Recently in Republican Report Category
Next Wednesday will bring down the curtain on what has been a painful two years for the taxpayers of our state. From increased taxes to overspending, House Democrats have put the state of New Hampshire into a financial crisis that will have long range repercussions for future legislatures.
I would like to thank all of you who served on a committee of conference this week and who worked hard to support the Republican position on many key issues. The results that came out of a number of committees of conference will certainly help in the coming campaign to point out the differences between Republicans who fought for the taxpayer at the State House and the Democrats who increased spending by 17% to match overestimated revenue figures, and increased fees and taxes.
I am proud of our conferees on SB 530, relative to kindergarten aid, who stood their ground despite the majority party’s failure to follow House Rules. By attempting to add an amendment that protects donor towns, House Democrats ignored House Rule 49:g, which is quite clear, “a non-germane amendment is any subject matter not contained in either the House or the Senate version of the bill.” This does not bend the House Rules, it totally breaks them. While protecting the donor towns is a laudable goal, adding it to SB 530 goes against everything the House stands for. I anticipate a floor fight on this issue when we convene next Wednesday.
“We have rules for a reason,” noted former Speaker and current House Republican Policy Leader Gene Chandler. “If we didn’t have these rules, the legislative process would be never ending and chaos would set in.”
It is pretty evident that Democrats are looking to help the governor close the gap on his budget deficit at the expense of those who use tobacco and play games of chance. Rep. Hawkins, who led the fight on the committee of conference, was removed so that betting limits could be doubled and a poker tax enacted. We will carry the fight against this expansion of gambling to the floor of the House on Wednesday as well.
The “Lynch tobacco tax” also prevailed in the committee of conference on SB 321, the legislation that Democrats have chosen to use as their “Christmas Tree Bill” in an attempt to help the governor deal with his budget crisis.
What the Democrats are “spinning” to the public is that the $.25 increase in the tobacco tax won’t go into effect for at least three months and then only if tobacco revenues fail to meet specified targets. We know what will happen in the end, and it will be the taxpayer who suffers.
House conferees stood firm against the Senate with regard to aid for Charter Schools in New Hampshire. Under HB 1642, these schools will receive $5,000 for each student they enroll next year. The funding includes $3,832 that the state now provides public schools for each student, and an additional $1,168 per pupil. The agreement is a onetime, one-year deal that will end when a new school funding plan takes effect on July 1, 2009. That plan gives charter schools a minimum of $5,540 per student. The Senate wanted to deny Charter Schools any funding, but were willing to put $1 per student into the bill.
Fortunately the House conferees stood together in opposition to an attempt by the Senate to do the governor’s bidding by tacking on the bonding of $80 million of school building aid to HB 1646, the 10-year transportation improvement plan. We have been adamant in the past that this is something that should be paid out of the operating budget and there is no reason to change this practice.
Using this method to close the governor’s budget deficit is like using one credit card to pay off another credit card and is fiscally irresponsible. As we mentioned in an earlier Republican Report, it was only due to the initiative of Republicans on House Finance that a number of changes were made to SB 321, however the huge reductions necessary to bring our level of spending down in line with our revenue stream are not there. The ONLY cuts made were those required by state statute.
As of late Friday afternoon, conferees on the Retirement Bill (HB 1645) were at a complete stalemate. We will have a full report of their final outcome with a discussion of our Republican position at the caucus on Wednesday.
This Wednesday will be our final opportunity to show the voters of this state that we Republicans have continued to serve in their best interest over the past two years. The voters wanted change two years ago and what they got was a change in tax policy, a change in the spending policy, and a change in the open way in which business is conducted at the State House in Concord. I urge our Republican Caucus to stick together on Wednesday. We will hold a caucus on Wednesday morning at 11:00 AM in Rooms 305-307 of the Legislative Office Building. I am looking forward to a good turnout.
Please remember that our office will be open throughout the summer to assist you with putting together information for your campaign. We cans supply you with the voting records of your Democrat opponents on issues that are important to your constituents.
I thank you all for your hard work in what has been a most difficult year with the loss of our Republican Leader Mike Whalley, as well as other members of our caucus Jim Oliver, Don Buxton, Bruce Hunter, and Bob Forsing. On behalf of our Republican Leadership team I thank you for your support during those very trying times.
I hope to see many of you back here in the fall and, to those of you who will make the decision to step down from elected service, I thank you for your contribution to the Republican cause. We have worked hard to maintain and protect the New Hampshire Advantage Republican Caucus and we will resume the fight again in January.
I would like to thank all of you who served on a committee of conference this week and who worked hard to support the Republican position on many key issues. The results that came out of a number of committees of conference will certainly help in the coming campaign to point out the differences between Republicans who fought for the taxpayer at the State House and the Democrats who increased spending by 17% to match overestimated revenue figures, and increased fees and taxes.
Broken Rules
I am proud of our conferees on SB 530, relative to kindergarten aid, who stood their ground despite the majority party’s failure to follow House Rules. By attempting to add an amendment that protects donor towns, House Democrats ignored House Rule 49:g, which is quite clear, “a non-germane amendment is any subject matter not contained in either the House or the Senate version of the bill.” This does not bend the House Rules, it totally breaks them. While protecting the donor towns is a laudable goal, adding it to SB 530 goes against everything the House stands for. I anticipate a floor fight on this issue when we convene next Wednesday.
“We have rules for a reason,” noted former Speaker and current House Republican Policy Leader Gene Chandler. “If we didn’t have these rules, the legislative process would be never ending and chaos would set in.”
