New Hampshire businesses will not suffer automatic tax hikes early next year, new figures released by the Department of Revenue Administration suggest. A provision in last year’s state budget would have triggered automatic business tax increases if general and education fund revenue fell at least 6% below projections for the 2020 fiscal year. The newly […]
Independence Day, 2020, will come without parades or fireworks shows in many communities. They are canceled for the coronavirus. Some Americans seem to want them canceled for good. They’re ashamed of the flag and the nation it represents. Six years from America’s 250th birthday, her citizens should be preparing for the party to end all […]
The June 30th U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue demolishes once and for all the false claim that New Hampshire’s Education Tax Credit Program violates the New Hampshire and U.S. Constitutions. Further, the ruling renders inoperative New Hampshire’s anti-Catholic Blaine amendment, added to the state constitution in 1877. “While the […]
Sometimes, the bills everyone is afraid to vote against are the ones we should worry about the most. The PFAS bill passed 23-1 in the Senate last week is a great example. If you haven’t followed the Saga of the State PFAS Standards,* well, you’re probably a normal human being with a happy life, and […]
Institutions and those entrusted with their care have beclowned themselves so regularly over the years that Americans have lost faith in almost all sources of authority. In this environment, the New Hampshire Senate this week surveyed the cultural scene and said, “hold my beer.” It’s hard to say what will be hurt most by the […]
A new Josiah Bartlett Center for Public Policy study finds that switching to an online reverse auction for the state’s pharmacy benefits management contract can save New Hampshire taxpayers save up to $22.2 million a year. The study by Dr. Wayne Winegarden, director of the Center for Medical Economics and Innovation at the Pacific Research […]
EDITOR’S NOTE: The original essay posted yesterday used numbers given to the House Ways & Means Committee by the Department of Revenue Administration, which included only taxes collected by that department. It has been updated to include the remaining revenue sources covered by the tax increase triggers. The more complete figures show a tax increase […]
In a contentious return to in-person legislating Thursday, House Republicans and Democrats traded barbs and accusations and got little accomplished. But they did agree on one thing — beer. Representatives voted 243-92 to approve House Bill 1717, a bill to permit bars and restaurants to sell draft beer in growlers during a declared state of […]
In the “Merv Griffin Show” episode of Seinfeld, George hits some pigeons with his car after they didn’t fly away at the last second. “It’s not my fault,” George complains to Jerry. “Don’t we have a deal with the pigeons?” “Of course we have a deal,” Jerry says. “They get out of the way of […]
Sometimes, answers to local municipal issues are found not in our communities, but in bad law handed down in Washington, D.C. When it comes to police accountability, many improvements can and must be made at the state and local levels. But the first and most obvious step is to correct a U.S. Supreme Court decision […]