stay competitive. Laying more bureaucracy onto the health insurance industry can only result in it passing the cost of compliance onto our constituents through higher premiums, something we all want to avoid." The bill, up for a vote today, would put the state on the path to creating a Soviet-style commission that would have the power to cap health insurance rate increases regardless of market forces. It is a horrible idea that would wreak havoc in New Hampshire's health insurance market and stifle innovation and competition.

In a State House Dome column of 6/29/2008 a bill was written about that was proposed in 2007. HB630 would have created a state database of prescription drug users. From the article:

State House Dome: Ayotte says NH must fight prescription abuse
Sunday, Jun. 29, 2008

In each of the past two years, drug abuse caused more deaths in New Hampshire than did traffic accidents, Attorney General Kelly Ayotte says.

She told the Executive Council last week that the biggest problem is the abuse of prescription drugs, and she wants to do something about it.

Her idea is to use a central database to track stimulants, painkillers, muscle relaxants and other drugs commonly abused. Doctors and pharmacists could check on whether a patient has already obtained the medication elsewhere. The information would stop doctor shopping -- instances in which a person hits several doctor offices with false symptoms -- and other forms of abuse.

The problem Ayotte faces is that the New Hampshire House this year rejected a bill that would have set up just such a database.

The concern was privacy. After studying the idea for more than a year, the Health and Human Services Committee recommended the bill for passage by a 15-3 vote.

But when it came to the House floor in January, Rep. Joel Winters and privacy hawk Rep. Neal Kurk both spoke against it.

During debate, Winters asked, "How many New Hampshire people are going to end up with their names on a secret database? We don't know."

Supporters said the names go into pharmacy databases anyway, and they would be wiped out after three years.

The bill failed by a 3-vote margin.

Education, occupation used to set auto rates

This article is about a bill that came through my committee. If you'd like to compare rates for auto, homeowner, or health insurance, you can get ballpark comparisons at the Insurance Department's website - under the 'Consumers' tab.

Lawmakers Debate Use Of RFID Technology
This story was filmed right after the House Commerce Committee voted down the amendment that my subcommittee had worked hard on. In the story, lobbyist Curtis Barry LIES about what the then-current proposal would do. The following week, I took my amendment to the House floor and got it passed by a 23 vote margin. This was good consumer protection legislation, which unfortunately did not pass the State Senate. If re-elected, I will introduce it again next year.

State Bans Method Of Disposing Of Remains
WMUR contacted me because I was the only Representative who spoke against banning resomation in New Hampshire. I took this to the floor of the House not because I have any interest in resomation, but because an important principal was being violated - before something is made illegal, there should be evidence that the behavior is causing risk or harm.

The House was asked to make resomation a criminal act with a penalty of up to a year in jail, because "The information provided to the committee was confusing and controversial... therefore, the process should be prohibited pending results of the study."

There's something Orwellian about that idea, that everything that is not permitted should be forbidden. It seems like common sense to me, that we should get the facts FIRST, but I lost this floor fight badly, 288-42.