Expanded Gambling, Increased Taxes
It is pretty evident that Democrats are looking to help the governor close the gap on his budget deficit at the expense of those who use tobacco and play games of chance. Rep. Hawkins, who led the fight on the committee of conference, was removed so that betting limits could be doubled and a poker tax enacted. We will carry the fight against this expansion of gambling to the floor of the House on Wednesday as well.
The “Lynch tobacco tax” also prevailed in the committee of conference on SB 321, the legislation that Democrats have chosen to use as their “Christmas Tree Bill” in an attempt to help the governor deal with his budget crisis.
What the Democrats are “spinning” to the public is that the $.25 increase in the tobacco tax won’t go into effect for at least three months and then only if tobacco revenues fail to meet specified targets. We know what will happen in the end, and it will be the taxpayer who suffers.
Charter Schools
House conferees stood firm against the Senate with regard to aid for Charter Schools in New Hampshire. Under HB 1642, these schools will receive $5,000 for each student they enroll next year. The funding includes $3,832 that the state now provides public schools for each student, and an additional $1,168 per pupil. The agreement is a onetime, one-year deal that will end when a new school funding plan takes effect on July 1, 2009. That plan gives charter schools a minimum of $5,540 per student. The Senate wanted to deny Charter Schools any funding, but were willing to put $1 per student into the bill.
No to Bonding
Fortunately the House conferees stood together in opposition to an attempt by the Senate to do the governor’s bidding by tacking on the bonding of $80 million of school building aid to HB 1646, the 10-year transportation improvement plan. We have been adamant in the past that this is something that should be paid out of the operating budget and there is no reason to change this practice.
Using this method to close the governor’s budget deficit is like using one credit card to pay off another credit card and is fiscally irresponsible. As we mentioned in an earlier Republican Report, it was only due to the initiative of Republicans on House Finance that a number of changes were made to SB 321, however the huge reductions necessary to bring our level of spending down in line with our revenue stream are not there. The ONLY cuts made were those required by state statute.
Retirement Stalemate
As of late Friday afternoon, conferees on the Retirement Bill (HB 1645) were at a complete stalemate. We will have a full report of their final outcome with a discussion of our Republican position at the caucus on Wednesday.
This Wednesday will be our final opportunity to show the voters of this state that we Republicans have continued to serve in their best interest over the past two years. The voters wanted change two years ago and what they got was a change in tax policy, a change in the spending policy, and a change in the open way in which business is conducted at the State House in Concord. I urge our Republican Caucus to stick together on Wednesday. We will hold a caucus on Wednesday morning at 11:00 AM in Rooms 305-307 of the Legislative Office Building. I am looking forward to a good turnout.
Please remember that our office will be open throughout the summer to assist you with putting together information for your campaign. We cans supply you with the voting records of your Democrat opponents on issues that are important to your constituents.
I thank you all for your hard work in what has been a most difficult year with the loss of our Republican Leader Mike Whalley, as well as other members of our caucus Jim Oliver, Don Buxton, Bruce Hunter, and Bob Forsing. On behalf of our Republican Leadership team I thank you for your support during those very trying times.
I hope to see many of you back here in the fall and, to those of you who will make the decision to step down from elected service, I thank you for your contribution to the Republican cause. We have worked hard to maintain and protect the New Hampshire Advantage Republican Caucus and we will resume the fight again in January.
The much anticipated education bills (SB 530 and SB 539) will finally come to the floor of the House this Wednesday and, should they survive the legislative process and are signed into law by Governor Lynch, they undoubtedly will be challenged in the courts.
Despite facing a budget deficit of more than $250M, Democrats in the House Finance committee have amended and passed SB 539, adding more than $130M in additional spending to the cost of an adequate education. This bill is expensive, ineffective and blatantly unconstitutional! It violates every one of the Claremont decisions, 2-13. This marks the fifth time that the original bill, presented by Democrats on the Adequate Education Costing Committee, has been amended and each ‘fix’ has been worse than the previous one. This bill provides for an arbitrary cap on state aid. Transitioning to full adequacy aid is not the same as full adequacy aid, and our Supreme Court has ruled on more than one occasion that the state must pay, from day one, the full cost of a constitutionally adequate education.
SB 539 also establishes nearly 40 new donor towns while purportedly “holding them harmless” for two years. Those districts that would receive less state aid in FY 2010 and FY 2011 under the majority formula would be guaranteed the amount they received in FY2009. Donor towns purportedly would have their excess statewide education property tax rebated, but after two years, the taxpayers in everyone of these communities would be hit hard.
This is exactly what the Supreme Court ruled unconstitutional in Governor Shaheen’s “ABC Education Plan.” It contains absolutely no mechanism to send money back to the towns from the state. The Democrats have added more than $130M in spending with absolutely no idea of where the money is coming from. The majority have clearly chosen to put off the hard work until the next budget—after the fall elections—thus significantly increasing the fiscal problems facing the state in the next biennium and leaving us open to broadbased taxes.
SB 530, relative to kindergarten aid, is also unconstitutional and will be headed for the courts. In funding the new kindergarten mandate adopted last year, Democrats fail to pay for the entire cost imposed on the twelve school districts which have not voluntarily chosen to offer public kindergarten—a clear violation of Article 28-a of our State Constitution. The four year transition period available to these school districts to pay for kindergarten does not cover the land, site preparation or core facilities’ cost. The bottom line: SB 530 orders twelve school districts over a four-year period to construct kindergarten facilities. Forcing the state and the municipalities to do significant construction and spend millions of dollars at a time when our economy is at a standstill is fiscally irresponsible.
