Republican Report - Message from Mike - 2/8/08
The latest from Mike Whalley!
Last Wednesday, Democrats in the House once again attempted to pass a regressive sales tax on to the citizens of New Hampshire. Last year it was a tax on milk; this time around it’s a tax on bottles (HB 503) through an amendment on a bill to establish a solid waste management fund. Fortunately the bill was killed, but we must continue to hold their feet to the fire when it comes to new taxes and additional spending.
CACR24, a constitutional amendment that would “ prohibit a new tax, levied directly or indirectly, upon a person’s income, from whatever source it is derived,” will be coming to the floor of the House this week. As it is written, it would also include such taxes as Capital Gains and the Interest and Dividends Tax. If the committee report of ITL is defeated, we ask you to carefully study an amendment that will be offered by Rep. Bettencourt which will bring more clarity to this legislation. Under his amendment, “no new tax shall be levied, directly or indirectly upon a person’s personal income.” This would prohibit the State from adopting an income tax at anytime in the future.
Democrats are also attempting to pass a new tax on cigars through HB 1309. The bill came out of the Ways & Means committee in a partisan vote of OTP, 11-6. This legislation clearly represents a new tax and would adversely affect sales at stores along the New Hampshire border, the very same stores which have already been hurt by two huge cigarette tax increases in the past two bienniums. Since so few of these so-called minicigars are sold, the benefit to the State would be less than $1M. We ask you to oppose the committee report and support the minority report of ITL when the bill comes to the floor on Wednesday.
Last Wednesday, Democrats in the House once again attempted to pass a regressive sales tax on to the citizens of New Hampshire. Last year it was a tax on milk; this time around it’s a tax on bottles (HB 503) through an amendment on a bill to establish a solid waste management fund. Fortunately the bill was killed, but we must continue to hold their feet to the fire when it comes to new taxes and additional spending.
CACR24, a constitutional amendment that would “ prohibit a new tax, levied directly or indirectly, upon a person’s income, from whatever source it is derived,” will be coming to the floor of the House this week. As it is written, it would also include such taxes as Capital Gains and the Interest and Dividends Tax. If the committee report of ITL is defeated, we ask you to carefully study an amendment that will be offered by Rep. Bettencourt which will bring more clarity to this legislation. Under his amendment, “no new tax shall be levied, directly or indirectly upon a person’s personal income.” This would prohibit the State from adopting an income tax at anytime in the future.
Democrats are also attempting to pass a new tax on cigars through HB 1309. The bill came out of the Ways & Means committee in a partisan vote of OTP, 11-6. This legislation clearly represents a new tax and would adversely affect sales at stores along the New Hampshire border, the very same stores which have already been hurt by two huge cigarette tax increases in the past two bienniums. Since so few of these so-called minicigars are sold, the benefit to the State would be less than $1M. We ask you to oppose the committee report and support the minority report of ITL when the bill comes to the floor on Wednesday.
On Tuesday the 12th the Education committee will hear HB 1330, which
will remove the ability of a school district to not renew a teacher’s
contract. The bill could have a far-reaching and devastating impact on
local control. We are concerned about this bill and we hope that you
take a close look at it.
On Thursday, February 14, the Judiciary committee will hold a public hearing on HB 1495, relative to parental notification. This bill, based on the constitutional Casey Decision, would restore the parental notification law and add a medical emergency exception to that law. It would also afford the pregnant minor 24-hour access to a judge for waiver of notification. We ask that you take a moment to attend the public hearing and sign-in (Rm. 208, 11:00 a.m.), in support of parental notification.
Also on Thursday, the Ways & Means committee will hold a public hearing on Governor Lynch’s North Country tax credit which would offer employers in Coos County a $1,000 credit for the creation of any job that pays twice the state’s minimum wage for up to five years. It is interesting that the governor, in his State of the State address, pledged to oppose any new state spending, while at the same time proposing a new subsidy for the North Country—a move that clearly breaks his own vow. While we realize the need to help our citizens in the north, we must be mindful of the financial crises that we are currently facing. Any subsidy that will potentially take money from the state’s General Fund must be studied very carefully.
If you have legislation that you would like leadership to support, or you would like fellow Republicans to sign-inon, either in support or opposition, please let us know. Each week in the Republican Report we have taken the time to list those bills that we have taken a position on during the public hearings and we will continue this process through the session.
I hope to see a good turnout at our next caucus on Wednesday.
On Thursday, February 14, the Judiciary committee will hold a public hearing on HB 1495, relative to parental notification. This bill, based on the constitutional Casey Decision, would restore the parental notification law and add a medical emergency exception to that law. It would also afford the pregnant minor 24-hour access to a judge for waiver of notification. We ask that you take a moment to attend the public hearing and sign-in (Rm. 208, 11:00 a.m.), in support of parental notification.
Also on Thursday, the Ways & Means committee will hold a public hearing on Governor Lynch’s North Country tax credit which would offer employers in Coos County a $1,000 credit for the creation of any job that pays twice the state’s minimum wage for up to five years. It is interesting that the governor, in his State of the State address, pledged to oppose any new state spending, while at the same time proposing a new subsidy for the North Country—a move that clearly breaks his own vow. While we realize the need to help our citizens in the north, we must be mindful of the financial crises that we are currently facing. Any subsidy that will potentially take money from the state’s General Fund must be studied very carefully.
If you have legislation that you would like leadership to support, or you would like fellow Republicans to sign-inon, either in support or opposition, please let us know. Each week in the Republican Report we have taken the time to list those bills that we have taken a position on during the public hearings and we will continue this process through the session.
I hope to see a good turnout at our next caucus on Wednesday.
