Campaign ads running in the Governor's race suggest that John Lynch is a "very nice man." While that may be true, our collective experience has been that this "nice man" has difficulty obeying the law.
On Wednesday, JUA policyholders who successfully stopped the Governor from taking $110 million of their surplus funds from the privately-funded Joint Underwriting Association ("JUA"), have gone back to court to stop another constitutional violation. The policyholders, starting in May, made requests for information under our State constitution and the Right to Know law to get documents from the Governor, the Department of Justice and the Insurance Commissioner concerning ongoing efforts to raid the JUA. Six months have past and neither the Governor nor the Attorney General have provided the requested materials. Additionally, the Insurance Department has withheld thousands of pages of documents claiming all types of privileges not recognized in our constitution or state law. Legally mandated transparency into the operations of our government has been completely ignored. There is apparently no Right to Know what the Governor, Attorney General and Insurance Commissioner have been doing in ongoing unlawful efforts to take policyholders' private property for state purposes.
Governor Lynch's hypocrisy on this subject cannot be overstated. In his veto message regarding HB 379, Governor Lynch said "the Right-to-Know Law plays a critical role in assuring transparency and accountability in the operation of government at all levels." His failure over the past 6 months to support these sentiments with legally required disclosure renders these words and the rights of citizens meaningless. The true measure of a public official is not simply what he says, it is what he does. Here, the actions provide a stunning revelation of this governor’s disdain for our constitution and the rule of law. This governor tried to take private property, but was slapped down by two different courts because the actions were unconstitutional. Rather than learn from that misguided effort and leave this private property alone, this governor continues efforts to change the rules in order to claim a right to the money. Citizens who have requested information from its government about this travesty have been stiff-armed and denied the transparency guaranteed under our constitution and statutes. Our constitution states that government should be "open, accessible, accountable and responsive." Governor Lynch's actions fail to meet this constitutional standard... again. Individual rights are violated... again. New Hampshire citizens need to go to Court to have their rights protected.... again. The rule of law is ignored…. again. Isn’t it time to find this “nice man” another day job?