When will the Democrats wake up to the fact that, as Ronald Reagan once famously stated, “we don’t have a revenue problem, we have a spending problem?” It’s a fact that revenues this year are $72M ahead of last year, a 3.8% increase. Had the Democrats held spending to a more modest increase, instead of their 17.5% boost in spending, and listened to Rep. Major’s warnings of overinflated revenues and a slowing economy, we would not be facing the financial crisis that we are in today.
Rather than looking for reasonable places to reduce the bloated budget passed last year and bring it into line with our rising revenues, Democrats look to raise still more taxes and fees. In fact, just this week Governor Lynch announced a plan to raise money for the general fund while ignoring an earlier pledge not to raise taxes or impose new fees on the citizens of New Hampshire.
The Lynch plan calls for increasing the tobacco tax by 25 cents—the third time that our “let’s not raise taxes” governor has increased this tax! If the State of Massachusetts fails to pass a proposed $1 increase, it would leave NH just $.18 a package lower than the Bay State. What would that do to the many businesses located in our border communities?
Governor Lynch has also proposed imposing a new tax, at a rate of 10% on Texas hold ‘em winnings, raiding dedicated funds in the amount of $1M, imposing additional costs on business owners by reducing the discount on alcohol they buy to 10% and forcing lapses of $2.2M on Home-Community Based Health Care (HCBC) and nursing services program. The governor also proposed to bond $80M of school building aid over the biennium, which will free up an additional $40M in general fund revenues each year, but represents a significant shift from the New Hampshire tradition of paying for such projects in cash. By bonding our school building aid, we are mortgaging the future rather than paying our obligations as they come due—much like using one credit card to pay off another one. And as Rep. Major has calculated, this bonding will cost the state an additional $32M before it is paid off.
This will be a very important week in the NH Legislature as we take up education funding and begin the discussion of a Constitutional Amendment. We invite all members of our caucus to attend a Republican Caucus on Tuesday morning at 10:00 AM in Representatives Hall. The first order of business will the discussion of a possible Constitutional Amendment. Following that, and if time remains, we will then take up the regular House Calendar. On Wednesday, our caucus will be held, as usual, at 9:00 a.m. in Rooms 305-07 of the LOB.
Please remember that we value the input of every member of our caucus. I hope to see a good turnout for our caucuses on both Tuesday and Wednesday. If you have any concerns with regard to legislation appearing in the calendar, please let us know.
Despite facing a budget deficit of more than $250M, Democrats in the House Finance committee have amended and passed SB 539, adding more than $130M in additional spending to the cost of an adequate education. This bill is expensive, ineffective and blatantly unconstitutional! It violates every one of the Claremont decisions, 2-13. This marks the fifth time that the original bill, presented by Democrats on the Adequate Education Costing Committee, has been amended and each ‘fix’ has been worse than the previous one. This bill provides for an arbitrary cap on state aid. Transitioning to full adequacy aid is not the same as full adequacy aid, and our Supreme Court has ruled on more than one occasion that the state must pay, from day one, the full cost of a constitutionally adequate education.
SB 539 also establishes nearly 40 new donor towns while purportedly “holding them harmless” for two years. Those districts that would receive less state aid in FY 2010 and FY 2011 under the majority formula would be guaranteed the amount they received in FY2009. Donor towns purportedly would have their excess statewide education property tax rebated, but after two years, the taxpayers in everyone of these communities would be hit hard.
This is exactly what the Supreme Court ruled unconstitutional in Governor Shaheen’s “ABC Education Plan.” It contains absolutely no mechanism to send money back to the towns from the state. The Democrats have added more than $130M in spending with absolutely no idea of where the money is coming from. The majority have clearly chosen to put off the hard work until the next budget—after the fall elections—thus significantly increasing the fiscal problems facing the state in the next biennium and leaving us open to broadbased taxes.
SB 530, relative to kindergarten aid, is also unconstitutional and will be headed for the courts. In funding the new kindergarten mandate adopted last year, Democrats fail to pay for the entire cost imposed on the twelve school districts which have not voluntarily chosen to offer public kindergarten—a clear violation of Article 28-a of our State Constitution. The four year transition period available to these school districts to pay for kindergarten does not cover the land, site preparation or core facilities’ cost. The bottom line: SB 530 orders twelve school districts over a four-year period to construct kindergarten facilities. Forcing the state and the municipalities to do significant construction and spend millions of dollars at a time when our economy is at a standstill is fiscally irresponsible.
When will the Democrats wake up to the fact that, as Ronald Reagan once famously stated, “we don’t have a revenue problem, we have a spending problem?” It’s a fact that revenues this year are $72M ahead of last year, a 3.8% increase. Had the Democrats held spending to a more modest increase, instead of their 17.5% boost in spending, and listened to Rep. Major’s warnings of overinflated revenues and a slowing economy, we would not be facing the financial crisis that we are in today.
Rather than looking for reasonable places to reduce the bloated budget passed last year and bring it into line with our rising revenues, Democrats look to raise still more taxes and fees. In fact, just this week Governor Lynch announced a plan to raise money for the general fund while ignoring an earlier pledge not to raise taxes or impose new fees on the citizens of New Hampshire.
The Lynch plan calls for increasing the tobacco tax by 25 cents—the third time that our “let’s not raise taxes” governor has increased this tax! If the State of Massachusetts fails to pass a proposed $1 increase, it would leave NH just $.18 a package lower than the Bay State. What would that do to the many businesses located in our border communities?
