I am happy to announce my candidacy for re-election to the NH House of Representatives for Rockingham District 33. I am fortunate to work for a great company who supports me with a flexible work schedule so that I can continue attending all voting sessions in Concord. You can find my voting record and bills I have proposed on my new website www.JoshYokelaForNH.com.

Rockingham District 33 represents Brentwood, Danville and Fremont. I currently serve on the Fremont Budget Committee and Zoning Board of Adjustments, and I continue to attend all important town meetings and events in Brentwood and Danville. As an avid chess player, I happily volunteer my time helping children learn the skills and strategies of chess at the Fremont Library.

Reflecting on my first term, I have learned a lot. I initially went into the legislature thinking there would be solid proposals, honest discussions, and wide acceptance of the bills that passed. In fact, the Framers envisioned very few laws would be passed because of the need for overwhelming support for change. Knowing that, I did not submit school choice or occupational licensing reform bills, because I knew they would swiftly die at the hands of the Democratic majority in the House. Instead, I proposed bills which could have wide-ranging support and could become law so that my time in Concord wasn’t wasted. Three of my bills passed the House and some bills I co-sponsored were ratified and became law.

I expected the Democrats would also promote legislation that we could all support, as they would know the Governor would be a check on their desire to turn New Hampshire into Massachusetts, California, or New York. Not only did they submit bills that were flawed and widely unpopular, they passed bill after bill claiming to be doing the “people's work” knowing full well that many of those bills would be vetoed and sustained. If not for the interruption from SARS-CoV-2, it is likely we would have had another 50+ vetoes this year. In fact, when we came back from our break, the Democrats proposed just enough time to work on and pass bills on their agenda, while leaving the (not so glamorous) real work to wither on the vine. Now they clutch their pearls and say, “how dare you (not let us pass our Democratic agenda items)!” But I remember when they complained about staying up late to vote on all the bills by the deadline.

Now, because the Republicans didn’t support the Democrat’s agenda, they have chosen to attack small businesses yet again by killing the “growler bill” by holding it up and moving it past Senate deadlines which would have allowed taverns and taprooms to sell beer from their kegs in the event of another shutdown (kegs have a short shelf life and the imposed shutdown caused large economic losses in spoilage).

Clearly, it’s time to elect representatives who have the interests of workers and business owners in mind. It is not the role of government to penalize job and product producers. It’s time to replace representatives who put politics ahead of our livelihood.

I am happy to be a part of the Brentwood 4th of July Parade again and I hope you join me in celebrating the best country in the history of the world and reflecting on our achievements, of which we are all beneficiaries.