The Community First Platform

Built on the framework in Community First Economics by Jon Kiper. These aren’t campaign promises. They’re structural reforms designed to shift money and power from concentrated interests back to the communities where they belong.

The Future of Work

Here’s the thing neither party wants to talk about.

Artificial intelligence and automation will eliminate millions of American jobs over the next 10 to 20 years. Not just factory jobs. Legal research. Medical imaging. Customer service. Trucking. Bookkeeping. Content creation. The technology already exists. The only question is how fast.

When it happens, we have two choices. We can do what both parties have always done — let the market sort it out, watch communities collapse, and argue about whose fault it is while families lose everything. Or we can prepare. Now.

That means building the systems our communities will need to survive an economy where traditional employment is no longer the default:

  • Socialized Housing. Losing your job shouldn’t mean losing your home. Community land trusts, dignified public housing, and protection against speculative displacement.

  • Universal Healthcare. When your insurance depends on your employer, mass job displacement becomes a mass health crisis. Healthcare is infrastructure, not a perk.

  • Universal Basic Income. If a machine does the work that used to support a family, the value it creates should flow back to the community — not just to the shareholders. UBI funded by automation’s own productivity gains.

  • Automation Tax. Companies replacing human workers with AI contribute to the communities they’re disrupting. Productivity without responsibility is extraction.

This isn’t science fiction. It’s already happening. And we’re the only political organization in New Hampshire with a plan for it.

Tax Reform

Property Tax Relief

NH’s property tax system crushes working families while protecting wealth. We support: restoring the Interest and Dividends Tax, a second-home surcharge, a corporate minimum tax, and cannabis tax revenue directed to property tax relief.

Housing

When out-of-state speculators buy up homes as investment vehicles while families can’t afford to live where they work, that’s not a free market. It’s an extraction machine. We support community land trusts, inclusionary zoning, a second-home surcharge, and housing policy that prioritizes residents over investors.

Education

The ConVal decision confirmed what communities already knew: NH’s education funding is unconstitutional and broken. We support equitable, adequate funding for every public school — not voucher schemes that drain public resources while leaving the hardest-to-serve students behind.

Personal Freedom

  • Second Amendment. The right to keep and bear arms. Not negotiable.

  • Bodily Autonomy. Your body is yours. Reproductive and medical decisions are between you and the people you choose. Not the government.

  • Privacy. We oppose mass surveillance, civil asset forfeiture, police militarization, and AI-powered government surveillance of citizens.

Energy

When wars in the Middle East drive up your heating bill, that’s a policy failure. The Iran conflict is costing NH families right now. We support community-owned renewables, energy efficiency, and independence from fossil fuels controlled by corporations and foreign governments.

Democratic Reform

  • Ranked Choice Voting for all NH elections.

  • Proportional Representation through STV for the NH House.

  • Fair Legislative Pay — $100/year is a wealth barrier, not a tradition.

  • Cannabis Legalization with community-directed revenue.

  • Fair Ballot Access for new parties and independents.