Governor Lynch has also proposed imposing a new tax, at a rate of 10% on Texas hold ‘em winnings, raiding dedicated funds in the amount of $1M, imposing additional costs on business owners by reducing the discount on alcohol they buy to 10% and forcing lapses of $2.2M on Home-Community Based Health Care (HCBC) and nursing services program. The governor also proposed to bond $80M of school building aid over the biennium, which will free up an additional $40M in general fund revenues each year, but represents a significant shift from the New Hampshire tradition of paying for such projects in cash. By bonding our school building aid, we are mortgaging the future rather than paying our obligations as they come due—much like using one credit card to pay off another one. And as Rep. Major has calculated, this bonding will cost the state an additional $32M before it is paid off.
This will be a very important week in the NH Legislature as we take up education funding and begin the discussion of a Constitutional Amendment. We invite all members of our caucus to attend a Republican Caucus on Tuesday morning at 10:00 AM in Representatives Hall. The first order of business will the discussion of a possible Constitutional Amendment. Following that, and if time remains, we will then take up the regular House Calendar. On Wednesday, our caucus will be held, as usual, at 9:00 a.m. in Rooms 305-07 of the LOB.
Please remember that we value the input of every member of our caucus. I hope to see a good turnout for our caucuses on both Tuesday and Wednesday. If you have any concerns with regard to legislation appearing in the calendar, please let us know.
I hope that you all had the opportunity to read the op-ed piece published this week in the Union Leader (Wed., 4/23). (see it after the jump) It was written by Charles Arlinghaus, president of the Josiah Bartlett Center for Public Policy in Concord. The essay titled, “Some thoughts on being an island in a sea of socialism,” clearly captures what we as Republicans have been confronted with since the Democrats took control of the legislature less than two years ago. Since that time, we have not only witnessed the state’s first $10 Billion budget—thanks to a 17.5% increase in spending—but we have also seen the further erosion of the New Hampshire Advantage that we have enjoyed within the region through inceased taxes and fees. As Mr. Arlinghaus pointed out, “government is getting larger but it’s also getting more intrusive.” If you have not yet read his piece, I urge you to do so.
It will be our job, over the weeks and months leading up to the fall election, to educate the voters of our state as to exactly what has been going on at the State House in Concord. We need to point out exactly why their taxes have increased, why fees have gone up, and why we are facing a potential $260M deficit in state government!
In order to regain control of the New Hampshire House, and begin the task of repairing the damage done by the Democrats, we must:
You will also notice an announcement in this newsletter about a Republican Campaign School that will be held in Nashua on May 17th. Over the next few months we will try and keep you informed of any program that may be helpful to candidates planning their campaign. To that end, we have recently been including campaign tips along with our Republican Report and we plan to continue this practice. I would like to thank Rep. Ken Weyler for helping to compile much of the information that we are sending out. If you have any thoughts or suggestions, please let us know and we will share them with the entire caucus.
Finally, I would like to thank the members of our caucus for supporting the motion to withdraw, without debate, the Bill of Address to remove Superior Court justice Patricia Coffee from office. With the resignation of Judge Coffey this week, the committee felt that a motion
to withdraw was in the best interest of the State of New Hampshire. It has been tabled, however should it be necessary it could be brought back again this session, but that is highly unlikely.
Our Republican caucus will be held at 11:30 AM on Wednesday in Rooms 305-307 of the LOB. This will give us a chance to go over the issues prior to lunch. If you have any concerns with legislation coming to the floor on Wednesday, please bring them to the caucus. We also invite all of you to join us for our Republican Caucus Spring Social following the House session on Wednesday at the Upham-Walker House. Food and beverages will be served and it will be a great opportunity for us to get together in a relaxed atmosphere following a long winter. I hope to see you all there!
It will be our job, over the weeks and months leading up to the fall election, to educate the voters of our state as to exactly what has been going on at the State House in Concord. We need to point out exactly why their taxes have increased, why fees have gone up, and why we are facing a potential $260M deficit in state government!
In order to regain control of the New Hampshire House, and begin the task of repairing the damage done by the Democrats, we must:
(1) present qualified candidates to the voter; andIf you know of someone in your district who would make a strong candidate, please have them contact both our office and the State Republican Party headquarters. If you are an incumbent and have made a decision as to whether nor not you intend to run for office again, please let us know. Paul Smith in our office has been compiling a list so we know in which districts we need to recruit additional candidates.
(2) make sure those candidates candidates are well versed on the facts.
You will also notice an announcement in this newsletter about a Republican Campaign School that will be held in Nashua on May 17th. Over the next few months we will try and keep you informed of any program that may be helpful to candidates planning their campaign. To that end, we have recently been including campaign tips along with our Republican Report and we plan to continue this practice. I would like to thank Rep. Ken Weyler for helping to compile much of the information that we are sending out. If you have any thoughts or suggestions, please let us know and we will share them with the entire caucus.
Finally, I would like to thank the members of our caucus for supporting the motion to withdraw, without debate, the Bill of Address to remove Superior Court justice Patricia Coffee from office. With the resignation of Judge Coffey this week, the committee felt that a motion
to withdraw was in the best interest of the State of New Hampshire. It has been tabled, however should it be necessary it could be brought back again this session, but that is highly unlikely.
Our Republican caucus will be held at 11:30 AM on Wednesday in Rooms 305-307 of the LOB. This will give us a chance to go over the issues prior to lunch. If you have any concerns with legislation coming to the floor on Wednesday, please bring them to the caucus. We also invite all of you to join us for our Republican Caucus Spring Social following the House session on Wednesday at the Upham-Walker House. Food and beverages will be served and it will be a great opportunity for us to get together in a relaxed atmosphere following a long winter. I hope to see you all there!
Continue reading Republican Report - Message from Dave - 4/25/08.
A message from the Deputy Republican Leader.....
