The New Hampshire Legislature, in its wisdom, has decreed how much an adequate education costs. It’s right there in statute, RSA 198:40-a. Legislators wrote in three concise paragraphs that the cost of an adequate education totals precisely $3,561.27 in 2015 dollars, plus an additional $1,780.63 for students eligible for a free or reduced price meal, […]
https://jbartlett.org/wp-content/uploads/shutterstock_147424472-scaled.jpg19172560Andrew Clinehttps://jbartlett.org/wp-content/uploads/logo_white_v1_360x70.pngAndrew Cline2023-04-14 15:40:062023-04-14 15:53:35Why no one knows what an adequate education should cost
When the Josiah Bartlett Center released our landmark study of the nexus between New Hampshire’s housing shortage and local land use regulations, in October of 2021, the connection between the two was not widely reported in the popular press. Academics, developers and planners knew that local regulations were responsible for reducing the supply of housing, […]
https://jbartlett.org/wp-content/uploads/logo_white_v1_360x70.png00Andrew Clinehttps://jbartlett.org/wp-content/uploads/logo_white_v1_360x70.pngAndrew Cline2023-04-10 10:45:302023-04-10 10:46:17The Boston Globe agrees: local regulations are the root of the housing shortage
Granite Staters entering the job market often face government-imposed barriers to entry. State-required licenses can come with onerous fees, arduous training requirements and a lack of reciprocity for individuals already licensed by another state in their field of practice. Gov. Chris Sununu has proposed a major overhaul of New Hampshire’s occupational licensing bureaucracy. The governor’s […]
https://jbartlett.org/wp-content/uploads/shutterstock_464199170-scaled.jpg17062560Andrew Clinehttps://jbartlett.org/wp-content/uploads/logo_white_v1_360x70.pngAndrew Cline2023-04-06 12:57:432023-04-06 12:57:43Join us for a beer & a conversation about licensing on April 11
The big story of the 2024-25 state budget has lurked just below the surface of most media coverage. It’s not the $99.6 million in employee pay raises, the increase in adequate education aid or the shifting of some Education Trust Fund line items to the General Fund. The big story is that lawmakers and the […]
https://jbartlett.org/wp-content/uploads/shutterstock_2190032065-scaled.jpg17252560Andrew Clinehttps://jbartlett.org/wp-content/uploads/logo_white_v1_360x70.pngAndrew Cline2023-04-04 21:14:502023-04-04 21:14:50State budget on track for a large double-digit increase in 2024-25
“Very heavy taxes, are hurtful, because they lessen the increase of population by making the means of subsistence, more difficult.” — John Adams, 1780 Last November, Massachusetts voters approved a so-called “millionaire’s tax.” It raises the state income tax from 5% to 9% for incomes of $1 million or more, an 80% tax increase. Four […]
https://jbartlett.org/wp-content/uploads/shutterstock_2282930791.jpg10241024Andrew Clinehttps://jbartlett.org/wp-content/uploads/logo_white_v1_360x70.pngAndrew Cline2023-03-31 15:24:012023-03-31 15:41:45The rich folks are coming! The rich folks are coming!
As Gov. Chris Sununu moves to undo the state’s overly burdensome occupational licensing regime, legislators are trying to add more licenses. On Wednesday, March 22, the House voted 210-166 to require a state license for the practice of music therapy. Why? Health insurance. Supporters said New Hampshire needs to license music therapists to ensure that […]
https://jbartlett.org/wp-content/uploads/shutterstock_2279600859.jpg10241024Andrew Clinehttps://jbartlett.org/wp-content/uploads/logo_white_v1_360x70.pngAndrew Cline2023-03-24 13:02:152023-03-24 13:02:15N.H. could become first New England state to license music therapists
At Reason.com, Jacob Grier noticed that Massachusetts’ ban on flavored tobacco products has, predictably, created a black market in flavored cigarettes. The smuggling is so prevalent that law enforcement is running out of places to store seized products. The Massachusetts Department of Revenue reports conducting more than 300 seizures in FY 2022, compared to 170 […]
https://jbartlett.org/wp-content/uploads/logo_white_v1_360x70.png00Andrew Clinehttps://jbartlett.org/wp-content/uploads/logo_white_v1_360x70.pngAndrew Cline2023-03-14 16:42:162023-03-14 16:42:16As predicted, Massachusetts’ flavored tobacco ban is creating a black market
A surefire way to suppress already low levels of youth employment is to raise the cost of employing younger workers. Some proposals in the Legislature would do that, in the name of helping these same workers. One proposal, House Bill 125, would make it illegal to employ 16-and 17-year-olds after 9 p.m. Sunday-Thursday and after […]
https://jbartlett.org/wp-content/uploads/shutterstock_1477483484-scaled.jpg17072560Andrew Clinehttps://jbartlett.org/wp-content/uploads/logo_white_v1_360x70.pngAndrew Cline2023-03-14 16:23:342023-03-14 17:18:26How to crush youth employment? Make it more costly to hire young people
“Healthy market competition is fundamental to a well-functioning U.S. economy. Basic economic theory demonstrates that when firms have to compete for customers, it leads to lower prices, higher quality goods and services, greater variety, and more innovation.” — Heather Boushey and Helen Knudsen, “The Importance of Competition for the American Economy,” The White House, July […]
