This senior citizen protection plan recognizes that treating our senior citizens with respect and dignity means protecting their housing, healthcare, and safety. It’s the first-ever senior citizen protection plan released by a candidate for governor.

Right out of law school, and up until serving in the State Senate, Dan had the honor and privilege of serving as a legal aid attorney with New Hampshire Legal Assistance for about a decade. There, Dan represented thousands of folks, including low-income families, senior citizens, and veterans. Dan helped seniors and families including during the last economic crisis, the Great Recession, including helping Granite Staters get access to health care and housing. For four years, Dan managed the Housing Justice Project at New Hampshire Legal Assistance, managing the housing work, staff, and budget. Dan continued his work for senior citizens in the State Senate, passing numerous bipartisan measures helping senior citizens, from dementia care to job training for senior citizens to prescription drug relief. As governor, Dan will move forward with protecting senior citizens, and Chris Sununu will only go backward.

On health care for seniors, Chris Sununu failed to plan for a second wave of COVID, even vetoing a review of what went wrong in long-term care under his watch with recommendations for a second wave. Chris Sununu also cut a prescription drug relief program for low-income seniors, hit hardest by this pandemic. Sununu blocked bipartisan paid family and medical leave three different times. And Sununu has long advocated for the repeal of the Affordable Care Act, which will undermine New Hampshire’s health care system, and would impose what the AARP would call an “age tax”.

On safety for seniors, Chris Sununu vetoed bipartisan legislation establishing a procedure for protective orders for vulnerable seniors under threat, and Sununu did so at the request of the Washington DC gun lobby.

On protecting the homes of seniors, Chris Sununu vetoed common sense homeowner protections and now hundreds of Granite State homeowners are losing their homes to Wall Street banks. And, like Trump, Sununu doesn’t support any additional federal support for our communities, which would help our property taxpayers. Sununu even saying he wants to go back to 2019 spending levels in the state budget, which would cut community support by over $200 million and increase property taxes on senior citizens.

Key Policy Steps in Dan’s plan to protect senior citizens in New Hampshire:

• Protect financial and medical security of senior citizens by reversing Chris Sununu’s elimination of the prescription drug relief program for low-income senior citizens;
• Protect financial and medical security of senior citizens by fully implementing prescription drug relief (HB 1218; 2020), including the limitation of out-of-pocket monthly expenses for Insulin to no more than $30 per month and importing safe, low-cost cost prescription drugs from Canada;
• Protect senior citizen property taxpayers by maintaining state budget commitments using CAREs Act monies
• Protect the homes of senior citizens with housing protections similar to vetoed legislation (HB 1247; 2020), requiring Wall Street banks work in good faith before and during the foreclosure process to give them a shot at saving their homes;
• Protect ability age in-place by supporting caregivers, including passing the Granite Caregiving Act of 2019 (SB 1), which was bipartisan legislation that was vetoed, providing paid family leave to workers who are caregiving for their parents;
• Protect the Affordable Care Act, which Chris Sununu consistently called to be repealed, as repealing the Affordable Care Act would impose why AARP has called an “age tax” on senior citizens;
• Protect seniors in assisted living and nursing home settings from COVID by providing regular testing to all residents and workers and PPE to all workers and finally undertaking a comprehensive, independent audit of what went wrong under the Sununu administration, all of which were included in vetoed legislation (HB 1246; 2020); and
• Protect vulnerable senior citizens at risk of harm with vetoed bipartisan legislation (HB 1660; 2020) that would have established a procedure for protective orders for vulnerable adults.