'Free State' group eyes home in N.E.

'Free State' group eyes home in N.E.

Could New England become the new Idaho? Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine are on the short list of sparsely populated states being considered by the Free State Project, a national group whose goal is to gather 20,000 advocates of limited government to live and work together in a single state. The group has about 3,000 members, mostly libertarians, but some Greens, Republicans, and Democrats. In the East, New Hampshire is a top contender: The group is quite active in the Granite State, says vice president Elizabeth McKinstry, who lives in Hillsdale, Mich. But they're searching all over: "We're looking at states that have a tradition of independence and smaller government," she says, adding that the group "loves" the New England annual town meeting. "We want things to be controlled at the most local level possible," she says. "We're looking at a reduction in the size of state government by one half."

[Note: Four other non-FSP related blurbs were in the original article.]

B.J. Roche, who writes from Western Massachusetts, can be reached at peaks@globe.com.

This story ran on page B4 of the Boston Globe on 4/27/2003.
© Copyright 2003 Globe Newspaper Company.

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