As Governor, Jeanne Shaheen set a new energy course for New Hampshire by developing the state’s first comprehensive energy plan, moving New Hampshire toward more renewable energy, increased energy efficiency, and cleaner energy supplies. She brought Republicans and Democrats together to pass the Clean Power Act, making New Hampshire the first state in the nation to enact a law requiring its power plants to reduce emissions of four pollutants: carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxides, nitrogen oxides and mercury. She improved energy efficiency in State buildings, reducing pollution and saving the state several million dollars a year in energy costs.
Governor Shaheen launched New Hampshire’s Children’s Health Insurance Program, which has provided affordable health insurance to tens of thousands of New Hampshire children. She stood up to the big health insurance companies, passing comprehensive reforms that make sure HMOs couldn’t deny people the medical care they needed. She helped to lower prescription drug costs for seniors with a discount program that helped seniors save more than $3.2 million on their medications. She expanded coverage for women by requiring health insurance plans to cover contraceptives, to allow women to go to their ob-gyns without a referral and to end drive-through deliveries. She gave seniors long-term care options by launching an effort to make it possible for more seniors to choose to stay in their own homes, instead of solely relying on nursing homes. As a State Senator, she successfully sponsored legislation requiring health insurance plans to provide equal coverage for the treatment biologically-based mental illnesses, and, as Governor, Jeanne Shaheen signed legislation that broadens coverage under health plans for additional mental illnesses and emotional disorders, and guarantees at least minimum coverage for the treatment of substance abuse and drug and alcohol addiction.
As Governor, Jeanne Shaheen established the first ethics code for state employees, which banned gifts to state officials, established guidelines to reduce conflicts of interests, and barred state employees from lobbying their former agencies for a full year after leaving office. She proposed balanced budgets and insisted on fiscal discipline, enabling the State to triple its Rainy Day Fund. She saved taxpayers millions of dollars in workers' compensation costs by imposing measures to improve safety in state government workplaces. Through a program to make state office buildings more energy efficient, she decreased government operating costs by several million dollars a year.
Jeanne Shaheen led the effort to prepare New Hampshire’s students to compete and lead in the world economy. Jeanne Shaheen opened the door to college for thousands of New Hampshire families by implementing an innovative plan to help families save money for college and by investing in New Hampshire’s public colleges and universities and launching a college scholarship program for New Hampshire students. She dramatically increased state aid to local public schools as she worked tirelessly to move New Hampshire forward on education funding. She expanded access to kindergarten with a kindergarten initiative that has made public kindergarten a reality for 25,182 additional children since 1997. Under her leadership, New Hampshire issued the first School Report Cards so parents now know how their local schools are performing; raised standards for teachers and instituted testing for new teachers to make sure teachers had the skills, knowledge and tools they need to best educate our students. She worked to increase funding for higher education, including the largest capital investment in the University System in the State’s history.
As Governor, Jeanne Shaheen was committed to helping make sure New Hampshire workers had the good jobs they needed to care for their families. She intervened personally to help save the jobs of hundreds of pulp and paper mill workers in the North Country. Jeanne Shaheen took on – and won – a fight to bring down electric rates for businesses and homes, lowering electric rates in most of the state by 16 percent. She created a Job Training Fund to help New Hampshire workers compete in the global economy. She tripled tourism promotion to keep tourism, New Hampshire’s second-largest employer, strong. She generated $500 million in sales for New Hampshire businesses by leading three trade missions; Jeanne Shaheen was the first New Hampshire Governor to lead an overseas trade mission. Her efforts helped New Hampshire create 65,000 new jobs during her six years as Governor.
Governor Shaheen worked to preserve New Hampshire’s special environment and high quality of life for future generations. Under Jeanne Shaheen, New Hampshire reduced mercury pollution by 40 percent in four years and launched an effort to reduce emissions of dioxins, which can cause cancer. She worked to establish the Land and Community Heritage Investment Program, which has helped preserve nearly 40,000 acres of New Hampshire open space and more than 60 historic structures. By bringing together a broad coalition, she helped to preserve 171, 500 acres of North Country wilderness, including the environmentally sensitive Connecticut Lake Headwaters. She worked to protect our lakes and rivers with new laws strengthening the New Hampshire Shoreland Protection. She increased protections for our drinking water, with a grant program to help communities preserve their water supplies and new laws allowing Governors to protect water supplies during emergencies and imposing tougher standards on large water users. She was a leader in the fight against the Bush Administration’s plans to allow Midwest polluters to keep violating the Clean Air Act. And she took action to protect our loon population, signing a first-in-the-nation law banning lead sinkers for fishing.
Under Governor Shaheen’s leadership, New Hampshire became only the 10th state to include sexual orientation in its laws prohibiting discrimination in housing and employment and repealed a discriminatory law that prevented gays and lesbians from serving as foster or adoptive parents. She protected the reproductive rights of women by repealing state laws that made abortion a felony. She worked to ensure full and equal participation in society for people with disabilities by promoting innovative employment programs and working to make state government buildings and parks accessible. Governor Shaheen signed into law Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, ending New Hampshire’s status as the only state not to recognize Dr. King’s birthday as an official holiday.