Democrats in the House are slowly discovering that artificially increasing revenue projections to accommodate their 17.5% spending increase in the budget has been a recipe for the largest financial crisis in state history. Their “spend like crazy and then inflate the revenue projections” method has put us on the doorstep of a $260M shortfall and brought us closer to what Democrats have been angling for all along, a broad based tax.
In fact, less than a week after the governor’s agency heads told the House Ways & Means committee that they were finally in agreement with Rep. Norm Major’s revenue projections, House Democrats ignored the warnings, and passed two education bills that will undoubtedly increase spending even further.
SB530, the kindergarten aid bill, is going to increase education spending by an additional $20M, with no projected increase in kindergarten attendance in the state. It also mandates that the 12 communities which do not currently offer kindergarten submit detailed plans by September, 2009, regardless of whether the taxpayers in those communities have agreed to implement the programs. Then they passed SB 539, relative to costing an adequate education that will cost the state nearly $1 Billion a year over the next biennium, and will bind the hands of future legislatures. The bill adds unreasonable levels to the costing formula, including increased teacher and staff salaries, materials, technology, transportation, and arbitrarily inflated additional aid based upon free and reduced lunch students—all factors that increase the average costs by more than $100 Million!
And, despite the fact that this Democrat-controlled House passed the largest spending increase in twenty years, they continue to refer to this crisis as a “revenue” problem when in fact it is clearly a “spending” problem. In fact, revenues have actually increased by more than $40M over last year, through March 31. Unfortunately, however, they were quickly gobbled up by an overexuberant spending spree in the very first year of the biennium.
But instead of cutting spending, Democrats have chosen an alternative: balance the budget by passing additional taxes and fees onto the citizens of New Hampshire—and the voters are finally starting to take notice. For your use in writing letters and op-eds, we have listed just a few of the increased taxes and fees that they have passed during this session alone.
What will be their solution? The hole is certainly far too deep to make up the deficit with spending cuts alone
during the second year of the biennium. The damage has already been done. House Democrats who insisted a year ago that Rep. Major was “crying wolf” when he talked of the Perfect Storm and warned of “overexuberant” revenues, are finally waking up to the grim reality that they should have paid attention.
And now, while Democrats are scrambling, in search of a revenue source that will handle such a large deficit, the hole gets deeper and the road to a broad based tax gets closer.
Over the final few weeks of the session, we as Republicans must stick together in waging the fight against further taxing and spending. I urge you to attend our
Republican caucuses held prior to each Session and as, always, we in leadership welcome your thoughts and comments about any issue that is important to you and your constituents.
-Dave
Democrats in the House are slowly discovering that artificially increasing revenue projections to accommodate their 17.5% spending increase in the budget has been a recipe for the largest financial crisis in state history. Their “spend like crazy and then inflate the revenue projections” method has put us on the doorstep of a $260M shortfall and brought us closer to what Democrats have been angling for all along, a broad based tax.
In fact, less than a week after the governor’s agency heads told the House Ways & Means committee that they were finally in agreement with Rep. Norm Major’s revenue projections, House Democrats ignored the warnings, and passed two education bills that will undoubtedly increase spending even further.
SB530, the kindergarten aid bill, is going to increase education spending by an additional $20M, with no projected increase in kindergarten attendance in the state. It also mandates that the 12 communities which do not currently offer kindergarten submit detailed plans by September, 2009, regardless of whether the taxpayers in those communities have agreed to implement the programs. Then they passed SB 539, relative to costing an adequate education that will cost the state nearly $1 Billion a year over the next biennium, and will bind the hands of future legislatures. The bill adds unreasonable levels to the costing formula, including increased teacher and staff salaries, materials, technology, transportation, and arbitrarily inflated additional aid based upon free and reduced lunch students—all factors that increase the average costs by more than $100 Million!
And, despite the fact that this Democrat-controlled House passed the largest spending increase in twenty years, they continue to refer to this crisis as a “revenue” problem when in fact it is clearly a “spending” problem. In fact, revenues have actually increased by more than $40M over last year, through March 31. Unfortunately, however, they were quickly gobbled up by an overexuberant spending spree in the very first year of the biennium.
But instead of cutting spending, Democrats have chosen an alternative: balance the budget by passing additional taxes and fees onto the citizens of New Hampshire—and the voters are finally starting to take notice. For your use in writing letters and op-eds, we have listed just a few of the increased taxes and fees that they have passed during this session alone.
What will be their solution? The hole is certainly far too deep to make up the deficit with spending cuts alone
during the second year of the biennium. The damage has already been done. House Democrats who insisted a year ago that Rep. Major was “crying wolf” when he talked of the Perfect Storm and warned of “overexuberant” revenues, are finally waking up to the grim reality that they should have paid attention.
And now, while Democrats are scrambling, in search of a revenue source that will handle such a large deficit, the hole gets deeper and the road to a broad based tax gets closer.
Over the final few weeks of the session, we as Republicans must stick together in waging the fight against further taxing and spending. I urge you to attend our
Republican caucuses held prior to each Session and as, always, we in leadership welcome your thoughts and comments about any issue that is important to you and your constituents.
-Dave
A message from the Deputy Republican Leader.....
At a press availability following his meeting with the Executive Council this week, Gov. John Lynch was asked if any new revenue or taxes could be in the offing considering the financial crisis (i.e. Perfect Storm) that the state is currently facing. His response certainly lent credence to the what Republican leadership have been saying all along—that the Democrats are leading New Hampshire down the path toward a broad based tax with their excessive spending, regardless of any pledge that their governor may have taken.
