The Liberty Rating report card is based on pro-liberty and anti-liberty votes and their impact on the State of New Hampshire—actual, recorded floor votes on legislation in the House and Senate. Bills have been carefully selected for inclusion which clearly demonstrate the level of respect our elected representatives show for our individual rights and liberties.
Pro-liberty votes protect individual freedom of choice and personal responsibility, recognize the superiority of freedom over coercion, respect the citizen’s right of self-ownership, promote governance that is transparent, accountable, and adheres to the Constitution, and recognize the value of voluntary economic decisions.
Anti-liberty votes attempt to replace self-governance with interventionist regulation, assume rules made by agencies backed by force are superior to voluntary choices backed by personal accountability, and assume a better economy can be managed by a central authority that compels people and businesses to pay for policies they may not willingly support.
The Liberty Rating is the result of hundreds of hours of work by many volunteers who have read and analyzed bills, testified before committees, called and written their representatives, worked on our other signature publication, the Gold Standard, and culled extensive data from legislative voting records.
We encourage New Hampshire citizens to learn the facts about how their elected representatives are voting in Concord and to use this tool to hold them accountable. This report card serves as a valuable voter guide when these same reps are running for re-election.
2020 Liberty Rating
With the state’s response to COVID-19 and reduced number of session days and roll call votes this year, we opted to not identify a legislator of the year this year. We want to say a special thank you to the 23 A+ rated reps this year.
2019 Liberty Rating
Congratulations to our Legislator of the Year – John Burt. Representative Burt represents Deering, Goffstown, Weare – district Hillsborough-39. He is a member of our five-year honor roll with a perfect score for each of the last five years.
We’d also like to congratulate our 2019 activist of the year – Alvin See.
2018 Liberty Rating
Congratulations to our Legislator of the Year – Michael Sylvia. Representative Sylvia represents Belmont, NH – district Belknap-6. He is a member of our five-year honor roll scoring A- or higher on the Liberty Rating in every year since 2014 and has been A+ rated for the last 4 years
We’d also like to congratulate our 2018 activist of the year – Merav Yaakov. In 2018 she continued holding candidate recruitment events across the state with the support of others, participated in numerous phone banks and was an active participant in state house activism.
2017 Liberty Rating
We’d like to congratulate our Legislator of the Year JR Hoell. Rep. Hoell, currently serving his fourth term, received a grade of A+. Representative Hoell has scored A- or better in every year since he was first elected, and is a member of the five year honor roll.
We would thank our Activist of the Year Will Anderson, for his tireless volunteer work distributing the Gold Standard, coordinating the efforts of other Gold Standard volunteers and contributing to the content of the Gold Standard.
2016 Liberty Rating
This is the thirteenth annual Liberty Rating issued by the New Hampshire Liberty Alliance, based on 98 roll call votes in the House, 37 roll call votes in the Senate, and 157 pieces of sponsored legislation. This year the House earned a collective grade of C and the Senate a C-.
We’d like to congratulate our Legislator of the Year, JR Hoell. Rep. Hoell, currently serving his third term, received a grade of A+. Representative Hoell has scored A- or better in every year since he was first elected, and is a member of the five year honor roll.
Special congratulations to Rep. John Burt for achieving a perfect voting score, and the best voting record of the year.
Finally, we would thank our Activist of the Year, Seamus Casey, for his tireless volunteer work developing, maintaining, and improving GenCourtMobile.
2015 Liberty Rating
This is the twelfth annual Liberty Rating issued by the New Hampshire Liberty Alliance, based on 50 roll call votes in the House and 22 in the Senate. This year the House earned a collective grade of C and the Senate a C+.
We’d like to congratulate our Legislator of the Year, Dan Itse. Rep. Itse, currently serving his eighth term, received a perfect score, and a grade of A+. Representative Itse has been on the five year honor roll every year since it was established in 2010, and served as the NHLA’s political director from 2007-2008.
We would also like to thank our Activist of the Year, Bill Alleman, for his tireless work to improve government transparency, and defend the right to record police.