https://jbartlett.org/wp-content/uploads/shutterstock_1416491012-scaled.jpg18632560Andrew Clinehttps://jbartlett.org/wp-content/uploads/logo_white_v1_360x70.pngAndrew Cline2023-03-08 14:44:442023-03-08 14:45:02Why universal school choice would help all N.H. students — and the public schools
The January, 2023, draft of the state’s Capital Corridor commuter rail study contains nothing that commuter rail boosters should like. The financial analysis, prepared for the state Department of Transportation by AECOM Technical Services Inc. of Manchester, envisions a nearly $800 million railroad serving fewer than 100 Manchester commuters per trip, at an operating cost […]
https://jbartlett.org/wp-content/uploads/shutterstock_1784114054-scaled.jpg12092560Andrew Clinehttps://jbartlett.org/wp-content/uploads/logo_white_v1_360x70.pngAndrew Cline2023-02-28 13:47:132023-03-08 13:45:51Boondoggle: State study shows soaring costs, plunging ridership for commuter rail
Why no one knows what an adequate education should cost
EDUCATION, FEATUREDThe New Hampshire Legislature, in its wisdom, has decreed how much an adequate education costs. It’s right there in statute, RSA 198:40-a. Legislators wrote in three concise paragraphs that the cost of an adequate education totals precisely $3,561.27 in 2015 dollars, plus an additional $1,780.63 for students eligible for a free or reduced price meal, […]
The Boston Globe agrees: local regulations are the root of the housing shortage
BLOG, HOUSING, REGULATIONWhen the Josiah Bartlett Center released our landmark study of the nexus between New Hampshire’s housing shortage and local land use regulations, in October of 2021, the connection between the two was not widely reported in the popular press. Academics, developers and planners knew that local regulations were responsible for reducing the supply of housing, […]
Join us for a beer & a conversation about licensing on April 11
BLOG, FEATUREDGranite Staters entering the job market often face government-imposed barriers to entry. State-required licenses can come with onerous fees, arduous training requirements and a lack of reciprocity for individuals already licensed by another state in their field of practice. Gov. Chris Sununu has proposed a major overhaul of New Hampshire’s occupational licensing bureaucracy. The governor’s […]
State budget on track for a large double-digit increase in 2024-25
BUDGET, FEATUREDThe big story of the 2024-25 state budget has lurked just below the surface of most media coverage. It’s not the $99.6 million in employee pay raises, the increase in adequate education aid or the shifting of some Education Trust Fund line items to the General Fund. The big story is that lawmakers and the […]
The rich folks are coming! The rich folks are coming!
BLOG, ECONOMY, FEATURED, TAXATION“Very heavy taxes, are hurtful, because they lessen the increase of population by making the means of subsistence, more difficult.” — John Adams, 1780 Last November, Massachusetts voters approved a so-called “millionaire’s tax.” It raises the state income tax from 5% to 9% for incomes of $1 million or more, an 80% tax increase. Four […]
N.H. could become first New England state to license music therapists
BLOG, FEATURED, REGULATIONAs Gov. Chris Sununu moves to undo the state’s overly burdensome occupational licensing regime, legislators are trying to add more licenses. On Wednesday, March 22, the House voted 210-166 to require a state license for the practice of music therapy. Why? Health insurance. Supporters said New Hampshire needs to license music therapists to ensure that […]
As predicted, Massachusetts’ flavored tobacco ban is creating a black market
BLOGAt Reason.com, Jacob Grier noticed that Massachusetts’ ban on flavored tobacco products has, predictably, created a black market in flavored cigarettes. The smuggling is so prevalent that law enforcement is running out of places to store seized products. The Massachusetts Department of Revenue reports conducting more than 300 seizures in FY 2022, compared to 170 […]
How to crush youth employment? Make it more costly to hire young people
BLOG, ECONOMY, FEATURED, REGULATION, UncategorizedA surefire way to suppress already low levels of youth employment is to raise the cost of employing younger workers. Some proposals in the Legislature would do that, in the name of helping these same workers. One proposal, House Bill 125, would make it illegal to employ 16-and 17-year-olds after 9 p.m. Sunday-Thursday and after […]
Why universal school choice would help all N.H. students — and the public schools
BLOG, EDUCATION, FEATURED“Healthy market competition is fundamental to a well-functioning U.S. economy. Basic economic theory demonstrates that when firms have to compete for customers, it leads to lower prices, higher quality goods and services, greater variety, and more innovation.” — Heather Boushey and Helen Knudsen, “The Importance of Competition for the American Economy,” The White House, July […]
Boondoggle: State study shows soaring costs, plunging ridership for commuter rail
FEATURED, TRANSPORTATIONThe January, 2023, draft of the state’s Capital Corridor commuter rail study contains nothing that commuter rail boosters should like. The financial analysis, prepared for the state Department of Transportation by AECOM Technical Services Inc. of Manchester, envisions a nearly $800 million railroad serving fewer than 100 Manchester commuters per trip, at an operating cost […]