The governor’s response to the media was clear, “Well, I am going to be looking at everything.” Leaving “everything on the table” in dealing with the state’s huge deficit is a complete turnaround from the governor’s inaugural address in January of 2007 when he said, “the state should meet that responsibility without fundamentally changing our tax structure, particularly without a sales or income tax.” This latest flip-flop is reminiscent of the one taken by former Governor Shaheen in 1999 when she signed into law a statewide property tax—the first statewide tax in New Hampshire! If you recall, she also took the pledge against a broad based tax and then turned around and supported a state sales tax. Deja vu?
Speaking in a report aired on NHPR, our Republican Policy Leader, Gene Chandler, said, “The last thing we need anytime, but especially in this economy, is taxing our citizens more and increasing the fees that they pay. We’ve done that enough in the last year and we don’t need to do it anymore.” I wholeheartedly agree with Rep. Chandler..
The governor’s agency heads, appearing again this week before House Ways & Means to update revenue estimates, conveyed numbers that were not much different from what Rep. Norm Major had projected a week ago when he warned that the state was facing a shortfall of as much as $240 million over the biennium. Just a month ago, those same agency heads projected a deficit of somewhere between $151M and $204M. This week they increased those projections to between $222M and $267M, which also concurs with Rep. Major’s revised anticipated deficit of $262M—more than a quarter billion dollars!! Even worse, those numbers could grow larger depending upon the April revenue numbers—primarily the Interest & Dividend taxes and the state’s Business taxes. Despite holding this information, and despite the request of the speaker to bring them to the floor of the House, the chair of Ways & Means, Rep. Susan Almy, has chosen not to present the revenue figures to the House this month. Needless to say, we want to make sure that our caucus is aware of the growing problem.
To compound our financial crisis, this week the House Education committee approved the new school funding formula and added nearly $2 million, raising the price tag to approximately $916M. SB 539, in its current form, is patchwork—first, costing an adequate education, then targeting fiscal disparity aid to correct the original bill’s effect of sending far less aid to our poorer towns than they currently receive, and then again amending the bill to send a halfhearted, short term, inadequate “transition aid” to those working class towns that unreasonably lose money under this legislation. SB 539, as voted out by the Education committee, will increase state grants for education from $527M per year this biennium to $625M per year over the next biennium.
The Education committee also passed HB 530, a heavy-handed, “Big Brother” approach to implement mandated public kindergarten in twelve NH communities. Full state funding for kindergarten is necessary, both because it is a new mandate under Article 28-A and because it is now part of the definition of an adequate education. This bill only funds 75% of the construction costs for new standard classrooms and less than full operating costs of the estimated 41 new classrooms needed to satisfy the mandate. As a result, this bill would increase education spending by more than $20 million with no anticipated increase in kindergarten attendance in either these towns or across the state. Both of these Education bills will be coming to the floor of the House on the 16th.
This week the Senate will be hearing a couple of bills that we would like Republicans to oppose in committee. HB 1472, a Work Force Housing bill that usurps local planning and zoning prerogatives, will have a public hearing before Public & Municipal Affairs (Apr. 18th-2PM, Rm. 101, LOB). This “one-size fits all” legislation does not take into consideration the fact that many of our smaller communities do not have the infrastructure to accommodate multifamily and/or high density single family work force housing. Rural communities without the funds to fight this measure, would be forced to give in.
The House Commerce committee will hold a public hearing on SB 301 (Apr. 15, 11AM, Rm 302 LOB). This legislation would require insurers to cover prescriptions for durable medical equipment filled near the patients residence. This is yet another insurance mandate passed by Democrats! We would ask Republicans to sign-in opposing both bills at their Senate hearings.
SB 528 will also be coming to the floor of the House next week. The majority of the Environment & Agriculture committee took a pretty good bill from the Senate, rejected an amendment that cleaned up some language and ensured that there would be no incentive and then passed their own amendment which added a bounty of $5 per recycled mercury thermostat to increase recycling rates. This “bounty” will be paid by the manufacturers but ultimately borne by the consumers who purchase thermostats. We ask that you oppose the amendment, but support the bill on April 16.
We will be holding a Republican Caucus prior to the House Session at 9 a.m. on April 16th in LOB Rooms 305-307. If you have any concerns with regard to legislation that will be coming to the floor of the House that day, please bring them to the caucus. As always, our office is always open should you need to discuss any issue with our leadership team.
-Dave
At a press availability following his meeting with the Executive Council this week, Gov. John Lynch was asked if any new revenue or taxes could be in the offing considering the financial crisis (i.e. Perfect Storm) that the state is currently facing. His response certainly lent credence to the what Republican leadership have been saying all along—that the Democrats are leading New Hampshire down the path toward a broad based tax with their excessive spending, regardless of any pledge that their governor may have taken.
The governor’s response to the media was clear, “Well, I am going to be looking at everything.” Leaving “everything on the table” in dealing with the state’s huge deficit is a complete turnaround from the governor’s inaugural address in January of 2007 when he said, “the state should meet that responsibility without fundamentally changing our tax structure, particularly without a sales or income tax.” This latest flip-flop is reminiscent of the one taken by former Governor Shaheen in 1999 when she signed into law a statewide property tax—the first statewide tax in New Hampshire! If you recall, she also took the pledge against a broad based tax and then turned around and supported a state sales tax. Deja vu?
Speaking in a report aired on NHPR, our Republican Policy Leader, Gene Chandler, said, “The last thing we need anytime, but especially in this economy, is taxing our citizens more and increasing the fees that they pay. We’ve done that enough in the last year and we don’t need to do it anymore.” I wholeheartedly agree with Rep. Chandler..