2014 Liberty Rating
This is the 11th Annual Liberty Rating issued by the New Hampshire Liberty Alliance, based on 94 roll calls in the House and 24 in the Senate. Bills have been carefully selected for inclusion which clearly demonstrate the level of respect our elected representatives show for our individual rights and liberties.
We’d like to congratulate our Legislator of the Year, Carol McGuire. McGuire, currently serving her third term, was the only representative to earn an “A+” rating. Representative McGuire has earned the distinction of being a two-time winner of the Legislator of the Year award, the first time being in 2010.
We would also like to thank our Activist of the Year, Michelle Levell, for her tireless efforts to promote educational choice at the Statehouse.
2013 Liberty Rating
This is the tenth annual Liberty Rating issued by the New Hampshire Liberty Alliance, based on 57 roll call votes in the House and 20 in the Senate. Bills have been carefully selected for inclusion which clearly demonstrate the level of respect our elected representatives show for our individual rights and liberties.
This year we offer our sincerest thanks to the NHLA Legislator of the Year, the Honorable Representative Mark Warden for his unwavering support of liberty. Representative Warden has earned the distinction of being the first two-time winner of the Legislator of the Year award, the first time being in 2011. His voting record proves his dedication to the principles upon which this great state, as well as this organization, were founded.
We would also like to thank our Activist of the Year, Kirk McNeil, for his volunteer work in successfully passing the medical marijuana bill in 2013.
2012 Liberty Rating
This is the ninth annual Liberty Rating issued by the New Hampshire Liberty Alliance. Bills have been carefully selected for inclusion which clearly demonstrate the level of respect our elected representatives show for our individual rights and liberties.
We’d like to congratulate our Legislator of the Year, Paul Brown, and our Activist of the Year, Doris Hohensee, for their tireless efforts to promote and enhance liberty in the State of New Hampshire
2011 Liberty Rating
This is the eighth annual Liberty Rating issued by the New Hampshire Liberty Alliance. Bills have been carefully selected for inclusion which clearly demonstrate the level of respect our elected representatives show for our individual rights and liberties.
We’d like to congratulate our Legislator of the Year, Mark Warden, and our Activist of the Year, Kevin Bloom, for their tireless efforts to promote and enhance liberty in the State of New Hampshire.
The Liberty Rating is based on pro-liberty and anti-liberty votes and their impact on the state of New Hampshire.
2010 Liberty Rating
This is the seventh annual Liberty Rating issued by the New Hampshire Liberty Alliance. Bills have been carefully selected for inclusion which clearly demonstrate the level of respect our elected representatives show for our individual rights and liberties.
We’d like to congratulate our Legislator of the Year, Carol McGuire, and our Activist of the Year, Matt Simon, for their tireless efforts to promote and enhance liberty in the State of New Hampshire.
2009 Liberty Rating
This is the sixth annual Liberty Rating issued by the New Hampshire Liberty Alliance. Bills have been carefully selected for inclusion which clearly demonstrate the level of respect our elected representatives show for our individual rights and liberties. We’d like to congratulate our Legislator of the Year, Edith “Dee” Hogan, and our Activist of the Year, Keith Carlsen, for their tireless efforts to promote and enhance liberty in the State of New Hampshire.
2008 Liberty Rating
This is the fifth annual Liberty Rating issued by the New Hampshire Liberty Alliance. Bills have been carefully selected for inclusion which clearly demonstrate the level of respect our elected representatives show for our individual rights and liberties.
2007 Liberty Rating
This is the fourth annual Liberty Rating issued by the New Hampshire Liberty Alliance. Bills have been carefully selected for inclusion which clearly demonstrate the level of respect our elected representatives show for our individual rights and liberties.
2006 Liberty Rating
This is the third annual Liberty Rating issued by the New Hampshire Liberty Alliance. Bills have been carefully selected for inclusion which clearly demonstrate the level of respect our elected representatives show for our individual rights and liberties.
2005 Liberty Rating
This is the second annual Liberty Rating issued by the New Hampshire Liberty Alliance. Many couples are very interested in weddings in Central Park it’s one of the most popular spots for wedding photography in the city. You can’t stroll through the park on a weekend without seeing at least one wedding party. Bills have been carefully selected for inclusion which clearly demonstrate the level of respect our elected representatives show for our individual rights and liberties.