The governor’s agency heads, appearing again this week before House Ways & Means to update revenue estimates, conveyed numbers that were not much different from what Rep. Norm Major had projected a week ago when he warned that the state was facing a shortfall of as much as $240 million over the biennium. Just a month ago, those same agency heads projected a deficit of somewhere between $151M and $204M. This week they increased those projections to between $222M and $267M, which also concurs with Rep. Major’s revised anticipated deficit of $262M—more than a quarter billion dollars!! Even worse, those numbers could grow larger depending upon the April revenue numbers—primarily the Interest & Dividend taxes and the state’s Business taxes. Despite holding this information, and despite the request of the speaker to bring them to the floor of the House, the chair of Ways & Means, Rep. Susan Almy, has chosen not to present the revenue figures to the House this month. Needless to say, we want to make sure that our caucus is aware of the growing problem.
To compound our financial crisis, this week the House Education committee approved the new school funding formula and added nearly $2 million, raising the price tag to approximately $916M. SB 539, in its current form, is patchwork—first, costing an adequate education, then targeting fiscal disparity aid to correct the original bill’s effect of sending far less aid to our poorer towns than they currently receive, and then again amending the bill to send a halfhearted, short term, inadequate “transition aid” to those working class towns that unreasonably lose money under this legislation. SB 539, as voted out by the Education committee, will increase state grants for education from $527M per year this biennium to $625M per year over the next biennium.
The Education committee also passed HB 530, a heavy-handed, “Big Brother” approach to implement mandated public kindergarten in twelve NH communities. Full state funding for kindergarten is necessary, both because it is a new mandate under Article 28-A and because it is now part of the definition of an adequate education. This bill only funds 75% of the construction costs for new standard classrooms and less than full operating costs of the estimated 41 new classrooms needed to satisfy the mandate. As a result, this bill would increase education spending by more than $20 million with no anticipated increase in kindergarten attendance in either these towns or across the state. Both of these Education bills will be coming to the floor of the House on the 16th.
This week the Senate will be hearing a couple of bills that we would like Republicans to oppose in committee. HB 1472, a Work Force Housing bill that usurps local planning and zoning prerogatives, will have a public hearing before Public & Municipal Affairs (Apr. 18th-2PM, Rm. 101, LOB). This “one-size fits all” legislation does not take into consideration the fact that many of our smaller communities do not have the infrastructure to accommodate multifamily and/or high density single family work force housing. Rural communities without the funds to fight this measure, would be forced to give in.
The House Commerce committee will hold a public hearing on SB 301 (Apr. 15, 11AM, Rm 302 LOB). This legislation would require insurers to cover prescriptions for durable medical equipment filled near the patients residence. This is yet another insurance mandate passed by Democrats! We would ask Republicans to sign-in opposing both bills at their Senate hearings.
SB 528 will also be coming to the floor of the House next week. The majority of the Environment & Agriculture committee took a pretty good bill from the Senate, rejected an amendment that cleaned up some language and ensured that there would be no incentive and then passed their own amendment which added a bounty of $5 per recycled mercury thermostat to increase recycling rates. This “bounty” will be paid by the manufacturers but ultimately borne by the consumers who purchase thermostats. We ask that you oppose the amendment, but support the bill on April 16.
We will be holding a Republican Caucus prior to the House Session at 9 a.m. on April 16th in LOB Rooms 305-307. If you have any concerns with regard to legislation that will be coming to the floor of the House that day, please bring them to the caucus. As always, our office is always open should you need to discuss any issue with our leadership team.
-Dave
During the 2006 Session, the Democrat-controlled House supported numerous new taxes and higher fees while increasing spending to the tune of billions of taxpayers’ dollars. Last winter we urged the passage of a reasonable budget—one that was based on accurate revenue projections and economic forecasts. And yet, we still witnessed the State’s first $10 billion budget—the result of a 17.5% increase in General Fund expenditures. House Democrats also ignored Rep. Norm Major’s warning that a “Perfect Storm” would result from their inflated revenue projections, in the face of an economy that was about to take a serious downturn. Today we are faced with a huge deficit that has the governor scrambling to find a solution.. In fact even his own agency department heads, appearing before the House Ways & Means committee, predicted that we are facing a revenue shortfall of anywhere between $140 and $195M. Rep. Major reports this week that the committee has been reviewing revenue projections for the biennium and he expects to have some substantial information for us in the next Republican Report.
2007 has also seen a number of Democrat-sponsored social issues passed in the House, including Civil Unions and the elimination of parental notification for abortions for minors. This week we resumed the fight for parental rights in a public hearing for HB 1495, a bill which would restore the parental notification law and add a medical emergency exception. It would also afford the pregnant minor 24-hour access to a judge for waiver of notification.
The parental notification law was repealed last session by Democrats who had argued that the law was unconstitutional, when in fact the US Supreme Court did not rule the parental notification law unconstitutional. They vacated the federal decision and remanded it to the federal court to issue a declaratory judgment to allow the law to go into effect with an injunction only in the area the US Supreme Court felt inadequate—a specific emergency health exception instead of the implied competing harms protection. The Supreme Court was also able to establish legislative intent.
This legislation is clearly constitutional on the emergency medical health exception. Not only has the language been upheld a number of times at the US Supreme Court level, but so had the language on judicial bypass.
As Rep. Fran Wendelboe, the prime sponsor of HB 1495, pointed out in her testimony before the committee, “at the heart of the issue are parental rights. Do we really think so little of New Hampshire parents that we would stand between them and their daughter?”
Recent surveys indicate that 70 percent of Americans support parental notification laws, while a number of studies have shown that parental notification laws, informed consent laws, and public funding laws all reduce the incidence of teen abortion.
Currently there are 42 states that have issued parental involvement laws. Every case dealing with parental involvement laws have specifically stated that the basic tenets of Roe v. Wade are not impacted. There have been six United States Supreme Court cases upholding parental notification or parental consent laws. In each of these decisions the justices affirmed and reaffirmed the validity and importance of parental involvement. This bill is fully constitutional and preserves the right of parents and those of our teenaged girls consistent with the Roe v. Wade decision.
The State of New Hampshire restricts our youth on smoking, drinking, driving access, seat belts and bicycle helmets—all because they are too young to understand the dangers, or are too influenced by peer pressure. We require parental involvement for tattoos, ear piercing, tanning and the administration of medication. As Rep. Wendelboe reminded the committee, “it seems ludicrous to support legislation preventing a parent from receiving notice of their child have a surgical procedure that could have serious physical or emotional consequences.”
Governor Lynch has indicated the he could support a parental notification bill if it met constitutional muster. HB 1495 clearly meets the governor’s criteria. I hope that he will now join with us in returning these rights to the parents of New Hampshire. If you need further talking points with regard to this issue, they are available in our office.
Next week HR 24 will be heard in front of the State-Federal Relations committee and our office will be opposing it. HR 24 petitions Congress to commence impeachment proceedings against both President Bush and Vice President Cheney. The charges in this resolution are outrageous at best, completely unfounded and nothing more than a political ploy during an election year. This resolution is similar to HR 26 (which we were able to prevent from passing this week) in that it wants us, as a state legislature, to ignore the business which we were elected to do by the citizens of this state, and focus our attention elsewhere. The language of this resolution is completely biased, is not based on fact and is so extremely partisan in nature that it is simply not in the tradition of our body. The Republican Office opposes this resolution and would ask all members to stop in and testify or sign in against this resolution on Tuesday at 1 P.M. in Rms 305-307 in the LOB. (please note the room change)
Our next House Session will take place on Wednesday, March 5, however there is still much work to be done on the committee level. If you have any concerns about legislation that you feel leadership should take a look at, please contact our office. Thank you.
Mike
2007 has also seen a number of Democrat-sponsored social issues passed in the House, including Civil Unions and the elimination of parental notification for abortions for minors. This week we resumed the fight for parental rights in a public hearing for HB 1495, a bill which would restore the parental notification law and add a medical emergency exception. It would also afford the pregnant minor 24-hour access to a judge for waiver of notification.
The parental notification law was repealed last session by Democrats who had argued that the law was unconstitutional, when in fact the US Supreme Court did not rule the parental notification law unconstitutional. They vacated the federal decision and remanded it to the federal court to issue a declaratory judgment to allow the law to go into effect with an injunction only in the area the US Supreme Court felt inadequate—a specific emergency health exception instead of the implied competing harms protection. The Supreme Court was also able to establish legislative intent.
This legislation is clearly constitutional on the emergency medical health exception. Not only has the language been upheld a number of times at the US Supreme Court level, but so had the language on judicial bypass.
As Rep. Fran Wendelboe, the prime sponsor of HB 1495, pointed out in her testimony before the committee, “at the heart of the issue are parental rights. Do we really think so little of New Hampshire parents that we would stand between them and their daughter?”
Recent surveys indicate that 70 percent of Americans support parental notification laws, while a number of studies have shown that parental notification laws, informed consent laws, and public funding laws all reduce the incidence of teen abortion.
Currently there are 42 states that have issued parental involvement laws. Every case dealing with parental involvement laws have specifically stated that the basic tenets of Roe v. Wade are not impacted. There have been six United States Supreme Court cases upholding parental notification or parental consent laws. In each of these decisions the justices affirmed and reaffirmed the validity and importance of parental involvement. This bill is fully constitutional and preserves the right of parents and those of our teenaged girls consistent with the Roe v. Wade decision.
The State of New Hampshire restricts our youth on smoking, drinking, driving access, seat belts and bicycle helmets—all because they are too young to understand the dangers, or are too influenced by peer pressure. We require parental involvement for tattoos, ear piercing, tanning and the administration of medication. As Rep. Wendelboe reminded the committee, “it seems ludicrous to support legislation preventing a parent from receiving notice of their child have a surgical procedure that could have serious physical or emotional consequences.”
Governor Lynch has indicated the he could support a parental notification bill if it met constitutional muster. HB 1495 clearly meets the governor’s criteria. I hope that he will now join with us in returning these rights to the parents of New Hampshire. If you need further talking points with regard to this issue, they are available in our office.
Next week HR 24 will be heard in front of the State-Federal Relations committee and our office will be opposing it. HR 24 petitions Congress to commence impeachment proceedings against both President Bush and Vice President Cheney. The charges in this resolution are outrageous at best, completely unfounded and nothing more than a political ploy during an election year. This resolution is similar to HR 26 (which we were able to prevent from passing this week) in that it wants us, as a state legislature, to ignore the business which we were elected to do by the citizens of this state, and focus our attention elsewhere. The language of this resolution is completely biased, is not based on fact and is so extremely partisan in nature that it is simply not in the tradition of our body. The Republican Office opposes this resolution and would ask all members to stop in and testify or sign in against this resolution on Tuesday at 1 P.M. in Rms 305-307 in the LOB. (please note the room change)
Our next House Session will take place on Wednesday, March 5, however there is still much work to be done on the committee level. If you have any concerns about legislation that you feel leadership should take a look at, please contact our office. Thank you.
Mike
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.
Continue reading Republican Report - Message from Mike - 2/8/08.
